SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Behind a complete all-around performance in front of a raucous crowd at O'Reilly Family Event Center Wednesday evening, Drury volleyball turned in its 10th straight-set victory of the season with its 14th win in its last 16 meetings with Southwest Baptist (25-20, 25-19, 25-19).
Abby Renshaw recorded her sixth double-double of the year with 10 kills and a career-best 16 digs, and Skylar Hilton led the Panthers with 12 kills on .440 hitting. Additionally, Jacy Bray sparked a Drury offense that hit .258 on the night with a 37-assist, 11-dig effort for her eighth double-double of the season.
Drury (12-4, 3-2 GLVC) limited the Bearcats (10-6, 2-3 GLVC) to .153 hitting, outlasting SBU in an opening set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes, before claiming matching 25-19 decisions in the second and third stanzas to improve to 6-1 against SBU all-time in O'Reilly.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After trading blows with the Bearcats over the first 15 points of the contest, the Panthers grabbed the first significant advantage with a 5-0 run that was fueled with three consecutive Renshaw kills that handed DU a 12-8 edge.
- The Bearcats responded with five straight points of their own to reclaim a one-point lead.
- Trailing 14-13 moments later, Drury went to work on the decisive run, riding two kills apiece by Chaney Barth and Hilton to establish a four-point advantage (19-15).
- SBU battled back once again, this time closing the gap to a single point (20-19), before the Panthers wrapped up the opening-set win by claiming five of the next six points, with Gracie Kimrey accounting for two kills during the run.
- DU used a 12-3 run to seize control of the second set, turning a one-point deficit into a 13-5 advantage.
- SBU trimmed its deficit to three points on a 9-4 spurt, powered by two kills apiece from Aubrie Fellmeth and Gabriela Dupree.
- But the Panthers responded by taking five of the next six points, before Hilton put away a pair of kills down the stretch to seal the outcome; Hilton led all attackers with six kills in the second set, while helping the Drury defense limit SBU to .061 hitting.
- A pair of Taylor Wood kills spurred an early DU run in the third, as the Panthers once again built a lead that SBU would never overcome.
- A 5-0 spurt by the Panthers made it a 12-8 spread, before a Kimrey kill capped an 11-4 run that gave DU its largest lead of the set (18-12).
- SBU made a late push to climb back to within two points, but a pair of Hilton kills and a Renshaw service ace turned the momentum back in the Panthers' favor, this time for good.
- Four different Panthers -- Hilton, Kimrey, Renshaw and Wood -- registered three kills in the third to help put the 25-19 win on ice.
NOTABLES
- Hilton led DU in kills (12), hitting (.440) and blocks (3), adding to her team-leading season figures in each of the latter two categories.
- Renshaw was nearly flawless in her 26 service receptions (.962) and eclipsed her previous career best for digs (14 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma State on Sept. 11, 2026).
- Bray topped the 30-assist plateau for the 11th time this season -- and the fourth in a row.
- Wood tallied six kills, 11 digs and three blocks on the night, while Kimrey finished with seven kills on .400 hitting.
- Drury improved to 58-23 all-time versus SBU, including a 14-2 mark against the Bearcats dating back to 2009.
- The Panthers' 10 straight-set victories mark their most in a season since 2018, when they logged 14 three-set sweeps.
- DU's 9-3 month of September also represents their best since 2018, when the Panthers went 10-1 in September.
- Drury's official home crowd of 861 was its largest of the season.
QUOTABLES
"We did a really good job of being consistent on both sides of the ball," head coach Kelly Richardson said. "Our defense allowed us to spread the ball offensively by keeping the ball in our setter's hands, so it was a very good showing by our back row to allow our front row to really shine and do what they do."
"Skylar (Hilton) does such a good job of being consistent in various places along the net, so being able to get those kills in front of the setter, but then also get around to be the offensive threat that she is on the slide behind the setter just makes it difficult to defend her. She did a great job of demanding the ball and then executing. And Abby (Renshaw) did a fantastic job of following the game plan, putting the ball where it needed to be offensively and keeping the ball off the ground. Her serve-receive was fantastic, so she did a really good job of keeping our first-ball contact in our setter's hands."
UP NEXT
Following their lone bye weekend of the regular season, the Panthers return to GLVC play with road matchups against Illinois Springfield (Oct. 9) and Quincy (Oct. 10) next weekend.
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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