SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers completed the Greenstay Hotel & Suites with a 4-0 record to start their season as they picked two wins on Saturday, defeating Missouri Southern State 3-0 and Henderson State 3-2 at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. 
 
Drury won their first game of the day with a 3-0 win over Missouri Southern State (25-22, 25-12, 25-13). Gabriela Oliveria led the Panthers with 12 kills, while Gabby Birmingham added 26 assists, and Emma Fox contributed 14 digs. The Lions dropped to 1-2 with the loss.
 
Drury's second game pitted the only two teams that started the tournament 3-0, and the Panthers fought for a five-set win. Drury took the first set 31-29 and claimed a 2-0 lead with a 25-20 win in the second set. The Reddies forced a fifth set with close wins in the third and fourth, but Drury closed out the matching winning 11 of the final 16 points in the deciding frame.
 
Gabby Birmingham recorded 63 assists, the fifth-most ever by a Drury player in a single game, while Makina Wratten had 20 kills and Maddie Baumer posted 19 kills.
 
Henderson State fell to 3-1 in the defeat.
 
Drury played both games without their returning all-conference outside hitter Chloe Rear, who suffered an ankle injury in the Panthers first game on Friday.
 
Drury heads to Alaska for their next competition when they play four games in the Alaska Nanook Classic in Fairbanks on Sept. 10-11.
 
 
#allweDUiswin