EAST PEORIA, Ill.- 25th ranked Rockhurst bounced back from an opening set loss to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship with a 3-1 win (21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-21) over 14th ranked Drury at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois on Saturday.
 
The Panthers, seeded second in the tournament, fell to 27-6 while Rockhurst, the number four seed, improved to 29-6.
 
Drury took the opening set 25-21, but Rockhurst responded winning the second and third sets by the same 25-20 score. In the fourth, the Panthers dug out of an early 8-3 hole and tied the score at 18-18. Drury could never seize the lead, however, as Rockhurst won four of the next five points and used that cushion to close out the tournament with a 25-21 win in the fourth set.
 
"In the first set we came out with so much energy that we were firing at them from all of our hitters, and that got Rockhurst a little bit out of system," said Drury head coach Jenifer Bahner. "But in the second, third, and fourth sets, they came out with confidence. At any given time, any one of their hitters can get a ball a power through, and that makes them really hard to block and defend." 
 
Landyn Kozlowski led Drury with 14 kills while Emmalee Chrest added 13 kills. Kendra Sater had 40 assists, Bree Schmidt contributed 28 digs, and Taylor Forth had a solo block with five block assists.
 
Karli Reichert led Rockhurst with a game-high 22 kills, and she added 17 digs. Dani Prusha was credited with 58 assists.
 
The NCAA will announce the national tournament field on Sunday at 9 p.m., and Drury will learn their opening round match-up as well as if they will host the Midwest Regional. The Panthers entered the tournament ranked first in the region. The NCAA-II tournament begins Thursday at eight regional sites across the country.
 
 
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