DRURY VOLLEYBALL
Friday: Drury (17-16, 11-4 in 2019) vs Missouri S&T (21-10, 8-7 in 2019) – 7 pm
Saturday: Drury vs Southwest Baptist (4-27, 0-15) – 3 pm

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Panthers volleyball opens at home this weekend
The Drury volleyball team opens their season with home games this weekend as the Panthers host Missouri S&T on Friday at 7 pm and Southwest Baptist on Saturday at 3 pm. Both games are in the O'Reilly Family Event Center. No spectators are allowed to attend following policies set by the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
 
The GLVC shifted women's volleyball from the fall to the spring semester last summer due to concerns with the coronavirus pandemic. The Panthers will play an 18-game regular season conference schedule. The GLVC will be divided into three, five-team divisions, and Drury will compete in the West Division. The top eight teams in the league, as determined by a point rating system, will advance to the GLVC championship tournament April 16-18 in East Peoria, Illinois. There will be no NCAA-II tournament, but the Panthers will participate in a regional tournament hosted by Nebraska-Kearney April 23-24.
 
Drury went 17-16 last year and finished in fifth place in the conference with an 11-4 league record. Head coach Jenifer Bahner returns for her seventh season leading the program. She brings in a record of 121-69 and during her tenue, has guided the program to their first-ever conference regular season championship and their first appearance in the NCAA-II tournament.
 
The Panthers return 11 letter winners from last year's team, including All-GLVC selection Makina Wratten. The junior from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, ranked second in Drury's team in kills, averaging 2.85 per set and was fourth in the GLVC in blocks with 1.23 per set.
 
In addition to Wratten's blocks, the Panthers return Taylor Forth and her 0.95 blocks per set. The senior from Gilbert, Iowa, was an All-GLVC pick two years ago and posted the second-most blocks in the league in 2018.
 
The Panthers' opener on Friday will be a challenge as they start their year with a Missouri S&T team coming off a 21-10 season last year. It was just two seasons ago that the Miners produced a record that was the literal opposite of their mark last year as they finished 2017 10-21. S&T went 15-15 in 2018, setting up their 20-win campaign last year. 
 
On Saturday, Drury will face Southwest Baptist at 3 pm. The Bearcats will be under new management as James Hanger takes over the head coaching duties. Hanger, a Drury graduate, had spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at Division I Samford. The Bearcats went 4-27 and 0-15 in the GLVC last year.
 
After their opening weekend, Drury will have just one game next week as they travel to Rockhurst for a Friday game at 7 pm in Kansas City, Missouri.
 
QUICK FACTS
Records
Drury (2019): 17-16 (11-4 GLVC)
Missouri S&T (2019): 21-10 (8-7 GLVC)
SW Baptist (2019): 4-27 (0-15 GLVC)
 
Stat Leaders (top returners)
Drury: #17 Makina Wratten (2.84 kills/set, 1.24 Blk/set), Reba Thomsen (7.03 ast/set), #4 Taylor Forth (0.95 bl/set)
 
Head Coaches
DU: Jenifer Bahner (6^th year, 121-69)
S&T: Andy Halez (3^rd year, 36-25)  
SBU: James Hanger (1^st year) 
 
All-time series
Drury 12-11 vs. Missouri S&T
Drury 54-21 vs. Southwest Baptist
 
2019 meetings
Drury lost at Missouri S&T 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 23-25, 17-25) Nov. 2, 2019 at S&T
Drury won at Southwest Baptist 3-1 (25-13, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19), Oct. 8, 2019 at SBU
 
Record in 5-set games (2019)
DU: 3-6
S&T: 4-3
SBU: 0-1
 
Next
Drury at Rockhurst – Fri., Feb. 5, 2021
7 pm – Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse – Kansas City, Mo.   
 
#allweDUiswin