BOLIVAR, Mo. – Drury volleyball continued its strong start to the 2026 season Friday with a pair of straight-set victories over Arkansas-Monticello (25-18, 25-7, 25-16) and Lane College (25-10, 25-7, 25-14) on the opening day of competition at the SBU Invitational at Meyer Wellness Center.
Drury (5-1) rode big performances from Skylar Hilton (9 kills/3 blocks) and Abby Renshaw (8 kills/11 digs) to a 3-0 win over UAM (1-6), battling back from a first-set deficit behind .320 hitting and a defense that stifled the Weevils. UAM was limited to .042 hitting and never led in the third set.
The Panthers never trailed in the nightcap against Lane, hitting .350 as a team while holding the Dragons (0-6) to a -.032 percentage for the match. All 18 Drury players who dressed saw action in the contest, with 14 different Panthers logging at least one kill in DU's fourth-consecutive straight-set win.
HOW IT HAPPENED - DRURY 3, ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 0
- Drury dominated from start to finish against the Weevils, rallying from a 10-5 opening-set deficit thanks to a 6-0 spurt that was fueled by kills from four different Panthers.
- After UAM evened the score, DU reeled off four more points in a row to take a 15-11 edge.
- The Panthers, who hit .302 in the opening stanza, closed out the first set by claiming 20 of the final 28 points, led by Gracie Kimrey's four kills.
- Powered by three Hilton kills, DU seized control of the second set with a 7-1 run that handed them a 10-4 advantage.
- Renshaw, who tallied six of her eight kills in the set, helped the Panthers build an 18-6 lead with four of those during what would swell into a 22-4 outburst to close the set.
- Drury hit a season-best .536 in the second set, committing just one attack error.
- Behind three combined service aces by Jacy Bray and Renshaw, the Panthers catapulted to an early lead in the third set, winning eight of the first nine points.
- Bray dealt a pair of aces to stake the Panthers to a 4-1 edge, before Renshaw added one of her own during a 4-0 spurt.
- DU never trailed in the third, overcoming a 4-1 Weevils run by claiming 11 of the next 16 points to stretch its margin to 20-10.
- The Panthers withstood a late UAM run, finishing off the 25-16 victory on a Taylor Wood kill.
HOW IT HAPPENED - DRURY 3, LANE COLLEGE 0
- After Lane claimed the second point of the match to even the score at 1-1, Drury never looked back, claiming 16 of the next 20 points to claim a 25-10 opening-set victory.
- In all, nine different Panthers chipped in with a first-set kill, led by Kimrey's three kills.
- Amelia White added a pair of service aces for the Panthers, who hit .429 as a team.
- The second set was all Drury, as the Panthers built a 15-3 advantage and cruised to a 25-7 decision.
- DU topped the .400 hitting plateau for the second straight set, finishing with a .417 team mark; the Panthers committed just three attack errors in the first two sets combined.
- The third set featured more of the same, with DU racing out to a 10-3 lead and running away with the 25-14 clincher behind the play of freshmen Gwen Kubik and Wood, who combined for eight kills in the set.
NOTABLES
- With her career-high 33 assists vs. UAM and 28 more vs. Lane, Bray extended her streak of consecutive double-digit assist performances to 29 in a row (dating back to Sept. 12, 2025).
- Hilton hit a blistering .692 with a team-best nine kills and three blocks, while Wood added seven kills, four assists and four digs vs. UAM; Hilton logged a .571 percentage against Lane.
- Renshaw added eight kills and 11 digs, while Kimrey tallied six kills and hit .455 against the Weevils.
- Emerson Grossman logged a career-high five blocks vs. UAM.
- Wood led DU in the second match with eight kills, while Kubik finished with a career-best six; for the day, Wood registered a team-leading 15 kills.
UP NEXT
Drury will conclude play in the SBU Invitational with two additional matchups Saturday in Bolivar, beginning with a 1 p.m. contest with Christian Brothers, followed by a 5 p.m. tilt against East Central.
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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