SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - For the eighth time this season, the Truman State University volleyball team faced a ranked opponent and it came at No. 13 Drury on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs dropped to 2-6 in those eight outings as the Panthers won with set scores of 24-26, 25-18, 25-11, 23-25, and 15-7.

After just four losses in its first 20 matches to begin the year, Truman (19-9, 9-7 GLVC) has come up short in five of its last eight. Four of those last five losses were against teams that were ranked or received votes in the AVCA's top 25 poll. On the other side, Drury (24-4, 14-2 GLVC) has won four in a row, 10 of its last 11 and is a perfect 10-0 at home.

Individually, Jocelynn Livingston and Holly Hildebrand were the two Bulldogs with at least 10 kills at 12 and 10, respectively. Ellie Kaat (seven kills) was held to fewer than 10 kills for just the sixth time this season and finished with a negative hitting percentage (-.114) for just the third time. Truman's other leaders included Savvy Hughes (pictured/38 assists), Lauren Wacker (two aces), Sam Yancy (five blocks and 25 digs), and Hildebrand (five blocks).

In a match that featured 36 ties and 14 lead changes, the first set saw 17 and six of them, respectively. Neither team led by more than two points throughout the period, but Truman was able to score the final two points and go up 1-0 in the match.

In the second set, Truman scored the first point before Drury rattled off five in a row to force a Bulldog timeout. The Bulldogs proceeded to answer with a 9-4 run of their own to take the lead, 10-9. Following two more ties at 10-10 and 11-11, the Panthers doubled their opponent, 14-7, to knot the match up at 1-1.

The third set was all about the hosts as they won it by 14, 25-11, and pushed the home team back against a wall for the fourth set.

In that fourth frame, After Drury went ahead 4-2 in the beginning, Truman scored nine of the next 12 points to lead 11-7. However, the Panthers responded with nine of the next 11 points and had a three-point advantage, 16-13. Following a 10th tie at 17-17, the home team used a quick 5-1 run to regain a four-point lead, 22-18, but the visitors weren't done. The Bulldogs came back with a 7-1 run that sealed the set and sent the match to a fifth.

In the fifth, the three ties came in the first six points scored and once it was 3-3, Drury outscored Truman 12-4 the rest of the way to win it on its home court.

Next up, the Bulldogs will play their final nonconference match of the regular season when they travel to Lindenwood on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. start.

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