Mailie Chretien
Hudson Harkness, Drury Sports Communications
0
Cameron Camer 2-5,0-0 Lone Star
3
Winner Drury Drury 3-2,0-0 GLVC
Cameron Camer
2-5,0-0 Lone Star
0
Final
3
Drury Drury
3-2,0-0 GLVC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Cameron Camer 19 20 12 (0)
Drury Drury 25 25 25 (3)
2
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU 3-2,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
3
Winner Drury Drury 4-2,0-0 GLVC
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU
3-2,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
2
Final
3
Drury Drury
4-2,0-0 GLVC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU 25 19 21 25 13 (2)
Drury Drury 19 25 25 11 15 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Eric Doennig, Associate AD - Media Relations

Panthers Open Home Slate With Sweep of Cameron, Northwest Missouri State

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury volleyball turned in a memorable start to its 2025 home season Friday, locking up an opening-day sweep at the Drury Invitational with a straight-set victory over Cameron (25-19, 25-20, 25-12), before pulling out a five-set thriller against Northwest Missouri State (19-25, 25-19, 25-21, 11-25, 15-13) at O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Mailie Chretien led the Panthers with a pair of standout performances, totaling 27 kills for the afternoon to help the Panthers improve to 4-2 on the season. DU trailed for just one point in its match with Cameron, as Chretien and Abby Renshaw combined for 23 kills, while the Panthers hit .304 as a team.

In their second match of the day, the Panthers rallied from a one-set deficit to pull out a 15-13 fifth set, with Chretien posting a season-high 14 kills to lead the way. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Drury seized control in the opening set against Cameron, winning eight of 10 points after the Aggies claimed the first point of the contest.
  • The Panthers led by as many as seven points, limiting CU to .167 hitting for the set.
  • Chretien totaled five of her 13 kills in the opening set, while Grace Gardner and Renshaw added three apiece.
  • DU built another sizable lead in the second, winning seven of the first nine points, before stretching its advantage to 15-7 with the help of a 6-1 spurt that was fueled by kills from five different Panthers.
  • Chretien matched her first-set performance with five more kills, while Lauren Tyler and Jacy Bray each registered seven assists in the second stanza.
  • The Panthers put the match on ice with another strong start in the third, racing out to a 16-5 cushion, paced by Renshaw and Skylar Hilton, who each logged four kills and a pair of blocks in a decisive 25-12 victory.
  • The duo of Bray and Tyler combined for 38 assists (19 apiece), and Phoebe Riddle was a force at the net with six blocks to go along with her seven kills.
  • Against Northwest Missouri State, the Panthers found themselves in an early hole, as the Bearcats outhit DU .303 to .062 in the opening set -- a 25-19 decision.
  • Drury rebounded thanks to a familiar formula -- taking control early -- in the second and third sets to gain control of the match; powered by back-to-back kills by Chretien, DU built a 7-2 lead, then extended its advantage to 16-10 with another key run behind a pair of Mary Henry service aces.
  • Northwest Missouri closed to within two points late in the set, but the Panthers sealed the win by taking seven of the final 10 points thanks to a lift from Chaney Barth, who delivered the first of her 12 kills in the match to help secure the set. 
  • Barth came through with four more kills in the third, as Drury withstood a Bearcat threat with a 7-3 spurt after the visitors clawed their way back to a 16-16 tie.
  • Northwest Missouri rode the play of Kate Frakes and freshman Elle Heckenlively to a fourth-set decision (11-25); tied at 10-10, a Frakes kill started the run, before four kills from Heckenlively fanned the flames to help the Bearcats force a fifth set. 
  • Barth and Renshaw turned in dominant fifth-set performances for Drury, logging four kills apiece; with the score even at 9-9, Barth put the Panthers on top on an assist from Tyler, before Renshaw delivered three critical points on kills down the stretch and Chretien put the exclamation point on the victory with her 14th kill of the match.

NOTABLES

  • Chretien recorded a season-high 14 kills while hitting .237 against Northwest Missouri State.
  • Renshaw's 10 kills vs. Cameron established a new season best, while Barth notched a Drury career-high 12 kills (hitting .308) against the Bearcats.
  • The Panthers hit .304 against Cameron and trailed only once -- 1-0 in the opening set.
  • Conversely, DU's win over Northwest Missouri State featured 27 ties and seven lead changes.
  • Henry turned in a match-high 12 digs in the opener, while Bray (19 assists, 9 digs) missed a double-double by just one dig; Bray topped her DU personal high with 24 assists vs. Northwest Missouri State.
  • Tyler finished the day with 38 assist to hike her Drury career total to 1,914, which ranks 10th on the Panthers' all-time list. 
  • Henry totaled 26 digs for the day, including 14 in the nightcap.

UP NEXT
Drury concludes its home-opening weekend with two more matches Saturday afternoon. The Panthers will face Lane College at 1 p.m., before taking on East Central at 5 p.m., to wrap up the Drury Invitational.

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

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