Drury volleyball announces 2026 season schedule

Drury volleyball has finalized a 2026 schedule that will feature 12 matches at O’Reilly Family Event Center this fall.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Kelly Richardson, the Panthers will kick off their 2026 campaign by hosting the Drury Invitational over the weekend of Aug. 28-29. Drury will face off against Minot State and Southern Nazarene on the opening day of the tournament, before wrapping up the weekend with matches against Texas A&M International and Newman the following afternoon at The O’.

The Panthers will make the short trek to Bolivar for the SBU Invitational (Sept. 4-5), where they will take on Arkansas-Monticello and Lane College on day one of the event. DU will conclude their trip the following day with contests against Christian Brothers College and East Central at Meyer Wellness Center.

Drury concludes its pre-conference tournament slate with three matches at the Ichabod Classic in Topeka, Kansas the weekend of Sept. 11-12. DU squares off against Arkansas-Monticello for a second time, then matches up against Southwest Oklahoma on the opening day of the tournament, then closes out the weekend against host Washburn.

The Panthers open Great Lakes Valley Conference play with road matches against McKendree (Sept. 18) and Missouri-St. Louis (Sept. 19), before returning to Springfield to open a three-match home stand. Drury hosts Rockhurst (Sept. 25) in its initial GLVC home contest, before taking on William Jewell (Sept. 26) and SBU (Sept. 30) to round out the home swing.

Following their bye weekend in the conference schedule, the Panthers return to the road for league matches against Illinois Springfield (Oct. 9) and Quincy (Oct. 10). DU will also compete in the Midwest Regional Crossover the weekend of Oct. 16-17, in Hammond, Indiana. The Panthers will take on members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, with at least three matches slated for each team based on conference standings.

Another three-match home stand follows, beginning with GLVC tilts against Truman State (Oct. 23) and Upper Iowa (Oct. 24). DU will also host Pittsburg State (Oct. 27) in its final non-conference contest of the season.

Next, Drury will kick off the closing stretch of the GLVC season with road contests against Missouri S&T (Oct. 30) and Maryville (Oct. 31), before wrapping up the regular season with back-to-back home matches with Indianapolis (Nov. 6) and Lewis (Nov. 7).

The GLVC Tournament returns to Williamsville, Illinois, where the top eight teams in the league standings will play for the conference title Nov. 12-14, at Williamsville High School Fieldhouse.

The NCAA Division II Tournament gets underway with Regional play Nov. 19-22, and concludes with the eight Regional champions advancing to the final site in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the quarterfinals, semifinals and national championship will be contested, Dec. 3-5.

Richardson was named Drury’s 10th head coach in January following a 17-13 season for the Panthers last fall.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Drury volleyball releases 2026 schedule