Drury University Athletics

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Despite rallying to force a deciding fifth set, Drury volleyball dropped a seesaw battle with Lewis in the two clubs' Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season finale, as the Flyers claimed four of the final five points in the deciding stanza for a hard-fought 15-12 win that secured the victory (26-24, 21-25, 17-25, 25-15, 12-15) Saturday afternoon at O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Drury (20-8, 9-4 GLVC) rallied from a 19-11 deficit to pull out a 26-24 decision in the opening set, then leveled the match at two sets apiece with a 25-15 win in the fourth after the Flyers took the second and third games. 

But Lewis (15-13, 8-5 GLVC) turned to its defense to pull out the win, as the Flyers held Drury to .154 hitting in the fifth set. DU led 4-2 early in the fifth before Lewis won four straight points. Then, after Drury took an 11-10 lead on a Flyers attack error, the visitors won the next three points, as Kyra Marciniak logged back-to-back kills. Following an Emerson Grossman kill that pulled DU to within 13-12, Panther attack errors on the ensuing two points sealed the win for Lewis.

Abby Renshaw led Drury with a 17-kill, 17-dig performance, while Jacy Bray turned in her eighth consecutive double-double (39 assists, 14  digs) and Gracie Kimrey added 10 kills on .364 hitting for the Panthers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Drury found itself in a sizable first-set hole after Lewis established a 17-8 lead after a 6-2 scoring run turned a three-point edge into a commanding eight-point margin.
• But the Panthers fought back behind the play of Renshaw and Grossman, who combined for seven kills down the stretch as part of a 15-5 outburst that ultimately handed DU a 26-24 win.
• Amelia White contributed with two of her three service aces on the night during the critical run, with Grossman, Renshaw and Skylar Hilton delivering kills on three straight points to close out the set.
• It would be the Flyers' turn to post a comeback win in the second game, however, after Drury jumped out to a 7-3 lead; Lewis won the next five points, taking its first lead of the set on a one of Sarah Newberry's nine second-set kills.
• DU would rebound to claim a 14-12 advantage on a Kimrey kill, but the Flyers would use another 6-2 run to seize the upper hand (19-17).
• Drury would close to within one point on three different occasions, but Lewis won three points in a row to win it, including two via Ann-Kelly Velikov kills.
• Newberry hit a blistering .643 in the second set to help lead the Lewis attack.
• No comeback would be required in the third set, as the Flyers bounced out to another early advantage behind an attack that hit a collective .406 in an eventual 25-17 win.
• Lewis won five of the first six points of the third, then stretched its lead to as many as 10 points (20-10) as the Flyers committed just one attack error in the set.
• Drury turned the tables in the fourth to force the deciding set, however; the Panthers rode a 6-0 scoring to an 8-2 lead, then gradually stretched the margin to 10 points (20-10).
• Led by Gwen Kubik's six kills in the set, DU hit .233 while holding the Flyers to its lowest hitting percentage of the day (.073).
• The Panthers appeared poised to take control of the fifth set as well, winning the first two points, then taking a 4-2 lead on a Renshaw kill.
• But three consecutive errors and a Newberry kill put Lewis in front 6-4; DU battled back to take an 11-10 lead with a 3-0 spurt, before Lewis responded by winning the next three points to kick off its 5-1 scoring run that closed out the victory.

NOTABLES

• The Panthers closed out the regular season with a 20-8 overall record, as well as a 9-4 mark in GLVC play -- their best conference mark since finishing 11-4 in 2018.
• Drury secured a tie for fourth place in the final GLVC standings, matching Maryville's 9-4 league record.
• The Panthers fell to 3-21 all-time against Lewis.
• DU completed the 2026 season with a 9-3 home record for its best home win total since winning 12 at The O' in 2021.
• Grossman delivered a career-best nine kills while hitting .316 for Drury, while Kubik (9) and Taylor Wood (8) added to Drury's team total of 65 kills; Wood also recorded a career-best 14 assists to go along with six digs and three blocks.
• In addition to 17 digs by Renshaw and 14 from Bray, Kim Quinit recorded a match-high 26 -- her second-best total of the season (29) -- while White added a career-high 21 for the Panthers.
• Bray logged her 18th double-double of the season, while Renshaw turned in her 11th for the Panthers.
• Hilton finished the afternoon with six kills and seven blocks.

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