SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Six unanswered points by Rockhurst in the decisive fifth set proved to be the difference in a 3-2 Drury loss against the Hawks at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Saturday.
 
The setback dropped the Panthers to 8-8 while Rockhurst went to 9-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and 11-6 overall.
 
Drury opened with a 25-22 win in the opening set, but the Hawks took a 2-1 lead in the match taking the second set 25-22 and the third, 25-21. The Panthers forced a fifth set with a 25-22 win in the fourth.
 
Drury owned a 6-4 lead in the fifth, but Rockhurst reeled off six straight points to go ahead 10-6, and the Panthers couldn't recover falling 15-9.
 
"I thought it was a good match and Rockhurst is a team we have back-and-forth battles with," said Drury head coach Jenifer Bahner. "I felt we executed our game plan very well. Unfortunately, when you play a fifth set, they only go to 15 points and there's such an emotional run to it. When we were up 6-4, Rockhurst made a couple of big plays and you could feel our energy getting sucked out. It was hard to us to recover and come back from it at that point."
 
Taylor Forth had 15 kills, three blocks and three aces, while Chloe Rear also had 15 kills and added 25 assists.
 
"I thought Taylor Forth did a good job," added Bahner. "She led us well in attacking, but we also switched her position for the first couple of sets. I was happy to see her be flexible and adjust for her team."
 
The win was Rockhurst's sixth straight victory.
 
The Panthers end the regular season on the road next when they play at Missouri S&T on Thursday, then Southwest Baptist on Friday. Both matches at 6 pm starts. 
 
 
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