SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The UW-Parkside volleyball team earned a big road win at Drury Saturday afternoon, as the Rangers downed the Panthers in straight sets (26-24, 25-16, 28-26) in the team's final road match of the 2017 season.

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The Rangers improved to 12-13 overall and 7-6 in the GLVC while Drury, who was second in the West Division behind Rockhurst, falls to 17-10 overall and 6-8 in league play.

"I'm very proud of our players and their competitive grit today at Drury!" head coach Dominic Yoder said. "We had two epic comebacks to seal the win. We got some very gritty defense and strong offense from Lexi Turek in the seniors' final road match. We're excited to end the season with five straight at home."

Despite trailing early 8-2 and 21-16 late in the first set, Parkside battled to a 26-24 win to take a 1-0 lead. The Rangers scored six of the final seven points in the first set including the last three. In the second set, Parkside took control early, jumping out to 6-1 lead in beginning and finishing strong on its way to a 25-16 win to go up 2-0. The third set went back and forth, with the Panthers clinging to an 18-14 lead late in the set. That's when the Rangers rallied back and hung tough, going even with the Panthers at 23, 24, 25 and 26 before winning the final two points to take the match.

The Rangers led in all major stat categories, including kills (48-40), aces (5-1), blocks (6-4) and hitting percentage (.315-.139). Two Rangers finished with double-digit kills in Lexi Turek (15) and Leah Fenske (11) while five different players had an ace. Katie Adams led the team with three blocks and 35 assists and Annie Leo led in digs with 16 on the way to recording her 1,000th career dig. 

Parkside will return home for five straight home games to end the 2017 season, starting with No. 6 ranked Lewis on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in DeSimone Gym.