KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western’s Taylor Gant has been named the MIAA Women’s Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week.

On Sunday, Gant gave the Griffons a 1-0 lead on her first career goal. The All-MIAA defender rarely gets a chance to shoot, let alone score, but made the most of her opportunity this weekend. She dribbled past the entire Lindenwood backline, more than half the length of the field to score her goal. From her defensive position, she helped her team hold Lindenwood to one goal on 14 shots. The Lions managed just three shots on goal, one coming on a free-kick.

It’s the second time in her career the Overland Park, Kansas native has received the award. Gant was one of two Griffons scoring their first career goals Saturday. Bailey Dervin’s first ever goal was the game winner and helped the team move to its best-ever start, 4-1.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s soccer team is off to its best start in program history after a 2-1 victory over Lindenwood Sunday at Spratt Staadium. The Griffons are now 4-1 on the season.

Taylor Gant scored her first goal of her career in the first half when she stole a pass and dribbled past every defender for a one-on-one situation against the goalkeeper. Gant scored easily from just inside the box to put the Griffons up 1-0. Lindenwoods first goal came in the 43rd minute when they had a free kick that was played into the box by Jackie Linder and put into the back of the net by Danielle Torry for her first goal.

Missouri western’s second goal of the game came from Bailey Dervin when she was assisted by Sydney Cluck who led Dervin to the back post for an easy score against the Lindenwood goalkeeper. The goal was Dervin’s first of her career.

Sarah Lyle stepped up making a crucial save with less than five minutes remaining in the game when Lindenwood created a one-on-one opportunity. Lyle tallied two saves in the game, both coming in the second half.

The Griffons produced 17 total shots against Lindenwood. Seven different Griffons had at least one shot on goal. MWSU held Lindenwood to 14 shots and one corner kick throughout the game.

Missouri Western will be in Oklahoma next weekend as they face off against Central Oklahoma on Friday at 4 p.m. and Northeastern State on Sunday at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Missouri Western football team scored 14 points in nine seconds Saturday to overcome a 7-point deficit and defeat Northeastern State 24-17.

Donte Watkins scooped a fumble and took it 14 yards with 5:50 remaining to give the Griffons their first lead since early in the second quarter. Watkins touchdown came nine seconds after Brandynn Clark’s 21-yard touchdown catch that tied the game at 17. It was the first time Missouri Western rallied from a fourth quarter deficit since Sept. 5, 2015 when the team defeated Central Missouri 10-9.

The Griffon defense forced six Northeastern State turnovers, including five interceptions. They also held the RiverHawks to just 215 yards, but three MWSU turnovers, eight penalties combined with four red zone trips that didn’t result in points, led to the Griffons trailing 17-10 in the first quarter.

Northeastern State passed for 109 yards and rushed for 106. The RiverHawks averaged just 3.4 yards per play The Griffons totaled 428 yards with 302 coming through the air and 126 on the ground. Raphael Spencer ended the game with 145 yards rushing by himself but 28 lost yards, mainly on four sacks hurt the team total. Skyler Windmiller finished 18-34 passing for 302 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The team narrowly missed having a 100-yard receiver in three-straight games. Alek Ferbet finished with four catches for 99 yards. Clark had five catches for 65 yards.

Yomi Alli led the defense with nine total tackles. Watkins and Jorge Belcher each had seven. Watkins added the fumble recover for a TD and an interception. Four other players pulled down interceptions for the Griffon defense: Jonathan Owens, Darrian Bass, Sam Brown and Michael Jordan.

The win moved MWSU to 2-1 on the season. Lindenwood makes its first ever trip to Spratt Stadium next Saturday for Founder’s Day and Family Day at Missouri Western.  The kickoff is at 2:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ AM.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western volleyball team improved to 8-2 on the season after winning its seventh and eight games in-a-row Friday night over Oklahoma Baptist and Henderson State.

Missouri Western 3, Oklahoma Baptist 1

The Griffons racked up 63 kills while allowing just 39 in a three set to one victory over Oklahoma Baptist to open the night. Missouri Western won the first set before dropping the second, its only dropped set of the night. The Griffons hit .301 as a team and held OBU to a .116 hitting percentage.

Jessie Thorup nearly matched her career high for kills in a match for the second time this season with 24. Jordan Chohon and Rachel Friedrichs each added eight kills. Lindsey Partridge led the team with eight total blocks and Jordan Chohon totaled 50 assists. Kayla Ruff (16), Amanda Dalbey (13) and Chohon (13) all finished with double-digit digs.

Missouri Western 3, Henderson State 0

The Griffons were barely challenged, accumulating 51 points to Henderson State’s 23. The Griffons finished with 41 kills to Henderson State’s 19 and held the Reddies to a -.028 hitting percentage.

Shellby Taylor  and Thorup each finished with 10 kills. Ruff had 15 digs as the team completed the straight-set win over Henderson State and completed their portion of the MIAA/GAC Crossover.

— MWSU Athletics —

MONKEY ISLAND, Okla. – The Missouri Western men’s golf team finished their second tournament of the fall season in sixth place, scoring 919 in the three rounds of golf. The event was held on the Shangri-La Country Club which is a par-72, 7,211 yards.

Ryan Hand led the Griffons with a total score of 222 over the three rounds of golf. He fired a 72 and 71 in his final two rounds to move up into a tie for 9th place overall. Senior Corey Knight finished with a score of 229 and in a tie for 22nd. Knight also finished his final two rounds with great improvement, including rounds of 72 and 73.

Central Missouri took home the team title, tallying an 864 score. Missouri Southern finished in second, scoring an 887. The Griffons were 10 strokes behind Northeastern State for fifth place and finished 23 strokes behind Lindenwood for fourth place.

Teddy Jones and Travis Mays both of UCM finished first and second individually. Jones scored a 211 and Mays fired a 213 over the three rounds of golf.

The Griffons will tee off next week on September 21 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma before hosting their own tournament on October 12.

— MWSU Sports Information —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team finished the 17th Annual NSU Golf Classic in 8th place with a score of 647 over the two day event. The event was held at Cherokee Springs Golf Course, a par-72, 5,806-yard course.

Western had two players finish in the top-15 individually. Shi Quing Ong and Celine Lim fired a 156 and 157, respectively. Ong earned a 13th place finish and Lim was tied for 14th with her score. Madison Romjue fired a 164 over the two day event and finished tied for 41st place.

The Griffons finished three strokes behind Arkansas-Fort Smith for seventh place and eight strokes behind Henderson St. for sixth place. Oklahoma Christian won the tournament with a team score of 615 and Rogers State University claimed second with a score of 617.

Audrey Meisch of Oklahoma Christian and Baylee Price of Northeastern State tied for the individual lead with a score of 148.

Missouri Western will next be in action on Monday, September 28thin Jefferson City, Mo.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western senior cornerback Mike Jordan has been named the MIAA/AstroTurf Defensive Athlete of the Week by league sports information directors.

The St. Louis native had two interceptions in the Griffons 26-16 win over Central Oklahoma on Saturday.

Both interceptions stopped potential scoring drives for Central Oklahoma. In the second quarter, he picked off a UCO pass at the MWSU 1-yard line with the Bronchos inside the red zone.

Jordan then sealed Missouri Western’s victory with his second interception coming late in the fourth quarter and UCO again driving in MWSU territory, trailing by 10.

Jordan now leads the MIAA with eight passes defended and is tied for the league lead with two interceptions. The two-time All-MIAA first teamer was named to five different preseason All-American teams after being named first team AFCA All-American and first team d2football.com All-American last season.

— MWSU Athletics —

CROOKSTON, Minn. – Junior Cassidy Chappell recorded her first goal as a Griffon to send the Missouri Western soccer team past Minnesota-Crookston on Sunday afternoon 1-0. The Griffons move to 3-1 on the season in non-conference competition.

Western dominated the entire game tallying 17 shots with 12 being on goal. Missouri Western held the Golden Eagles in check offensively as they were able to only create one shot throughout the game.

MWSU continued to control the game in the second half when Chappell scored her first goal of the season, scoring in the 56th minute on a pass by Bailey Dervin. The Golden Eagles recorded their first shot on goal in the 60th minute that came on a penalty kick but junior Sarah Lyle kept the clean sheet for the Griffons recording her only save of the afternoon.

Sydney Cluck recorded four shots and one shot on goal. Forwards Bridget Blessie and Chappel recorded three and two shots on goal, respectively. Goalkeeper Lyle recorded her first shutout of the season.

Missouri Western returns home this weekend as they face-off against rival Northwestern on Friday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon against Lindenwood.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western football team got back on the winning track Saturday with a 26-16 victory over Central Oklahoma in the team’s first home game of 2015.

Western got its running game going early after just 37 rushing yards last week in an 18-17 loss at Central Missouri, the Griffons rushed for 201 yards against UCO, including 113 from Raphael Spencer and 129 from Josh Caldwell. Spencer averaged 6.4 yards per carry and Caldwell averaged 10.6 with one touchdown. Overall, the Missouri Western offense racked up 453 yards of offense and outgained UCO by 103 yards.

The Griffons jumped out to a 26-0 lead on a 76-yard touchdown catch by Dee Toliver on the team’s first play of the second half. UCO had chances late after scoring 16 unanswered points in the second half but the Griffon defense held, getting a key interception from Michael Jordan, his second of the game, with 14 seconds remaining and the Bronchos driving in Griffon territory. The Griffons hauled in three interceptions in the game with Sam Brown adding another in the end zone on a UCO scoring opportunity.

Skyler Windmiller finished the day nine of 23 for 252 yards a touchdown and an interception. Caldwell had 16 carries for 129 yards and a touchdown. Spencer had 19 carries for 113 yards. Dee Toliver caught just three passes, but all big ones, as he totaled 162 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Missouri Western faces another Oklahoma opponent next week when they travel to Northeastern State for the MIAA TV game of the week on Saturday, September 19 at 2:30 p.m.  The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

— MWSU Sports Information —

COLORADO SPRINGS – Griffon Volleyball stretched its win streak to six with two wins Saturday at the Steel and Silver Classic. The team picked up a 3-1 win over Texas Women’s University in the morning and swept Eastern New Mexico in the afternoon to move to 6-2 on the season and to end their non-conference road schedule.

MWSU 3, Texas Women’s 1
The Griffons got double-digit kill performance from three different players and jumped out to a 2-0 lead before falling in the third and dominating the fourth set.

Jessie Thorup led the charge with 15 kills in the match, followed by 13 from Shellby Taylor and 12 from Rachel Friedrichs. The Griffons had 22 total blocks, as Friedrichs picked up two solo blocks and six assists. Lindsey Partidge added four total blocks and Thorup had three. Jordan Chohon added 51 assists to her total and three Griffons also had double-digit dig totals. Kayla Ruff led the way with 19; Thorup had 14 and Audrey Keim added 13.

MWSU 3, Eastern New Mexico 0
The Griffons hit .320 as a team and held Eastern New Mexico to a .134 attack percentage.

Taylor picked up 10 more kills to lead the team. Partridge added seven and Friedrichs had seven as well. Ruff led the defense with 13 digs and Thorup picked up 12. MWSU outscored Eastern New Mexico 75-57 in the sweep and took advantage of 23 attack errors.

The team returns home next weekend as they play host to the MIAA/GAC Crossover. The Griffons will play two matches Friday against Henderson State and Oklahoma Baptist before taking the day off on Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —