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D ave Shondell thinks Annie Drews can be the best player in the Big Ten this season. She big — 6-foot-4 — and powerful, a ferocious left-handed hitter from Purdue's right side. "She can be ominous, there's no doubt about it," Shondell said. "To me, it's just whether or not she wants to be the best player in the Big Ten. And you can't just want to be it, if she acts on it and behaves in that fash- ion, that she's going to be the best player in the Big Ten because it can take us to a Big Ten championship, then she's going to make a lot of people happy." Drews is working to get there. The preseason All- Big Ten selection had an excellent junior season, when she was Purdue's go-to offensive player. An honorable mention All-American, she averaged a team-best 3.92 kills and 4.30 points per set, the second- and third-best marks in the Big Ten. But to be the best, it'll take more than hitting. The senior is looking to become a more well-round- ed player, one who can play defense as well as of- fense and stay on the floor for all six rotations rather than subbing out. Previously, she's frequently been on the floor for her three rotations on the front line, but had to come out when she moved to the back. Ideally, the Boilermakers want her out there all the time. "The biggest thing for me is being ready to dig or being ready to block and giving myself verbal and men- tal cues to set up a better athletic position for that," she said. "Last year, I was getting set (to) a lot (to hit), which is a good thing. But sometimes I was a step ahead of myself, and I wouldn't be the best defender because I was so ready to receive the set. "Am I going to have the focus to say, 'Keep the ball off the ground,' or 'Shape your hands back in (to be ready)?' I'm going to really talk myself through each play." Drews has had extra experience this summer, a very busy few months not only from a volleyball standpoint but life, too. She was overseas, first for a mission trip through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to the Ephraim orphanage in Haiti, then touring parts of Eu- rope with the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour team. In June, she spent two weeks playing international competition with other standouts from the Big Ten. And that followed what Shondell said was a solid spring sea- son at Purdue. "Last year, she had some great matches. I think she was good really two out of every three matches, really good, and we leaned on her a lot and we're going to lean on her just as much this year," Shondell said. "If she'll get better defensively, then she'll stay in the game all the time and that allows us to get her the ball out of the back row as an outlet attacker. "But if she doesn't make any defensive plays, peo- Charles Jischke/Purude Annie Drews can crush the ball, a reason why she's one of the best in the Big Ten, but to be the best, she'll have to do other things well. The Best? 70 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED