TOPEKA, Kan. – Drury opened the season splitting two games in the Washburn Invitational tournament in Topeka, Kansas with a 3-0 win over Emporia State and a 3-2 loss to Missouri Western in their second game on Friday.
The Panthers won their first game of the day building big leads in the first two sets. Drury led 11-8 in the first set before going on an 8-1 run to take command. The Panthers scored the first six points of the second set on their way to a 2-0 lead in the match.
Bentley Mara, a sophomore from Harrison, Arkansas, led Drury with 13 kills while Brooke Antenen added 10. Antenen, a senior from Naperville, Illinois added 26 assists and six service aces in the win.
Drury lost their grip on a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss to Missouri Western in their second game of the day. The Panthers won 25-19 and 25-13 in the first two sets before falling 25-20 in the third and fourth sets. Drury jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fifth but the Griffins scored the next seven points and never trailed again on their way to a 15-9 win to take the match.
Sarah Kite led Drury with 14 kills while Antenen had 41 assists and McKenna Poynter registered 26 digs.
The two games give Drury a 1-1 start for the year. The Panthers return to action in day two of the Washburn tournament tomorrow. Drury takes on Pittsburg State at 11:30 a.m. and face host Washburn at 3:30 p.m. in Topeka, Kansas.
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