SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Despite building a two-sets-to-none lead with another strong start, Drury volleyball came out on the short end of a five-set (25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 23-25, 11-15) Great Lakes Valley Conference match with Illinois Springfield Saturday afternoon at O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Ella Rademaker paced the Panthers with a Drury career-high 27 kills, while Lauren Tyler turned in a double-double performance with 30 assists and 16 digs for DU.

But the Prairie Stars (11-10, 3-5 GLVC) heated up after Drury (13-9, 3-4 GLVC) claimed the first two sets, hitting .278 as a team over the final three sets. Meanwhile, the UIS defense limited the Panthers to a .198 team hitting percentage over the same span to complete the reverse sweep.

Makenna Cox led a contingent of four UIS attackers finishing with double-digit kills totals, tallying 20 to go along with a match-high 23 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Drury overcame a slow start to the opening set that saw the Prairie Stars employ a 9-3 scoring spurt to seemingly take control for a 21-15 advantage.
• But the Panthers rallied, as Rademaker recorded four critical kills down the stretch to help DU claim 10 of the final 12 points of the set for a 25-23 decision.
• In the second, Drury rode that momentum swing to an early cushion, with Rademaker once again leading the way; the senior recorded eight kills and hit .385 in the set to help the Panthers build an eight-point lead that UIS would never seriously threaten.
• In a set that featured eight ties and a pair of lead changes, the Prairie Stars used a string of four unanswered points to take a 14-10 lead in the third.
• Drury sliced the margin to a single point before UIS won five of the next six points as part of an 11-6 scoring run to stave off defeat and wrap up the 25-19 win.
• The fourth set followed a similar pattern, as the two teams played to 11 ties and seven lead changes in what ultimately played out to a 25-23 UIS victory.
• Drury led by as many as three points on four occasions, but UIS ultimately wiped out a 19-16 deficit by claiming six of the next seven points.
• With the score knotted at 23-23, a service error gave the Prairie Stars set point, which they converted on Kendall Johnson's kill that evened the match at two sets apiece.
• Cox registered nine kills in the fourth set, hitting .500 for the Prairie Stars.
• In the decisive fifth set, neither team led by more than two points until a 3-0 UIS run handed the visitors the lead for good; kills by Johnson and Madison Siefken powered that run, before Cox's 20th kill and a combined block by Siefken and Lexie Vick closed out the 15-11 victory and completed the Prairie Stars' comeback.

NOTABLES

• The match featured a total of 31 ties and 13 lead changes.
• Rademaker's 27 kills came within one of her career best of 28, also vs. Illinois Springfield on Oct. 26, 2024 while playing for SBU.
• That effort gives Rademaker five straight double-digit kill totals and seven in the Panthers' last eight matches.
• Skylar Hilton was the only other Panther to finish in double figures with 10 kills.
• Kim Quinit finished with 18 digs, matching Mailie Chretien for the Drury team lead in the contest. 
• Tyler's double-double gives her five on the season, one behind Chretien's team-best total of six.
• Abby Renshaw added seven kills and a pair of blocks, while Jacy Bray chipped in with 18 assists and six digs.

UP NEXT
Drury travel to Fayette, Iowa to take on Upper Iowa Friday (Oct. 31) in a 6 p.m., contest.

For all the latest information on Drury volleyball, visit drurypanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.

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