DU junior Kayla Hellebusch
Volleyball Panthers Open Play Friday In GLVC Tournament
Drury Sports Information
11/12/2009 2:53:13 PM
Drury will try to finish off its most successful season as an NCAA-II member with a Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title this weekend when the Panthers open play Friday in the league tournament in Romeoville, Ill.
Seventh-seeded Drury (16-13) will take on second-seeded Indianapolis (32-1) in a 2:30 p.m. first-round match at the Lewis University gym. In other first-round matches, No. 6 seed Southern Indiana will play No. 3 seed Missouri-St. Louis at noon, No. 5 seed Rockhurst will play No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky at 5:30 and No. 8 seed Saint Joseph's will take on top-seed and host Lewis at 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals are at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and the title match at 1 p.m. Sunday, all at Lewis.
Drury and Indy met once during the regular season, with the Greyhounds rolling to a 3-0 victory over the Panthers on Oct. 30 at Weiser Gym.
First-year coach Ashleigh Shear's Panthers have delivered the program's first winning season since 1993 and first-ever as a D-II member after rebounding from an 0-2 deficit to beat Wisconsin-Parkside 3-2 on Saturday in Kenosha, Wis. Junior middle hitter Kyrie Hopkins had a career-high 24 kills and junior setter Austin Warren registered a career-best 64 assists to lead the Panthers.
DRURY NOTES
*The 16-13 mark also guarantees just the second .500 or better season by the Panthers since 1993. The 2007 DU squad finished the year with a 15-15 mark.
*One big reason for the turnaround - the Panthers are 5-2 this season in five-set matches, after going 1-4 in those situations last season.
*Drury is making its fourth trip in five years as a league member to the GLVC Tournament, but is still looking for its first win in the post-season event. The Panthers fell to former league member SIU Edwardsville in the opening round in 2005 and 2007 and lost to Lewis in the first round last season.
*Junior setter Austin Warren has 1,113 assists this season, the sixth highest single-season total in the program's history. Kim Metts set the DU record with 1,554 in 1991, when the Panthers played 52 matches (24-28).
*Warren also has 2,941 assists for her career, the fifth most in DU history. Metts had 4,404 from 1990-93.
Panther Podcast With Drury Volleyball Coach Ashleigh Shear
Live Webcast Through B2 Network
GLVC Tournament Page