Denton, Tex. - Northwest Nazarene overcame five match points before finally losing to Drury, 25-16, 25-22, 31-29, in the Texas Woman's Invitational Friday in Denton, Tex.

The Crusaders also fell to Harding, 25-18, 25-13, 25-19 as Reagan Smith led the winners with 17 kills.

"While we didn't get the victory, I felt we improved each game against Drury," commented NNU head coach Jared Sliger.  "Against Harding we were in each game, but we need to continue to work and improve as we head into Saturday's matches."

NNU trailed 24-23, 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26 to Drury before going ahead 28-27 in the third set. Drury then went back ahead 29-28. After fighting off another match point, the Crusaders finally succumbed on a kill by Austin Warren.

Kyrie Hopkins and Alex Smith led Drury with 12 kills each, while Ali Rook had 11 as the Panthers fell to 2-3, all against GNAC teams.

Briana Claassen led Northwest Nazarene with nine kills. Becky Flores had five blocks and Page Woodward had four.

NNU hit just .092 against Harding and were limited to 26 kills, including a team-high six by Carly Dranginis. Reisa Fessler and Becky Flores had five each. Haley Hevern had 16 digs.

The Crusaders will return to tournament action tomorrow, facing Henderson State University at 12:30 p.m., and Arkansas Tech at 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.