SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The 14th ranked Drury Panthers moved into sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and won their eighth straight match with a 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21 and 17-15) win over fourth-ranked Lewis on Saturday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
Drury stayed unbeaten in the Great Lakes Valley Conference as they improved to 12-2 overall and 6-0 in the GLVC. It was the fourth win this season for the Panthers against a team ranked in the top 10 of NCAA-II. The Flyers had their seven-game winning streak snapped and suffered their first loss in the league as they went to 6-1 in the conference and 12-3 on the season.
 
Emmalee Chrest had a team-high 16 kills and Bentley Mara added 15 kills for the Panthers. Kendra Sater had a season-high 52 assists, and Bree Schmidt registered a career high 44 digs in the win.  Evan Larsen hit a team-high 381 and added nine kills with just one error on 21 attacks. 
 
Alexandra Preuss had 21 kills to lead Lewis who was held to .167.

"It was a great feeling to see our team rewarded for the hard work, commitment, growth and maturity they've shown to get to this point," said Drury head coach Jenifer Bahner. "When we were down 2-0, during the break I told them - 'I know you're working hard but you have to find a way give us just a little more. If you can find a way to play even harder, we're going to be winners when it's over.'" 
 
The match had 43 ties and 18 lead changes in the five set battle. 

Drury is home again Tuesday when they host Missouri Southern in a non-conference contest set for a 7 p.m. start at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.