The UMSL Tritons are now 27-0, ranked No. 2 in the country, and No. 1 in the Midwest Region. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

NCAA Women’s Volleyball123Final
#2 UMSL (27-0, 12-0)252525(3)
Drury (6-21, 3-9)231815(0)

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD, MO — The No. 2-ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s volleyball team claimed the outright Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season championship with a straight sets win over Drury University, Friday evening at the O’Reilly Family Events Center. With its two wins last weekend and two losses by second-place Quincy, the Tritons had clinched no worse than a tie for the title.

But the win on Friday insured that UMSL is no doubt the 2023 GLVC regular season champion.

The Tritons improved their overall record to 27-0 and their conference mark to 12-0, while the Panthers fell to 6-21 and 3-9 in GLVC play.

UMSL led 14-10 midway through the opening frame but Drury countered with a 7-1 run to grab a 17-15 advantage after a service ace from Kaitlin Dean. The Tritons answered with five straight to regain the lead at 20-17 on a kill by Mya Elliott.

The Panthers wouldn’t go away battling back to even things at 20 after a kill from Emily Strauss. UMSL got kills from Elliott and Delaney Humm and an ace from Lexie Rang to grab a 23-21 advantage. The two sides exchanged points as the Tritons reached set point first at 24-22 with a kill from Hannah Copeland. Drury fought off the first set point after a kill by Kayli Duncan but not a second as Hailey Flowers ended the frame with a kill.

UMSL led by as many as six in the middle stanza at 18-12 after an attack error by Strauss but the Panthers countered with four straight points to pull within two, after Duncan blocked Humm. The Tritons closed out the stanza scoring seven of the final nine points to take it 25-18 and a commanding 2-0 lead in the contest.

UMSL hit .273 in the frame with 16 kills against seven errors in 33 swings while Drury was held to a negative .029 hitting percentage.

The Tritons led by as many as 10 in the final set but the Panthers made a late run closing to within five before UMSL scored the final five points of the match to complete the sweep.

The Tritons finished the match hitting .273 with 46 kills against 16 errors in 110 chances. Rang led the way with 13 kills and 13 digs while Humm added 11 and Flowers finished with nine. Caitlin Bishop had 34 assists, Trysta Foster served a pair of aces, Elliott added five blocks.

Drury hit .089 for the contest with 31 kills against 21 errors in 112 swings. Duncan and Sanoma Hunter had eight kills apiece while Dean finished with seven. Tadlock had two aces, Lauren Tyler finished with 26 assists and Lexi Basler had a match-high 21 digs.

UMSL plays its final match of the regular season at Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

UMSL sports information contributed to this story.