SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Quincy Hawks claimed their third straight victory on Friday night, defeating Drury in four sets (17–25, 25–18, 25–17, 25–23). With the win, Quincy improves to 16–5 overall and 5–2 in GLVC play.
In the opening set, the Hawks fell behind early and were unable to recover after a seven-point Panther run made it 9–2. Quincy cut the margin to five at one point, but the teams traded points down the stretch and Drury held on for a 25–17 win. The Hawks had just nine kills in the frame while hitting .125 compared to Drury's 14 kills and .205 hitting percentage.
Set two flipped in Quincy's favor as the Hawks benefitted from early Drury errors to build a 5–2 lead. The advantage doubled after more miscues combined with kills from
Janelle Pye-Blacknard and
Zeynep Cetin, pushing the score to 12–6. Drury pulled within two late at 18–16, but Quincy closed strong, scoring seven of the final nine points to secure a 25–18 victory, capped by a service ace from
Elena Kasavica. Both teams tallied 11 kills, but Drury's nine errors and .043 hitting percentage proved costly.
The Hawks carried that momentum into the third frame, opening with a 7–1 surge behind a pair of kills from Pye-Blacknard and Cetin. The Panthers could never erase the deficit, drawing within three on multiple occasions, but Quincy responded with timely scoring bursts, including a 5-of-6 run to seal a 25–17 win on a service ace from
Macey Rocco. Quincy hit a match-best .256 in the set with 16 kills, while holding Drury to just eight kills on .108 hitting.
Set four proved to be the most competitive of the night as the teams exchanged runs and traded points throughout. Neither side led by more than three until Quincy used a late 3–0 run to go up 19–15. Drury refused to fold, but a Panther error closed out the set at 25–23, giving the Hawks the four-set road victory. Offense was at the forefront in the final frame with Quincy recording 18 kills to Drury's 15.
Statistically, Quincy finished with 54 kills on a .191 hitting percentage, adding six service aces and six team blocks. Drury countered with 48 kills on .147 hitting, but leaned heavily on its net defense with 13 blocks. The defensive battle in the back row was nearly even, with Quincy posting 88 digs to Drury's 92.
Individually,
Susanna Beretti had a monster outing with a double-double of 17 kills (.275) and 24 digs, while Cetin delivered a career performance with a personal-best 13 kills and 16.0 points on an outstanding .619 hitting percentage to go along with one solo and four block assists. Pye-Blacknard added 10 kills and 15 digs, while
Erin Matzke contributed nine kills on .310 hitting. Kasavica ran the offense with 40 assists and added 18 digs and three aces.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, October 25th, as they travel to Bolivar, Mo., to face Southwest Baptist. The Bearcats enter with an 8–13 overall record and 1–5 GLVC mark following a four-set loss to Illinois Springfield. First serve is set for 3:00 PM at the Meyer Sports Center.
