SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The Drury Panthers clinched at least a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season championship with a 3-0 win over William Jewell (25-23, 25-17, 25-15) on Tuesday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield.
 
Drury, ranked 13th in NCAA-II, improved to 25-4 and 15-2 in the GLVC. The Panthers have one game remaining in the regular season and own a one-game lead in the loss column over Lewis and Illinois Springfield, both of whom won on Tuesday. Drury can clinch the conference title outright with a win in their last game of the season on Friday at Rockhurst.
 
William Jewell fell to 11-20 and 5-12 in the loss.
 
The Cardinals had the lead through most of the opening set before the Panthers rallied for a 25-23 win. Drury put together a late run in the second in a 25-17 win and cruised to a 25-15 victory in the third.
 
"I think in the first set we were a little bit out of rhythm," said Drury head coach Jenifer Bahner. "Going into the second and third set, we talked a lot about minimizing our errors, playing clean and playing smart."
 
Bentley Mara had a double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs. Emmalee Chrest added 12 kills while Kendra Sater had 39 assists.
 
The Panthers finished their home regular season schedule with a perfect 11-0 record. Their 15 wins in the conference play are the most in their 14 years in the GLVC and eclipses their previous mark of 11. Before this year, Drury had never finished in the league's top four in the overall standings.
 
 
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