North STL News

The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team began its Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) season with a win over Drury University, securing a three-set sweep on Friday at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Missouri. With this victory, the Tritons improved their record to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Drury dropped to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the GLVC.

UMSL started strong in the first set, achieving a .343 hitting percentage with 14 kills and only two errors from 35 attempts. The Tritons limited Drury to a -.065 hitting percentage during this period. After leading 7-5 early, UMSL went on a decisive 13-4 run to build a substantial lead. Alayna Santel contributed five kills in the opening set, while Hannah Copeland added four.

In the second set, UMSL maintained control throughout and scored eight of the last ten points to secure a 25-16 win. The team posted an impressive .560 hitting percentage for the set. Bridget Cassady led with six kills on seven error-free attempts.

Although UMSL trailed briefly at the start of the third set, they regained momentum with a closing 9-3 run that resulted in a 25-15 victory and completed the sweep. Santel and Maggie Johnson each recorded four kills in this final frame.

For the match, UMSL finished with a .337 hitting percentage, tallying 43 kills against nine errors from 101 attempts—marking their lowest error count of the season. Santel led all players with 14 kills; Johnson and Cassady had eight each. Caitlin Bishop recorded a match-high of 29 assists, while Skylar Weaver collected a match-high of 13 digs. Bishop, Santel, and Iyannah Jackson each served two aces.

Drury was held to just a .051 hitting percentage for the contest with Chaney Barth leading her team with seven kills; Ella Rademaker added six more. Jacy Bray registered 13 assists for Drury and Kim Quinit had ten digs.

UMSL will continue conference play on Saturday when they travel north on Highway 13 to face Southwest Baptist at Bolivar, Missouri.