ROLLA, Mo. – Drury volleyball relied on a familiar formula to extend its Great Lakes Valley Conference win streak to six straight matches, securing a berth in the conference tournament behind a balanced offensive attack and a stout defense to edge Missouri S&T in five sets (27-25, 28-30, 25-15, 23-25, 15-7) Friday evening at Gibson Arena.
Chaney Barth registered a Drury career-high 17 kills for the second contest in a row, and Gracie Kimrey hit .619 with 13 kills to pace the Drury (19-6, 8-2 GLVC) attack. Additionally, Skylar Hilton powered a Panther defense that held the Miners (12-12, 2-8 GLVC) to just .156 hitting with a career-best 12 blocks (1 BS/11 BA), while freshman Gwen Kubik added a career-high 13 kills and Jacy Bray notched her second 52-assist effort in a row to match her personal single-match high.
Drury outlasted S&T for a 27-25 opening-set decision, ran away with a 10-point win in the third, then recorded a dominant fifth-set win to secure its second straight trip to the GLVC Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Drury took control of the opening set with a 6-1 scoring run, then fought off a late Missouri S&T rally for a 27-25 victory.
- After the Miners wiped out a 21-17 Drury lead with four unanswered points, then earned a set point at 25-24, the Panthers won three consecutive points via kills from Barth, Kubik and Taylor Wood to earn the win.
- DU prevailed in the opening set despite a red-hot attack by the Miners, who hit .347 as a team in the first game.
- The Miners returned the favor in the second set, however, winning three straight points for the 30-28 win after the Panthers had negated a pair of S&T set points to take a 28-27 lead.
- A Kate Zipprich kill, followed by a Grae Hunter ace handed the Miners a 29-28 advantage, and Selin Ozdemir sealed the victory with a kill.
- The Panthers grabbed an early 5-1 lead in the third, courtesy of four S&T errors, then extended that advantage to nine points via a 6-1 spurt midway through the set.
- The Miners would get no closer than seven points the rest of the set, as the Drury defense locked in to limit S&T to just .048 hitting in an eventual 25-15 win for the Panthers.
- But the home team fought back to level the score in the fourth, using a 7-2 run to snap a 16-16 tie and take control.
- After the Miners built a 23-18 cushion, the Panthers battled back behind three straight Kubik kills to make it a one-point game.
- But Zipprich, who combined with Madison Smith for 10 of S&T's 14 kills in the set, delivered the set-clinching kill for the 25-23 win.
- The Panthers rode two more kills from Kubik to an early 5-2 lead in the decisive set, then stretched the margin to as many as eight points, as Barth recorded four of her match-high 17 kills in the fifth set -- a 15-7 Drury win.
NOTABLES
- Drury evened its all-time series mark against Missouri S&T at 16-16.
- Drury's 19 overall wins this season represent the most by the Panthers since 2021 (20); its eight GLVC wins is also DU's top total in five years (10).
- Head coach Kelly Richardson picked up her 19th victory as the Panthers' coach, moving past L.A. Anderson (2000) into sole possession of the top spot on Drury's coaching wins leaderboard by a first-year head coach.
- The Panthers also hiked their road/neutral site record to 11-4, including a 5-1 mark in true road contests this season.
- Drury locked in on the defensive side, holding the Miners to .073 hitting over the final three sets.
- Kim Quinit and Amelia White recorded 21 digs apiece to pace the DU defense.
- Additionally, Barth topped the 500-kill plateau for her collegiate career with her best single-match total as a Panther, eclipsing her 16 kills vs. Hillsdale on Oct. 16, 2026.
- Bray logged her 15th double-double of the season -- and fifth in a row -- finishing with 18 digs; the junior setter registered her seventh straight 30+ assist performance and 19th overall this season, as well as her third 50+ assist effort.
- Bray also added six kills and a pair of service aces.
UP NEXT
Drury will take on Maryville Saturday afternoon in its final Great Lakes Valley Conference road contest of the season, beginning at 3 p.m. inside Moloney Arena in St. Louis.
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