ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western volleyball team rallied after dropping one set to Lindenwood for a 3-1 win Saturday night in the MWSU Fieldhouse. It was the Griffons’ third MIAA win of the week and improved their record to 14-4 overall and 6-1 in the MIAA.

Lindenwood took advantage of Missouri Western’s .125 hitting percentage in the first set to win 25-23. The Lions had a lead again in set two, 15-10 before Marian Carbin called a timeout. MWSU went on an 8-2 run from that point and ended up winning the set 25-22. They dominated the third set, 25-13 and the fourth, 25-18. For the match, Missouri Western hit .292 as a team and held Lindenwood to a .191 hitting percentage.

Jessie Thorup capped an impressive week with 18 kills and a .318 hitting percentage. Rachel Friedrichs added 10 kills; Shellby Taylor had nine and Lindsey Partridge had seven. Jordan Chohon racked up 42 assists on the night and 12 digs. Audrey Keim also had 12 digs. Partridge chipped in five block assists on the night.

The Griffons will play their next five on the road beginning with a trip to Emporia State on Oct. 16.

— MWSU Athletics —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Missouri Western volleyball team snapped a 19-game losing streak to Central Missouri Friday night with a 3-2 over the 11th ranked Jennies. It was the first time since 2005 that Missouri Western has defeated UCM.

MWSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in Warrensburg, winning set one 25-22 and set two 25-19. UCM responded in impressive fashion, taking set three 25-14 then claiming set four 25-23. Missouri Western was never really challenged in the fifth, leading from the start and winning 15-8 to hand Central Missouri its second MIAA loss of the season and third loss overall.

The Griffons were led by Jessie Thorup’s 21 kills and 21.5 points. Thorup hit .213 for the match, outdueling UCM’s top-hitter, Carly Sojka (20, .194). Thorup added 17 digs and a block assist. Lindsey Partridge matched her career high for kills in a second straight match with 11. Partridge hit .318 for the match. Blair Russell continued the trend with her career-high 11 kills and .367 hitting percentage. Not to be outdone, Kayla Ruff finished with a new career high, 29 digs. Jordan Chohon had 50 assists and 16 digs, tying a career-high digs in match number.

Missouri Western held Central Missouri well below its season average as the Jennies hit .195 while Missouri Western hit .216. The Jennies had 25 attack errors to the Griffons’ 22. The win improved MWSU to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in MIAA play. The win also gave Missouri Western sole possession of second place in the MIAA, one game behind Central Oklahoma. MWSU hosts Lindenwood Saturday night in the MWSU Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. Lindenwood lost 3-0 at Northwest Missouri State, Friday night.

— MWSU Athletics —

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri Western women’s soccer team suffered a tough 1-0 loss at Washburn Friday night. The loss dropped MWSU to 5-4-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the MIAA.

Ellie Karloff scored Washburn’s goal in the 28th minute, a header off a corner kick from 5-yards out.

The Griffons had a one-shot advantage in the match (6-5) and had four corner kicks to Washburn’s two but couldn’t find a goal. Of the Griffons’ six shots, two were on goal.

Sarah Lyle finished the game with two saves in goal for MWSU. Maddy Cowell, Sydney Cluck, Drew Mantlo, Ashlyn Powers and Sydney Andrews had the Griffon shots. Andrews registered two.

Missouri Western stays in Kansas this weekend, facing Emporia State on Sunday at 2 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western Director of Athletics Kurt McGuffin has announced the November 14 Griffon football game versus Missouri Southern has been rescheduled to kickoff at 11 a.m.

The game was originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff but has been moved up two hours due to lighting concerns. Construction at Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium has disabled the lights this season. The time of year and time of day raised concerns that led to the schedule change.

It will be the first time Missouri Western has hosted a morning football game since 2011, when MWSU defeated Langston University 47-0 in an 11 a.m. game.

The Griffons defeated Missouri Southern 22-21 in the last game of the 2014 regular season in Joplin. The last time Missouri Southern visited St. Joseph was 2012, in a 31-30 win for Missouri Southern on MWSU’s homecoming. It was the 2012 Griffons’ only loss of the regular season.

— MWSU Athletics —

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team finished with a score of 598 in two rounds at the University of Central Oklahoma Classic.  MWSU finished in sixth place after moving up a spot on day two. The course was a par-71, played at 6,001 yards.

Missouri Western was once again led by freshman Shi Quing Ong, firing a 146 in the two round tournament and finished tied for 8th individually. Quing Ong has finished in the top-15 of every tournament so far this season and tallied her lowest rounds in the tournament of 73.  Celine Lim continues to play well finishing tied for 18th and scoring a 149. Callie Wilson had a total score of 153 and earned a finished tied for 34th.

The Griffons finished one stroke behind Arkansas Tech for fifth place and five strokes behind Lindenwood for fourth place. Northeastern State won the team tournament with a score of 580, beating Central Oklahoma by one stroke and Henderson St. by 10 strokes.

Marla Souvannasing of Central Oklahoma won the individual title by five strokes, shooting a 136. Baylee Price of Northeastern St. was second with a 141.

Missouri Western will play their final fall tournament on October 19th and 20th in St. Charles, Missouri.

— MWSU Athletics —

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team is currently 7th after day one the UCO Classic on the Lincoln Park Golf Course after scoring a 300 in the first round of the tournament. Lincoln Park (East) is a par-71 and has a yardage of 6,001.

Shi Quing Ong leads the Griffons with a score of 73 in round one, sitting tied for 14th place individual in the tournament. The Griffon’s Madison Romjue is currently tied for 20th place after scoring a 75 in her round of action. Celine Lim and Callie Wilson each reported a score of 76 in round one and sit tied for 28th place.

Western is currently three strokes behind Lindenwood for sixth place and trails both Oklahoma Christian and Henderson State by four strokes for fourth place. Arkansas Tech is the current leader in the club house with a team score of 289. Northeastern State is in second place with a score of 292.

The individual leader is Marla Souvannasing, firing a score of 70 in her first round of action. Four individuals are tied for second in the tournament with a score of 71.

The action continues Tuesday when the Griffons finish round two of the UCO Classic in Oklahoma City.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s soccer team lost its first home match of the season Sunday as they fell to Southwest Baptist 1-0.  The loss dropped MWSU to 5-3-1 overall and 1-2-1 in MIAA play.

SBU scored its lone goal in the 10th minute when Carla Jamison scored her ninth of the season. The Griffons had four shots in the first frame and allowed four. Only Jamison’s shot was on goal in the first for SBU.

Missouri Western had one shot on frame in the first. The Griffons managed just five more shots in the second period to nine for SBU. Lyle ended the game with two saves. Cheyenne Forshey had five saves in goal for Southwest Baptist.

The win improved Southwest Baptist to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA. The Griffons hit the road next week, playing at Washburn on Friday and Emporia State on Sunday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western football team surrendered 24 unanswered points in the second half, falling 31-27 at No. 15 Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon.

Missouri Western took a 27-7 lead to halftime after a dominant first two quarters. Pittsburg State regained climbed in it early in the second half on a 15-play, 65-yard drive that took 6:44 off the clock and pulled the Gorillas within two scores on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jeff Seybold. The Pittsburg State defense answered the bell, forcing a three-and-out on the Griffons’ first drive of the third quarter that set the momentum for the half.

Missouri Western had a promising drive end in an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter. Darnell Walker’s interception on a tunnel screen intended for Dee Toliver ended a 10-play, 48-yard MWSU Drive at the Pittsburg State 29. The interception set up a 27-yard Gorilla field goal to pull Pitt State within three, 27-24. Pittsburg State threatened again on their next drive but a sack and strip by Cody Lindsay that was recovered by Daylon Harper set the Griffons up at their own 37 with 9:31 left in the game and the three-point lead. The drive ended at the Pittsburg State 24 with 4:41 left when Josh Caldwell was stuffed for a 1-yard loss and a 4th and three play. The turnover on downs set up what would be the game winning touchdown for the Gorillas, a 7-yard rush by Jamal Tyler with 1:23 left in the game. MWSU completed two passes for a total of 17 yards turning it over on downs to Pittsburg State, ending the game.

Pittsburg State ended the game with 412 yards of total offense after having just over 120 at halftime. The Griffons ended with 341 yards, with a little over 90 coming in the second half. Raphael Spencer finished the game with 74 yards rushing on 22 carries. Skyler Windmiller was 10 of 26 through the air, completing just three passes in the second half. Toliver gave the Griffons their fourth 100-yard receiving game, catching three passes for 101 yards, that included an 84-yard touchdown pass. Micheal Jordan and Jonathan Owens led the Griffon defense with seven tackle each. Lindsay finished with two sacks, four tackles for loss a forced fumble and two pass break ups. Darian Bass added an interception in the first half.

The loss dropped Missouri Western to 3-2 on the year. The Griffons host Fort Hays State next week in the Hall of Fame game at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western volleyball team recorded its 11th win of the season with a sweep of Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon. The Griffons won 25-19, 25-19, and 25-20 as they improve to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA.

Pittsburg State hung tough with the Griffons in all three matches, holding a lead in all three sets of the match. In game one, the Griffons took the lead 18-17 on a kill by Shellby Taylor and held the lead the rest of set one. In the second set, Missouri Western took control of the lead when Pittsburg St. committed two straight errors. Missouri Western controlled the entire third set from the start, taking the lead early and never looked back. The Griffons were able to finish each match strong, scoring the last three points in every match.

The Griffons were led by freshman Rachel Friedrichs as she tallied 10 kills and five blocks on the day. Jessie Thorup was second on the team with nine kills and Taylor recorded eight kills and a kill percentage of .438. Setter Jordan Chohon had 28 assist and also recorded four kills in the match. Four Griffons tallied double-digit kills including Amanda Dalbey, Kayla Ruff, Audrey Kiem, and Chohon.

Maggie Highberger had nine kills and Taylor Unke recorded seven kills to lead Pittsburg St.. Taylyn Schwartz had 17 assist and 18 digs to lead the team in both categories.

Missouri Western will be on the road this coming Tuesday as they take on arch-rival Northwest Missouri State starting at 7 p.m. MWSU head to Central Missouri on Friday and return home for a match on Saturday against Lindenwood at 6 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —