Annie Drews helps claim USA’s fifth Pan Am Cup title
CANETE, Peru – In her first stint with the Women’s National Team, Annie Drews helped Team USA claim the 16th Pan Am Cup championship by defeating the Dominican Republic 25-16, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23 on Sunday in Canete, Peru.
The Americans finished the tournament with a 7-0 record and handed the Dominicans their only set losses of the tournament as both teams entered the contest undefeated. Team USA now has a record five Pan American Cup titles, breaking a three-way tie with Dominican Republic and Cuba who each have four titles. The U.S. has won the tournament four times since 2012 (2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, along with 2003). Only Dominican Republic has won the title during the same time period as it earned gold in 2014 and 2016.
Drews posted four kills on eight errorless attempts in the championship match. The effort gives her 54 kills and just 14 errors on 108 attempts in the tournament for a .370 hitting percentage on the right side. The Elkhart, Indiana, native proved to be one of USA’s top offensive options throughout the tournament as she posted the team’s highest hitting percentage and was tied for the second most kills.
Drews is a two-time All-American, two-time All-Northeast Region and a two-time All-Big Ten selection in her career as a student-athlete at Purdue. She is the most recent Boilermaker to join the 1,000 kill club and is one-of-25 student-athletes in program history to reach the milestone. She also registered the program’s ninth most kills in a single season as a senior when she finished the 2015 campaign with 518 kills.