INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.- The 12th ranked Drury Panthers won both of their matches in the Mizuno Midwest Region Crossover Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana on Friday. Drury defeated the Hillsdale 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23), and Wayne State (Mich.) 3-0 to (25-18, 25-18, 25-23) improve to 19-3 on the season.
 
Drury won their first match of the day defeating Hillsdale, the first place team in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, 3-1. The Chargers won the opening set 25-22, but the Panthers bounced back to win the second set by the same score and took the third 25-21. The fourth set was tied 23-23 and, following a Drury time-out, Bentley Mara picked up the next two kills for the Panthers to clinch the match. Mara finished with 18 kills while Emmalee Chrest had 15 kills and 10 digs. Kendra Sater had 48 assists while Bree Schmidt contributed 31 digs, and Evan Larson was credited with five block assists. The match snapped an 11-game winning streak for Hillsdale who dropped to 14-4.
 
The Panthers swept Wayne State in their second match of the day winning the first two sets 25-18 and taking the third 25-23. Bentley Mara led the Panthers with 13 kills, nine digs, two service aces, and two block assists while Kendra Sater added 37 assists and three kills. Wayne State, a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, dropped to 11-10 with the loss.
 
After the first day of competition at the tournament, teams from the GLVC went 16-6 while the GLIAC went 7-12 and the G-MAC finsished the day with a 6-11 record.
 
Drury plays their final game in the tournament on Saturday at noon when they face fifth-ranked and GLIAC leader Ferris State.
 
 
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