INDIANAPOLIS – For the second time in school history, Drury University has captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Commissioner’s Cup, it was announced by the league office on Wednesday. The Panthers earned the award for the 2021-22 campaign by posting the strongest finish in the league’s seven core sports.
Points are allocated for the Commissioner’s Cup based on the athletic department’s finish in the GLVC’s postseason tournaments and league standings in men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball, and baseball. All 15 Conference members sponsor these sports at the intercollegiate level.
In one of the closest races in league history, Drury earned 77 points over the course of the academic year, besting runners-up University of Indianapolis and Lewis University by a single point, as those schools tied for second with 76 points. University of Missouri-St. Louis was just edged out with its 75 points to capture fourth place in the standings, while last year’s champion University of Southern Indiana snagged fifth place with 71 points.
University of Illinois Springfield (46) sprang six places from last year’s 12th-place finish to earn sixth with 68 points. Just three points separated places seventh through ninth, as Quincy University (54), Lindenwood University (53), and McKendree University (52) were each respectively one point behind the other. The same scenario popped up for spots 10th, 11th, and 12th with Maryville University (47), Rockhurst University (46), and Missouri S&T (45) respectively filling those places. Rounding out the 15-school standings included 13th-place Truman State University (42), 14th-place Southwest Baptist University (32), and 15th-place William Jewell College (26).
Drury made the GLVC Championship Tournament in five of the seven core sports this year, highlighted by a league title in women’s soccer and women’s basketball as well as a third-place finish in softball and baseball. The Panthers’ baseball team was the top seed in the Green Division for the GLVC Championship Tournament, women’s soccer was the second seed, softball was No. 3, and the men’s soccer team earned the fifth seed in the league event. Additionally, Drury’s volleyball team nearly earned a spot in the Conference postseason but succumbed to a three-way tiebreaker for eighth.
Instituted prior to the 2002-03 season, the Commissioner’s Cup has had six different institutions stake claim to the award. Former league member Bellarmine became the sixth school in 2018-19 with its first win in its final year of league membership, while USI earned its second Cup in 2017-18 and first in 2003-04. Rockhurst picked up its first honor in 2016-17. UIndy scored its second Cup in 2015-16 after the first came in 2013-14, which was bookended by other first-time winners Drury (2014-15) and Lewis (2012-13). Following the 2011-12 season, former GLVC member Northern Kentucky took home its fifth-straight and eighth overall Cup over a 10-year span, while SIU Edwardsville – another former member – earned the Commissioner’s Cup in 2007. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended spring sport competition in 2020, the 2019-20 Cup was not awarded.
The standings for the 2021-22 GLVC Commissioner’s Cup are as follows:
| 1. |
Drury |
77 |
| 2. |
Indianapolis |
76 |
|
Lewis |
76 |
| 4. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
75 |
| 5. |
Southern Indiana |
71 |
| 6. |
Illinois Springfield |
68 |
| 7. |
Quincy |
54 |
| 8. |
Lindenwood |
53 |
| 9. |
McKendree |
52 |
| 10. |
Maryville |
47 |
| 11. |
Rockhurst |
46 |
| 12. |
Missouri S&T |
45 |
| 13. |
Truman State |
42 |
| 14. |
Southwest Baptist |
32 |
| 15. |
William Jewell |
26 |