Southwest Baptist’s wins at Drury with fifth set rally

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Southwest Baptist fought off two match points in the fifth set and defeated Drury for the first time since 2009 with a 3-2 win over the Panthers on Saturday at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
 
Drury took the first set 25-20, but Southwest Baptist pulled away from the Panthers for a 25-17 win the second. Drury erased a seven-point deficit in the third, but the Bearcats fought back to take the third 28-26. The Panthers forced a fifth set with a 25-13 win a fourth.
 
For the second straight game, Drury owned a 13-10 lead in the fifth set and was a point away from closing the match twice. Southwest Baptist got three straight kills from Ashley Lasher to take a 15-14 lead, then Aleena Peterson served an ace to win it for the Bearcats.
 
Drury’s Salma Lewis led both teams with 19 kills, while Chloe Rear collected a triple-double for the second straight game with 12 kills, 43 assists, and 19 digs. Juliana Squire had 29 digs, and Kayli Duncan posted 12 kills, one solo block and four block assists.
 
Lasher led Southwest Baptist with 12 kills and five block assists.
 
Drury steps out of conference for their next match as they travel to Harding for a 6 pm game on Tuesday.
 
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