ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western soccer team put a huge exclamation point on an impressive weekend with a 1-0 win over Fort Hays on Sunday. The two wins this weekend landed the Griffons in fifth place in the MIAA after starting the weekend in a tie for eighth. It was also Missouri Western’s first ever win over Fort Hays, now trailing the all-time series 1-3-2.

Missouri Western got the winning goal in the 61st minute from Bridget Blessie, her fourth of the season. Blessie took a pass from Layne Shepherd in the box and flexed it in from 12 yards out. Sarah Lyle was stellar in goal, saving nine Fort Hays shots. Seven of Lyle’s saves came in the second period with a handful late in the match as For Hays had good chances for the equalizer late. The Griffons had just nine shots on the day, compared to 15 for Fort Hays, but the Griffons made their shots count with six on goal.

The win improved Missouri Western to 8-4-1 and 4-3-1 in MIAA play. The Griffons begin a tough three-game road stretch at No. 8 Central Missouri on Friday. The Griffons will then head to St. Charles to take on Lindenwood next Sunday before a rivalry trip to Northwest Missouri State on Oct. 30. The Griffons will wrap up the regular season at home against Central Missouri on Oct. 31.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western football team lost their homecoming game inside Spratt Stadium Saturday against Washburn, 21-7.

MWSU was outgained 414 yards to 245. The Griffons did rush for 171 yards but only totaled 74 passing yards and TJ LaFaver had three interceptions in the game, one was returned for a touchdown. Washburn took a 7-0 lead to halftime off a 10-yard touchdown pass from Derek McGinnis to Bryce Chavis.

Washburn took a 14-0 lead early in the third quarter when Cody Heiman picked off LaFaver and went 25 yards for a touchdown. LaFaver would finish 10-23 passing with the three interceptions for 74 yards. He did rush 14 times for 78 yards and made it 14-7 in the third quarter with a touchdown pass to Alec Ferbet. Ferbet finished with a team-high four catches for 40 yards. No other Griffon had more than two catches and Raphael Spencer’s 16 receiving yards were the second most on the team. Raphael Spencer rushed 17 times for 73 yards. Spencer fumbled twice, losing one.

The loss dropped Missouri Western to 4-3 and pulled the Griffons even with Washburn in the MIAA standings. Next week Missouri Western travels to 6-1 Emporia State for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. The Hornets suffered their first loss of the year Saturday to Fort Hays State.

— MWSU Athletics —

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri western volleyball team got off to a tremendous start but couldn’t hold off a comeback at No. 15 Washburn Saturday afternoon.

Missouri Western took the first set 25-16, but dropped the next three to fall in four sets to the Ichabods.
Neither team was that efficient on the attack with Washburn hitting .178 and Missouri Western hitting .170. The teams were close in kills with Washburn totaling just six more. The Ichabods had 70 kills and MWSU had 64. A big difference was Washburn’s five aces to Missouri Western’s one.

Blair Russell led Missouri Western with 13 kills, a career-high for the junior. Kayla Ruff also set a new career mark, for the second-straight night with 34 digs. Rachel Friedrichs had 12 kills and Jessie Thorup had 11. The loss dropped Missouri Western’s overall record to 15-5 and 7-2 in the MIAA. The team will continue a five-match road trek with trips to Missouri Southern, Southwest Baptist and Truman State.

— MWSU Athletics —

EMPORIA, Kan. – It took five sets for Missouri Western to win its fifth-straight volleyball match but the Griffons pulled it off in five sets at Emporia State.

The two teams traded the first four sets with neither team winning a set by more than three points. Missouri Western jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth but Emporia State would come back to tie it then hang close before the Griffons were able to pull away for the 15-10 set and match win.

The Griffons clinched it on Jessie Thorup’s 19th kill of the night. She led all hitters with Rachel Friedrichs’ career-high 15 kills second most in the match. Shellby Taylor matched her career-high with 14 kills and Lindsey Partridge finished with a career-high 12 kills. Partridge tied here previous career high with 11 kills twice last week. Missouri Western hit .242 as a team and Emporia State hit .172. The Griffons had 75 total kills, 20 more than Emporia State and their 95 digs were 21 more than Emporia State. Kayla Ruff had 29 of those digs, which tied a career high for the sophomore. Ruff also set a new personal career mark for assists with six.

Missouri Western improved to 15-4 overall and 7-1 in the MIAA. Match two of a five-match road swing for the Griffons will be at No. 15 Washburn, Saturday at 3 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western soccer team dominated the second half Friday afternoon, getting two goals from Sydney Andrews and another from Katie Kempf to defeat Nebraska-Kearney 3-1 at Spratt Stadium.

Tied 0-0 at the break with just four shots in the first period, Missouri Western totaled 12 shots in the second frame. In the 61st minute, Sydney Andrews scored her first goal of the season off a penalty kick. The senior scored her second of the game and season in the 79th minute. Just minutes later another senior scored her first goal of the year as Katie Kempf took a pass from Sydney Cluck into the back of the net that gave MWSU a 2-0 lead with six minutes to play. The late, 2-0 lead prompted head coach Chad Edwards to pull several starters, including goal keeper Sarah Lyle. UNK responded with a goal off a penalty kick by Montanna Hosterman in the 87th minute against Lexie Martin.

The win improve MWSU to 7-4-1 overall and 3-3-1 in the MIAA. It drew the Griffons even with Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA standings, dropping the Lopers to 4-6-3 overall and 3-3-1 in MIAA play. The Griffons look for more improvement, and maybe a little redemption as they host Fort Hays State, Sunday at noon. Fort Hays ended Missouri Western’s 2014 season in a 1-0 double-overtime victory in the first round of the MIAA tournament.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The second day of the MWSU Holiday Inn Express Classic concluded with the Missouri Western men’s golf team finishing in 12th place and shooting a team score of 914 in the three rounds of golf. The finish is the Griffons lowest of the fall season.

Ryan Hand continued his impressive performance into day two as he finished in fourth place overall. Hand, a senior from Savannah, had rounds of 70, 74 and 73 throughout the tournament for a total score of 217. The round of 70 was Hand’s lowest score of the fall season so far. Jakob Rudosky finished in a tie for 27th place as he fired 226 in three rounds of golf. The Griffons were rounded out with Corey Knight scoring a 235, Drew Lagan reporting a 240 and Dylan Queen firing a 244.

Missouri Western finished three strokes behind Minnesota State Mankato and seven strokes behind Missouri Southern for 10th place. Central Missouri was the team champions as they had three individuals in the top-5. They beat Central Oklahoma by three strokes and Northeastern State by 12 strokes.

Brent Williamson was the individual winner of the tournament from Northeastern State as he finished with a 210 in his three rounds of golf. Michael Schmitz of Winona State finished in second with a 211.

The Griffon men’s golf team will be in Florence, Alabama next week which will be hosted by the University of North Alabama. They will tee-off on Monday and conclude on Tuesday afternoon.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western linebacker Yomi Alli has been named the MIAA/AstroTurf Defensive Athlete of the Week for his performance Saturday for the Griffon football team in a 26-21 win over Fort Hays State.

The senior from St. Louis totaled 12 tackles – eight solo – with three key tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry in a big win for the Griffons.

Alli led a defense that held Fort Hays nearly 100 yards under its season average for rushing yards in a game. Fort Hays rushed for 189 yards in the game and came in averaging more than 280 per game. Shaquille Cooper finished with 114 yards, but 67 of those yards came on a first quarter touchdown run. Treveon Albert was limited to 76 yards on the ground.

Alli joins Michael Jordan as the second Griffon to take home the honor this season. He and the Griffons will host Washburn this Saturday for Homecoming.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two members of the Missouri Western volleyball team have earned MIAA Athlete of the Week honors. Jessie Thorup was named Hitter of the Week and Jordan Chohon was named Co-Specialist of the Week.

Thorup led the attack for Missouri Western as the team went 3-0 with wins at Northwest Missouri State, No. 11 Central Missouri and at home versus Lindenwood. Thorup averaged 4.54 kills per set over the three wins with a .261 hitting percentage. Thorup had 20 kills at Northwest Missouri; 21 at Central Missouri and 18 against Lindenwood. She also averaged 2.77 digs per set and had seven block assists. The 5-11 senior rightside hitter is a native of Olathe, Kan. where she competed at St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

Chohon ran the Griffon offense effectively, helping the team to a 3-0 week that included wins at No. 11 Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri State. She finished with 140 assists, averaging 10.77 per set. The senior setter also had nine kills, four service aces, 47 digs and six blocks. The 5-11 senior setter is a native of Columbus, Neb. where she competed at Scotus Central Catholic High School.

— MWSU Athletics —

EMPORIA, Kan. – The Missouri Western soccer team salvaged a weekend split with a dramatic 1-0 win at Emporia State in double overtime Sunday. The Griffons scored their only goal in the 104th minute from Sydney Cluck as she found the net from 20 yards out.

After a disappointing loss at Washburn on Friday, Missouri Western dropped Emporia State to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the MIAA. Both teams had 17 shots with four on goal for each. The difference was Sarah Lyle’s four saves. Sydney Andrews led the Griffons with six shots; Cluck and Bridget Blessie each had four, with Cassidy Chappell adding one shot.

Missouri Western is now 6-4-1 overall and 2-3-1 in MIAA play. The Griffons return home this weekend, hosting Nebraska-Kearney on Friday at 4 p.m. and Fort Hays State on Sunday at noon. It’s Pink Week for the team with Pink Week t-shirts and ribbons for sale both days at Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium. Proceeds from the sales will benefit the MOSAIC Life Care Breast Cancer Center.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western defense held Fort Hays State on four plays from the MWSU 7-yard line to preserve a 26-21 win Saturday, the Griffon football teams 11th straight win over the Tigers

Sam Brown broke up Fort Hays State’s last chance on fourth down when he swatted away a fade route intended for Evan Jennings in the back corner of the end zone. Brown’s breakup came one play after Michael Jordan broke up a pass for Isaiah Maxi in the other back corner on third down and goal. With 11 seconds left on the MWSU seven, Fort Hays spiked the ball and first down then threw three more incompletions to end the game.

The chance was set up by a 41-yard pass on fourth and four from the MWSU 48 from Treveon Albert to Jennings. The Griffon defense limited the MIAA’s top-two rushers to a combined 189 yards on the ground. Shaquille Cooper finished with 114 yards rushing that included a 67-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Albert rushed for 76 yards on 15 carries. Albert passed for 290 yards and a touchdown and also threw one interception to Darrian Bass.

Missouri Western led 19-7 at halftime on two Tanner Pettet field goals, including a 51-yarder, and a 40-yard touchdown pass from TJ LaFaver to DiJuan Ussery. LaFaver, who entered in the first quarter after Skyler Windmiller was injured after two series, finished 13-20 passing with no interceptions and two touchdowns. He threw for 163 yards and rushed for 81, despite taking three sacks for a total loss of 16 yards. Ussery led the Griffons in receiving yards with 61. Alek Ferbet had the most catches with five for MWSU and scored one touchdown. Raphael Spencer rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.

Yomi Alli led the Griffon defense with 12 total tackles, including three for loss and a quarterback hurry. Bass finished with three tackles, all solo and an interception to go with two pass break-ups. Jordan broke up three passes. Fort Hays outgained MWSU, 479-441 but was just 2-14 on third down in the game. The win improved MWSU to 4-2 on the year and dropped Fort Hays to 4-2. Next week is homecoming at Missouri Western as the Griffons host Washburn at 2 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —