SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury volleyball returns to the court this weekend with a trio of non-conference matches at the Midwest Region Crossover at Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Ind. The Panthers will take on Hillsdale College to open the tournament Friday morning (11:30 a.m.), before squaring off against No. 16 Grand Valley State later that afternoon (4:30 p.m.). DU's third matchup, which will take place Saturday to close out the weekend, will be determined based on Friday's results.
The 18th annual Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover, the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament at one venue, will pit 11 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) volleyball teams against 12 institutions representing the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) and 14 programs from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
The Panthers (14-4, 5-2 GLVC) enter the weekend riding a hot streak over which they have won three straight GLVC contests, all via sweeps. This weekend's action concludes a five-match road swing for DU, which will play five of its final seven regular-season contests at O'Reilly Family Event Center following Saturday's match.
Fans may follow this weekend's action through Ballertv.com (subscription required), which will offer Midwest Region Crossover weekend passes for $40.
SERIES HISTORIES
- The Panthers have participated in each of the previous 17 installments of the Midwest Regional Crossover, posting an impressive 31-19 overall mark at the event.
- Drury has won at least two of its three matches at the event in 12 of its last 15 appearances dating back to 2010.
- Drury has a 3-4 cumulative all-time record against its two known opponents at the Midwest Region Crossover.
- The Panthers are 2-3 all-time against Hillsdale, which they last faced off against on Oct. 12, 2018 in a 3-1 victory in Hammond.
- DU is 1-1 all-time vs. GVSU, with the Lakers claiming a straight-set victory over the Panthers in their most recent meeting on Oct. 19, 2019 in Hammond.
OPENING STORYLINES
- Drury has won four of its last five GLVC matches dating back to Sept. 25, including three in a row against SBU (Sept. 30), Illinois Springfield (Oct. 9, and Quincy (Oct. 10) -- all via sweeps -- giving the Panthers their first three-match win streak in conference play since ending the 2025 regular season with victories over Missouri S&T, Lewis and Indianapolis (Nov. 8-15).
- DU enters Friday's opening contest 9-2 away from O'Reilly Family Event Center, including a 5-1 mark in neutral-court matches; the Panthers' .818 win percentage away from home represents its best season mark during the Division II era (1994-present).
- In its only previous matchup against a Top 25 club this sesason, Drury posted a four-set win over No. 4 Washburn (Sept. 12), marking its first win over a top five team since an Oct. 13, 2018 victory over Ferris State.
- Drury brings a cumulative program record of 894-778-17 -- good for a .534 winning percentage -- into Friday's action.
- Head coach Kelly Richardson has made a strong first impression as DU's newest bench boss, entering the weekend 14-4, which represents the best start to a career by a Drury volleyball head coach.
- Richardson then racked up career coaching victory No. 100 with DU's Aug. 29 victory over Texas A&M International; she brings a 112-227 cumulative collegiate coaching record into the weekend.
- DU, which was tabbed No. 8 in the conference's preseason poll, enters the week tied with Lewis for fourth place in the GLVC regular-season standings.
- As a team, Drury leads the GLVC in digs per set (18.38), ranking fifth in the nation; Jacy Bray (3.38) and Abby Renshaw (3.00) pace the Panthers in the same category.
- Drury ranks second in the GLVC lead in blocks (2.23 per set), with Skylar Hilton (1.08) and Gracie Kimrey (0.90) each ranking among the top 12 defenders in the circuit; the Panthers also rank 26th nationally in blocks per set as a team.
- Drury has limited the opposition to a hitting percentage of .135, which ranks second in the GLVC and 19th among all NCAA Division II schools.
- Hilton ranks third in the GLVC and 22nd nationally in hitting (.394); the Ozark, Mo., product also has a team-best 64 blocks on the year and 180 for her two-year DU career.
- Hilton's 1.08 blocks per set also rank second among all GLVC players.
- Kimrey ranks 12th in the conference with her 0.90 blocks per set average; the redshirt sophomore also ranks 10th in the GLVC in hitting (.311).
- Kimrey topped the 200-kill mark in last Saturday's victory at Quincy; she also needs just four more blocks to reach the 100-block milestone as a Panther.
- Renshaw's 2.60 kills per set trail only Hilton and Chaney Barth on the Panthers' leaderboard, while her 18 service aces rank second on the squad; she topped the 400-kill mark for her DU career with her 14-kill effort last Friday at UIS.
- Renshaw's 180 digs are second on the club this season as well.
- Kim Quinit enters Friday's contest just 63 digs away from the 1,000-dig milestone for her Drury career.
- Bray, who earned her first career GLVC Setter of the Week award on Sept. 13, stretched her streak of consecutive double-digit assist totals to 41 in a row with Drury's two road victories last weekend (dating back to Sept. 12, 2025); she previously topped the 1,000-assist plateau for both her collegiate career and two-year DU career in a Sept. 25 win over William Jewell.
- Bray enters Friday's contest with 1,155 career assists to her credit, including 1,132 as a Panther.
- Bray paces a Panther offense that has posted the second-leading kill average (13.67 per set) and third-leading assist average (12.65 per set) in the GLVC to date.
- A Nixa, Mo., product, Bray handed out a career-high 49 assists to go along with 24 digs in DU's five-set loss to Southwest Oklahoma State (Sept. 11); the junior's assist total marked the top single-match effort by a Panther since Lauren Tyler's 50-assist effort vs. Truman State on Oct. 11, 2024.
- Bray ranks third in the GLVC and 25th nationally in assists (10.07 per set), while her total of 604 assists ranks fourth in the conference.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
- Drury returns 10 letterwinners from last season's 17-13 team that finished 7-6 in conference play to advance to the GLVC Tournament for the first time since 2019.
- DU won eight of its first nine matches, matching its best start to a season since 2017.
- Junior setter Jacy Bray brings a streak of 41 consecutive double-digit assist performances into the week (since Sept. 12, 2025); Bray logged nine double-doubles and recorded 528 assists (4.98 per set) and 245 digs in 2025 and has nine doubles, 604 assists (10.07) and 203 digs (3.38) this season to date.
- Junior defensive specialist Kim Quinit enters the weekend with 937 career digs, in addition to 50 service aces to her credit.
- Sophomore middle blocker Skylar Hilton ranked fourth overall in the GLVC and 48th nationally with her 116 blocks last fall, which represented the top season tally by a Panther rookie since Elizabeth Bunch's 116 in 2001.
- Senior outside hitter Chaney Barth topped the 300-kill and 300-dig milestones for her career last fall in her first season with the Panthers; she enters the week with 453 career kills to her credit.
- Juniors Emerson Grossman, Jenna LaBarge, Kennedy Outler and Abby Renshaw have each earned significant playing time over their first two seasons in Scarlet and Gray; Grossman recorded a career-best 58 kills (1.21 per set) and 31 total blocks last season, while Renshaw racked up 176 kills (1.81 per set) and 41 blocks in 2025.
- Sophomores Caroline Red, Amelia White and Gracie Kimrey will be looking for breakthrough seasons as well.
- In addition to its corps of returners, Drury welcomes nine newcomers to the mix, led by transfers Reagan Baade, Isy Purrington, Sophia Frerking and Sydney Walker; additionally, freshmen Gwen Kubik, Lucy Hafer, Falon Stroup, Taylor Wood and Bella Asante round out the deep class of newcomers and should give Richardson additional options this fall.
- Drury also turned in a strong 2025-26 year in the classroom, as seven returning Panthers were named Academic All-GLVC, paced by Quinit and Renshaw, who each earned CSC Academic All-District recognition at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Drury returns to Springfield for the first of three consecutive home matches next Friday (Oct. 23) with a 6 p.m. GLVC contest against Truman State.
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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