TOPEKA, Kan. – The Drury volleyball Panthers swept Missouri Southern 3-0 and downed Emporia State 3-1 in their season opening matches at the Washburn Invitational on Friday.

Drury is now 2-0 on the season and Missouri Southern falls to 0-1 and Emporia State is now 1-1.  Drury won the opening match by scores of 25-10, 25-13 and 25-20 over Southern.  Drury hit .230 for the match but finished strong with a third set .300 hitting mark.  The Lions finished with a .076 hitting clip with Monica White having a team best nine kills and Callie Whetstone adding eight kills.

In the Panthers opener, Drury distanced themselves from the Lions 25-10 in the opening set and took advantage of four Southern receiving errors.  Drury won the second set 25-13 and took the final set 25-20 to earn the sweep.

BJ Specht led the Panthers with eight kills and hit .368 with just one error on 19 attacks and added two serving aces.   Senior Laynie Timmons had seven kills and hit .353 and Chloe Foster hit a team high .545 with six kills.   Brooke Antenen had 20 assists and newcomer McKenna Poynter led DU with 14 digs.

In the evening match, Drury got past Emporia State 25-18 in the opening set with both teams hitting the ball very well at .400.   The Panthers rallied after trailing 11-5 to the Hornets to claim a 27-25 set two victory.  The Hornets claimed their lone set victory in the third set with a 26-24 win.  Drury finished Emporia State off with a 25-22 victory in the fourth set. 

Antenen led the Panthers with a team high 16 kills, a team high .467 hitting percentage and 41 assists.  Timmons had 14 kills and three aces and Specht had 11 kills and recorded 15 digs.  Poynter led the Panthers with a team best 21 digs.

The DU Volleyball Panthers will continue action today at the Washburn Invitational on Saturday when they face Pittsburg State at 11:30 and finish tournament play vs. the host Washburn at 3:30 p.m.