ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western football offensive tackle Leonard Wester has been named CoSIDA Academic All-District.

The senior left tackle has started 28 games for the Griffons in the last three seasons. Last year Wester was named honorable mention All-MIAA, MIAA Academic Honor Roll and MIAA Scholar Athlete. The Mt. Union Iowa native has been named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll three times already in his career. A finance & accounting major, Wester has a 3.84 GPA and has helped fellow senior Raphael Spencer climb to No. 2 on the MWSU career rushing yards list.

Wester, Landon Chappell (OL-Central Oklahoma), Tyke Kozeal (LB-Nebraska-Kearney) and Austin Miller (LB-Central Missouri) represented the MIAA on the Academic All-District team. Wester is now eligible for the Academic All-America team.

— MWSU Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The first winning season in program history ended in heartbreak for the Missouri Western Soccer team as they lost 1-0 to Northeastern State on a goal in the 85th minute of the first round MIAA Tournament matchup.

McKenzie Musella scored her fifth goal of the season with just five minutes remaining in regulation. The unassisted goal came from the top of the box and flew over Sarah Lyle’s reach.

Lyle finished the game with three saves. Northeastern State finished the game with nine shots to Missouri Western’s eight after the Griffons went to the break with a 5-4 shot advantage.

Sydney Andrews’ shot on goal in the first period was the only in the game for Missouri Western. Andrews and Bridget Blessie led Missouri Western with three shots apiece. Cassidy Chappell and Drew Mantlo added the other two shots for Missouri Western.

The loss ended the Griffons’ season at 9-8-1, the first winning season in program history and the second appearance in the postseason after making the first ever one season ago. It was the team’s tenth 1-0 match of the season. Lyle and the Griffon defense allowed more than one goal just once over 18 games.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Six members of the Missouri Western women’s soccer team have been named All-MIAA.

Landing on the second team were goalkeeper Sarah Lyle and defender Sydney Andrews. Bridget Blessie earned her first All-MIAA selection as a third team forward. Defenders Taylor Gant and Ashlyn Powers joined mid-fielder Drew Mantlo as honorable mentions. It’s the second consecutive year the team had six players named All-MIAA after repeating as the six-seed in the MIAA postseason tournament and the second straight winning, regular season, the only two in program history.

Sarah Lyle was named second team All-MIAA for the second year in a row and finished the regular season second in the MIAA with a .745 goals against average and an .852 save percentage. She allowed more than one goal in only one match, was named MIAA Goalkeeper of the week once and held opponents scoreless four times. The junior is MWSU’s career leader in wins (20) and shutouts (14.1). She sits second on the career list for saves (269), save percentage (.815) and goals against average (1.14).

Sydney Andrews earned her second All-MIAA selection after being named third team in 2014. Andrews helped her team give up the second fewest goals in the MIA and third lowest goals against average (.82). The senior is MWSU’s career leader in penalty kicks made with three. Andrews has played 5,933 minutes in her career, third most in program history. Her 68 games played are tied for ninth all-time at MWSU and her 67 starts are tied for sixth. As a defender, Andrews was second on the team with 33 shots and scored two goals.

Blessie received her first all-conference nod as a sophomore. She finished the regular season ninth in the MIAA averaging 2.76 shots per game. She finished second in the MIAA with four game winning goals and now sits tied for first in MWSU history with six career game-winning goals. Her five goals this season led the team and moved her into seventh place on the MWSU career list with seven. Blessie is fourth on the career points per game list (.39); goals per game (.19); second in shots per game (1.86); and fourth in shots on goal per game (.86).

Gant was named All-MIAA for the second year in a row after being a second team pick in 2014. She was one of three defenders joining Lyle as 2015 All-MIAA selections. Gant was an MIAA Defender of the Week once this season after scoring her first career goal.

Ashlyn Powers earned her first All-MIAA selection and joined Lyle, Andrews and Gant as All-MIAA defenders for a team that allowed only MIAA champion Central Missouri to score more than one goal. Powers finished the 2015 season with 10 shots, six on goal from her defensive position.

Drew Mantlo wrapped up her final regular season with her first All-MIAA selection. The midfielder finished the 2015 regular season with six shots, two on goal. Mantlo was part of a senior class that won more matches than any other class in program history and qualified the team for its only two postseason appearances (2014 &15). She sits eighth in program history with 69 games played.

The six All-MIAA selections and their teammates continue the 2015 season Wednesday night when they travel to Tahlequah, Oklahoma for the first round of the MIAA Tournament against third seeded Northeastern State.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team is receiving votes in the 2015-16 WBCA/USA TODAY Sports Division II Preseason Top 25 Poll that was released Tuesday.

The Griffons are receiving 48 votes and they’re tied with Albany State (GA) just four spots out of the Top 25.

Two MIAA teams are ranked in the Top 25 as Emporia State is No. 1 in the poll and Fort Hays State is ranked 10th.
Missouri Western returns four starters from a 2014-15 team that went 15-12 overall and 9-10 in the MIAA. The Griffons were picked fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

Missouri Western begins the 2015-16 season on November 13 in Marshall, Minnesota where the team will play Southwest Minnesota State.

Click here to view the entire WBCA/USA Today Top 25.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s soccer team came up just short of pulling off a huge upset to end the 2015 regular season. An outstanding performance in goal from Sarah Lyle came with just one blemish in a 1-0 loss to No. 10 Central Missouri.

The junior goalkeeper turned in one highlight save after another on her way to an 11-save match. Central Missouri’s only goal came in the 62nd minute when Megan Wooley rolled one to Lyle that just got under her hand and trickled past the line before Lyle could stop it. Lyle’s stellar performance overshadowed a challenging day offensively for the Griffons. Missouri Western managed just seven shots to Central Missouri’s 23. The Jennies had six corner kicks and Missouri Western none.

Sydney Cluck, Nikki Birr, Paige Phipps and Layne Shepherd each had a shot on goal for the Griffons. Bridget Blessie and Ashlyn Powers added the other two Griffon shots.

Prior to the game seniors Katie Kempf, Sydney Andrews, Drew Mantlo, Melody Johnson and Nikki Birr were honored as part of Senior Day festivities. The group helped Missouri Western to clinch its first ever winning season and second trip to the MIAA Tournament, after making the first ever last season.

Missouri Western finishes the regular season 9-7-1 overall and 5-5-1 in the MIAA.

For the second straight year, the Griffons are headed to the postseason as they qualified for the MIAA Tournament.

Missouri Western is the six seed and will open the tournament on Wednesdaybat Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and is a rematch of the teams’ Sept. 27 contest that Northeastern State won 1-0.

Semifinal matches will be played on Friday at campus sites with the championship match coming on Nov. 8 at the highest remaining seed’s home pitch.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Costly turnovers wiped out an upset bid by the Missouri Western football team as they lost at home Saturday to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State 24-10.

Northwest Missouri scored two of its three touchdowns off MWSU turnovers in a game that was tight for nearly three full quarters. Missouri Western took a 7-0 lead on its first offensive possession with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Skyler Windmiller to Dee Toliver. Northwest tied the game at seven eight minutes later then Missouri Western’s first turnover, an interception thrown by Windmiller resulted in the go-ahead touchdown for Northwest, a 10-yard pass from Brady Bolles to Shawn Bane.

Missouri Western went to halftime down 14-10 after a 29-yard field goal from Tanner Pettet. The Griffons held Northwest to 133yards of offense in the first half. Both defenses shined early in the second half, forcing punt after punt until a promising Missouri Western drive late in the third quarter ended in a Raphael Spencer fumble at the Northwest 20 yard line. Northwest drove 80 yards in five plays to take a 21-10 lead. Simon Mathiesen added a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, the final points scored in the game.

Missouri Western finished with four turnovers, three interceptions by Windmiller. In his first start since Oct. 10 against Fort Hays, Windmiller went 15-33 for235 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked three times. Toliver finished with six catches for 152 yards. The Northwest defense held the Griffons to just 28 net yards rushing. Raphael Spencer netted 50 yards on the ground on 19 carries. The team total was hurt by 37 negative rush yards.

The defense was led by 12 Yomi Alli tackles. The senior had 3.5 tackles for loss, a pass break up and a quarterback hurry. The senior linebacker now has 57 tackles, 11.5 for loss in his last four games. Michael Jordan added his fourth interception of the season. Northwest managed to finish the game with 354 yards of offense, 221 in the second half. Missouri Western limited Northwest to 87 yards rushing.

The loss dropped Missouri Western to 4-5 on the season. It’s the first time Missouri Western has lost five games in a season since 2008 and it’s also the program’s first three-game losing streak since ’08. The Griffons hit the road next week with a tip to winless Nebraska-Kearney.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western volleyball was swept at home Saturday by No. 10 Washburn 25-19, 25-20, 25-20.

All three matches had at least six ties, with the first and second having seven and all three had three lead changes. The second and third sets went 25-20 in Washburn’s favor and 25-19 in the first. Both teams battled back in every set, overcoming early deficits but Washburn was able to pull ahead just enough about midway through each set to sweep the season series from the Griffons and move into a tie for first place in the MIAA.

The Griffons were held to a .177 hitting percentage on the night, while Washburn hit .256. Jessie Thorup led Missouri Western once again with 11 kills on a .229 hitting percentage. Rachel Friedrichs finished with nine kills. Jordan Chohon led the team in digs for the second night in a row, she had 18. Lindsey Partridge had five blocks for Missouri Western.

The loss dropped the Griffons to 19-6 on the season and 10-3 in the MIAA. The Griffons hit the road again next week with a match at Fort Hays on Nov. 6 and at Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 7.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western volleyball team earned a season sweep of Emporia State, defeating the Hornets in straight sets Friday night in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

It was Missouri Western’s first match back home since a five-game road trip that started with a five-set win at Emporia state on Oct. 16. Missouri Western had little trouble with Emporia State this time, taking the first set 25-18 and the third 25-19. Missouri Western had 47 kills as a team and held Emporia State to 36. The match was tied nine different times, but only featured two lead changes.

The Griffons were led by Jessie Thorup’s 15 kills. Shellby Taylor and Blair Russel each had eight kills. Rachel Friedrichs finished the match with four total blocks out of her team’s 11. Jordan Chohon led the team with 14 digs and 35 assists. Kayla Ruff had 12 digs and Russell and Audrey Keim each finished with 10 digs.

The win improved Missouri Western’s record to 19-5 overall and 10-2 in the MIAA. Tenth ranked Washburn visits the fieldhouse tomorrow night with a 6 p.m. first serve. Dependent on Washburn’s result Friday night at Northwest Missouri State, Missouri Western could move into a tie for first place in the MIAA with a win on Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – For just the second time since 2002, the Missouri Western volleyball team defeated Truman State. The Griffons dispatched the former MIAA foe in four sets Tuesday night to close a string of five-straight matches on the road. MWSU went 4-1 on the road swing and improved their record to 18-5 overall.

Truman State took the first set convincingly, 25-17, but Missouri Western won the next three including a 25-10 win in set three for the four-set victory. The Griffons got 11 more kills than Truman State, including a game-high 17 from Jessie Thorup and had six aces to Truman State’s one. Rachel Friedrichs added 10 kills for Missouri Western with a .500 hitting percentage and Lindsey Partridge had 10.

Jordan Chohon led Missouri Western with 15 digs, 44 assists and three service aces. Kayla Ruff had 14 digs, Audrey Keim had 11 and Amanda Dalbey finished with 10 digs. Missouri Western hit .219 as a team.

The Griffons return home and return to MIAA play this weekend, hosting Emporia State on Friday and No. 10 Washburn on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —