Drury University Athletics

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury volleyball kicked off the Kelly Richardson era with a convincing victory over Minot State, before falling to Southern Nazarene in its nightcap to complete an opening-day split at the Drury Invitational Friday at O'Reilly Family Event Center.

In its opening contest of the season--and Richardson's first match at the helm of the Panthers--Drury (1-1) dropped a hard-fought opening set, only to rally to take the next three stanzas for the 26-28, 25-19, 25-11, 25-15 win over Minot State (1-1). Jacy Bray totaled 30 assists and 19 digs, while Chaney Barth matched her Drury career best with 12 kills to pace the Panthers.

DU never quite found its rhythm in its second match against SNU (2-0), dropping three straight back-and-forth sets with a Crimson Storm team that swept both of its season-opening matches Friday. Barth and Skylar Hilton each registered a team-best 10 kills, while Hilton added six blocks. 

HOW IT HAPPENED - DRURY 3, MINOT STATE 1

• Drury fought off six set points for the Beavers in the opening set, but Minot State came up with two straight when it mattered most to claim a set that featured 11 ties and four lead changes with a 28-26 decision.
• Minot State used a strong opening stretch to grab an early lead after claiming four of the match's first five points.
• The Panthers responded by winning seven of the next eight points to seize an 8-5 advantage.
• The Beavers battled back to even the score with three straight points, and the two clubs traded blows until a 5-1 spurt by Minot State handed the visitors a 21-17 advantage—the largest for either squad in the opening set.
• Down 24-20, the Panthers won four consecutive points, taking advantage of a trio of Beaver miscues and a Gracie Kimrey kill to pull even.
• Twice more the Beavers served for the set, only to have the Panthers negate each opportunity.
• But Drury would not be able to come up with a seventh win on a Beaver set point, as a setting error by the Panthers, followed by an Emily Willis kill provided the margin of victory for MSU in the opening set.
• DU responded in a big way, using a 7-3 scoring run to snap a 16-16 deadlock in the second en route to a 25-19 win that evened the match at one set apiece.
• The Panthers, who hit .253 as a team during the second set, received a lift from freshman Taylor Wood, who logged a pair of key kills during the critical run.
• Drury maintained its momentum during a red-hot stretch to open the third set, winning six of the first seven points, then reeling off six straight as part of a run that saw the Panthers build a commanding 16-4 cushion.
• DU, which hit .333 for the set, closed out its second straight with another strong run, extending its margin to many as 15 points.
• Another newcomer, junior Sydney Walker, came off the bench to record a team-leading five kills in the third set.
• The Panthers put the fourth set on ice early, racing out to an 8-3 advantage behind two more kills from Walker.
• The Beavers closed the gap to three with an 8-6 spurt, but a kill by Bray and a Jenna LaBarge service ace sparked what would become an 11-4 run that closed out the 25-15 clinching victory for DU.

HOW IT HAPPENED - SOUTHERN NAZARENE 3, DRURY 0

• Southern Nazarene followed its straight-sets victory over Texas A&M International with another strong showing against Drury, sweeping all six sets it played Friday.
• The Crimson Storm hit a blazing .452 behind the nine combined kills of Kate Wright and Riley Richardson to take the opening set from the Panthers, 25-21.
• Drury trailed early, but used a 12-5 scoring run to seize its largest lead of the set at 15-11; the Panthers capitalized on several Crimson Storm errors, as well as a pair of Hilton kills to build their four-point advantage.
• SNU captured eight of the next 12 points to pull even at 19-19, however; after DU briefly forged a one-point lead, the visitors responded with the key stretch of the set, taking five straight points to earn their first set point at 24-20.
• Following Hilton's fifth kill of the stanza, Rayanna Mauldin's second kill of the scoring run closed out the set for the Beavers.
• The second set followed a similar pattern for Drury, which took a 9-7 lead on a kill from Wood, before the visitors responded by winning six of the next seven points to seize control.
• SNU stretched its lead to as many as five points courtesy of a 5-1 spurt, before holding off a late charge by the Panthers for the narrow 25-23 win.
• The third and final set was perhaps the tightest of the three, with neither club holding a lead of more than two points; DU took a 10-8 lead with a mini run of three straight points, only to see the Crimson Storm charge back to reclaim the lead.
• The two clubs remained deadlocked into the late stages, with DU erasing SNU leads on seven different occasions, pulling even for a final time at 24-24 on a Crimson Storm attack error.
• But two consecutive kills by Mackenzie Moseley and Mauldin proved to be the difference in another two-point margin.

• Richardson picked up the 99th head coaching victory of her collegiate career with DU's win over Minot State.
• Bray recorded her 24th and 25th consecutive double-digit assist performances dating back to last year's Drury Invitational (Sept. 12, 2025), as well as her 10th double-double as a Panther in the opening match; she also matched her career high for digs with 19 vs. Minot State.
• Bray added 25 assists against SNU, giving her 55 for the day.
• Barth logged a Drury career high with 12 kills vs. MSU, matching two previous performances last season (Sept. 12 vs. Northwest Missouri State and Sept. 20 at Henderson State); she finished the day with 22 combined kills in the two contests.
• Hilton added to her career blocks total with a match-high seven in the opening game, then six more in the nightcap to raise her DU total to 129.
• Kimrey added six blocks of her own to go along with seven kills in the first match of the day, before picking up six more kills vs. SNU.
• Wood turned in a strong collegiate debut, recording 10 total kills, as well 23 assists and seven blocks in the two matches.
• With its win over Minot State, DU has now claimed wins in three consecutive season openers.
• Overall, Drury has won 27 times in its 52 season openers on record.
• The Panthers have gone 13-4 in season debuts since 2011.

UP NEXT
Drury will conclude its opening weekend of play Saturday when it meets Texas A&M International for a 1 p.m. contest before taking on Newman to wrap up the DU Invitational at 5 p.m.

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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