Drury Panthers (2-2) at 2025 Drury Invitational
Location  | Site	Springfield, Mo. | O'Reilly Family Event Center
Fri., Sept. 12	vs. Cameron | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
	vs. Northwest Missouri State | 5 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Sat., Sept. 13	vs. Lane | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
	vs. East Central | 5 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Tickets	$10 daily pass (all five matches) $5 single-match ticket (no re-entry) DU students and children admitted FREE
Promotions	Drury Volleyball Campers admitted FREE (when wearing DU Volleyball Camp t-shirt)
Tourney Central	Drury Invitational
Follow	X: @DruryVB | IG: @DruryUniversity_Volleyball | Linktree: @DruryVolleyball

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Following a strong season-opening performance last weekend, Drury volleyball returns to O'Reilly Family Event Center for its first home action of the 2025 season this weekend when the Panthers host the Drury Invitational, Friday and Saturday.

The Panthers (2-2) will open the five-team event Friday (Sept. 12) with a 1 p.m. contest against Cameron, before taking on Northwest Missouri State (5 p.m.) to wrap up the opening day of the tournament. DU's Saturday slate will follow an identical schedule, as the Panthers meet Lane College (1 p.m.) and East Central (5 p.m.) to conclude the weekend.

The complete Drury Invitational schedule is listed below:

Friday, Sept. 12
9 a.m. -- Cameron vs. East Central
11 a.m. -- Lane College vs. Northwest Missouri State
1 p.m. -- Drury vs. Cameron 
3 p.m. -- East Central vs. Lane College
5 p.m. -- Northwest Missouri State vs. Drury

Saturday, Sept. 13
9 a.m. --  Cameron vs. Lane College
11 a.m. -- East Central vs. Northwest Missouri State
1 p.m. -- Lane College vs. Drury
3 p.m. -- Northwest Missouri State vs. Cameron
5 p.m. -- Drury vs. East Central

Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where tournament games will be streamed live throughout the weekend. New for the 2025-26 academic year, viewing access to live broadcasts from GLVC regular season and postseason contests will be available via monthly subscription ($30) or annual subscription ($140). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15. 

SERIES AND TOURNAMENT HISTORIES

• The Panthers, who went 7-4 at O'Reilly Family Event Center in 2024, will host a home invitational for the fifth time in the last seven seasons and for the second year in a row.
• DU has gone 12-4 as the host institution of the Drury Invitational over the same span (2019-24).
• Last season Drury went 3-1 in the same event (Sept. 12-14), with wins over Southern Nazarene (3-1), Roosevelt (3-0) and Newman (3-1) after dropping its first match of the weekend against No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State (1-3).
• Drury brings a cumulative 18-22 all-time record against the 2025 Drury Invitational field into the weekend.
• The Panthers are 4-10 against Cameron, with the two programs' last matchup coming in Springfield on Aug. 31, 2012 at the LaQuinta Kickoff Classic, resulting in a 3-2 decision in favor of DU.
• DU and Northwest Missouri State have evenly split their previous 22 meetings, including a pair of five-set decisions in 2019 when they last matched up.
• Drury will face Lane for the second time in as many Saturday's this season, as the Panthers claimed a straight-set victory in their first-ever matchup with the Dragons this past weekend at the Union Classic in Jackson, Tenn.
• Finally, Drury has taken two of its three meetings with East Central, including a 3-0 sweep of the Tigers in their last matchup, Sept. 21 2019 in Shawnee, Okla.

OPENING STORYLINES

• Drury head coach Jenifer Bahner-Hill will embark on her 12th season leading the Panthers, entering the weekend with 159 career victories.
• Bahner-Hill's win total ranks second in DU history behind Barbara Cowherd's 487 victories.
• DU claimed its season opener against Union (3-1) last Friday, marking its 26th opening match victory on record.
• With that decision, the Panthers have now gone 11-4 mark in season debuts since 2011.
• With four wins this weekend, Drury would match its best eight-game start to a season since 2017; the Panthers posted 6-2 opening stretches in 2024, 2021 and 2018 for their best start since winning seven of their first eight (and nine of 10, overall) to open the 2017 season.
• Lauren Tyler racked up a GLVC-best 15 service aces last weekend in Tennessee and enters the second week of the season ranked second in the nation, one behind Scarlette Young (Arkansas-Fort Smith).
• Tyler delivered a nine-ace effort against Lane (Sept. 6) to match Emily Watson's effort vs. Valdosta State (Oct. 16, 1999) as the No. 2 single-match total in Drury history; it was also just one off of Stacey Phillips' school record of 10 vs. Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 3, 1992.
• Tyler also totaled a match-high 21 assists vs. Harding as part of a double-double (12 digs), finishing the tournament with a team-leading 57 (4.07 per set) assists.
• For her DU career, Tyler has logged 1,876 assists to rank 10th on the Panthers' all-time list, passing Cari St. Clari (1,843) for the No. 10 spot in last Friday's match vs. Harding.
• Additionally, both Tyler (492) and Kim Quinit (449) enter the weekend within striking distance of reaching the 500-dig milestone for their DU careers.
• As a team, Drury ranks fourth in the conference in blocks with 28 through four matches.
• Skylar Hilton (14 blocks) and Phoebe Riddle (12) each rank among the GLVC's top 10 performers in total blocks so far this season.
• Hilton turned in a strong all-around debut weekend for the Panthers, tallying 22 kills (1.57 per set) to go along with her average of 1.0 blocks per set, while hitting .349 for the tournament.
• Ella Rademaker paced DU with 39 kills (2.79 per set), while hitting .238 and logging 10 blocks (1 solo, 9 assisted) and 16 digs to bolster a DU defense that limited the opposition to a GLVC-low hitting percentage of .110 at the Union Classic.
• Rademaker posted double-digit kill totals in three of DU's four matches in Tennessee, including 11 vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville to go along with six digs and four blocks; the senior transfer from SBU ranks among the GLVC's top 15 in both kills per set (14th) and blocks (14th) entering week two.
• Mailie Chretien enters Friday's action just four kills shy of the 300-mark for her Drury career and seven kills away from 500 for her NCAA career (including 197 accrued playing for Catawba and Limestone).

PREVIEWING THE PANTHERS

• Drury returns 13 letterwinners from last season's 14-13 team that posted an eight-win turnaround from 2023.
• DU won six of its first eight matches last fall, matching its best start to a season since 2018.
• Chretien led the Panthers with 269 kills (2.54 per set), while fellow senior Kyla Clubb contributed 202 (2.24 per set) for last year's squad; Clubb added 46 blocks as well to rank third on the team. 
• Quinit led the Panthers with her average of 4.05 digs per set as a freshman last fall, while Chretien added 3.80 per set; the duo of sophomore Jenna LaBarge and senior Payton Mitchell chipped in with averages of 2.71 and 2.55 digs per set in 2024.
• Mary Henry and Riddle also return for the Panthers, forming DU's veteran senior corps along with Chretien, Clubb and Mitchell.
• Tyler, a junior setter, paced DU in assists last season, tallying 9.17 per set to rank seventh among all GLVC performers.
• Additionally, junior Grace Gardner made 22 starts for DU last fall, totaling 136 kills, 85 digs, 73 assists and 43 blocks, while sophomores Emerson Grossman, Gracie Kimrey, Kennedy Outler and Abby Renshaw earned playing time as freshmen in 2024.
• In addition to its corps of returners, Drury welcomes eight newcomers to the mix, led by transfers Chaney Barth (Francis Marion), Jacy Bray (UT Arlington) and Rademaker (SBU).
• Freshmen Megan Howard, Alyssa Lindemann, Caroline Red, Amelia White, Hannah Williams and Hilton make up a talented and deep class of newcomers and could give Bahner-Hill additional options throughout the fall.
• Drury also turned in a strong 2024-25 year in the classroom, as 12 Panthers were named Academic All-GLVC, paced by Chretien and Mitchell, who each earned CSC Academic All-District recognition at the conclusion of the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Drury embarks on a trip to Arkadelphia, Ark., next weekend for three matches at the Bettye Wallace Invitational (Sept. 19-20). The Panthers will take on Arkansas Tech in a 3:30 p.m. contest Friday, before squaring off against host Henderson State (11 a.m.) and Pittsburg State (3:30 p.m.) on Saturday at Duke Wells Center.

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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