After guiding Drury volleyball to a 4-0 weekend at the SBU Invitational, Panthers junior Jacy Bray and sophomore Skylar Hilton have been named the Athletic Solutions Great Lakes Valley Conference Setter and Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Bray, who totaled 129 assists (10.75 per set) in fueling Drury's sweep of its four matches in Bolivar, becomes the first Panther ever to earn a GLVC Setter of the Week honor. The junior from Nixa stretched her streak of consecutive double-digit assist totals to 31 in a row (dating back to Sept. 12, 2025), pacing a Panther offense record the No. 2 hitting percentage (.254) and kill average (13.96 per set) in the GLVC.
Bray registered 33 assists and a season-best two
service aces against Arkansas-Monticello, then posted 39 helpers, eight digs and a career-high three kills vs. East Central to help DU to its sixth consecutive straight-set victory.
Hilton delivered team-leading totals of 29 kills and 11 blocks to go along with a blistering .538 hitting percentage over Drury's four wins at SBU, extending its best start to a season in nine years (7-1). The sophomore from Ozark matched a season high with 11 kills in Drury's victory over Christian Brothers on Saturday, Sept. 5, after hitting a season best .692 in DU's tournament opener vs. Arkansas-Monticello the previous afternoon.
Hilton, who leads the GLVC with her .484 hitting percentage, capped a standout tournament with 16 kills and a season-best seven blocks to help DU close out the weekend with a sweep of East Central for its sixth consecutive victory.
Drury travels to Topeka, Kansas this weekend to take part in the Ichabod Classic, beginning with a 9 a.m. contest Friday, Sept. 11 against Arkansas-Monticello.
Drury cross country opens season with pair of 3rd place finishes
Drury cross country opened its 2026 season with a pair of third-place finishes at the Bearcat Invite Saturday, Sept. 5.
The Bearcat Invite opened with the men's 6K race, with Drury freshman Jayden Brookins leading the Panthers' charge with a fourth-place effort (19:08.53). Newcomers Bowen Nelson and Samuel Earnest followed in 11th and 14th, respectively. Overall, the men totaled 54 points, finishing one point behind Southwest Baptist. Missouri Southern won the event with 26 points.
In her first cross country race for Drury, Rachel Omoruyi finished second in the women's 5K with a time of 18:21.18. Sophomores Kate Hull and Josephine Rathsam followed in 14th and 17th place. Drury's top five finishers combined for 63 points, finishing third. Southwest Baptist won the race with 22 points, and Missouri Southern finished second with 47 points.
Tion McLeish, unattached, was the men's individual champion with a time of 18:28.84. In the women's race, Southwest Baptist's Natalie Gerdes claimed the top spot with a time of 18:15.68.
Drury cross country returns to Springfield for the Queen City After Dark meet on Friday, Sept. 11.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Drury Panthers volleyball players Bray, Hilton snag GLVC weekly awards
