IOWA CITY, Iowa – The defending Big Ten regular season champion University of Iowa field hockey program will add two graduate transfers to the roster for the 2022 season. Olivia Frazier (Richmond) and Laura Drees (University Hildesheim) will graduate and join the Hawkeyes this fall.
“We are excited to add Olivia and Laura to the Iowa field hockey program,” said Iowa head coach Lisa Cellucci. “Selecting to advance their academic degrees, while competing for the Hawkeyes, says a lot about our world-class University and competitive field hockey program. Olivia and Laura are outstanding athletes and dynamic hockey players. We can’t wait for them to arrive on campus.”
Frazier, a midfielder from Cary, N.C., will join the Hawkeyes after being a two-time All-Atlantic 10 selection for Richmond. She earned first-team honors as a junior in 2020 (spring 2021) after scoring 14 points on four goals and six assists and she was a second-team selection in 2021 after finishing with three goals and three assists.
Drees, a midfielder/defender from Bremen, Germany, is a four-time all-state team selection of Bremen and Lower Saxony. She was also a three-time selection for evaluation courses of the German Hockey Federation, and she captained the all-state team in 2016.
Drees helped Eintracht Braunschweig to promotion to the first Bundesliga in 2019 and led the team to top-three finishes from 2017-21. She also helped her prep team to a second, third and fourth-place finish from 2013-15.
The Hawkeyes will return eight starters and 19 letterwinners in 2022 from a team that went 17-3, claimed a Big Ten regular season title and advanced to the 20th Elite Eight in program history.
Iowa’s returnees include first-team All-American, NFHCA West Region Player of the Year and two-time reigning Big Ten Player and Defensive Player of the Year Anthe Nijziel along with All-Americans Grace McGuire and Esme Gibson.
