The Missouri Western women’s soccer team had its five-game win streak snap Sunday afternoon as they lost at Fort Hays State 1-0.

Kelsey Steffens’ goal five minutes into the second period gave the Tigers the win and halted the Griffons program best five match winning streak at five.

It was the ninth straight 1-0 match for Missouri Western dating back to a Sept. 21 loss at Lindenwood. Missouri Western now sits at 8-5-1 overall and 5-4-1 in the MIAA. The Griffons have tied the school record for the most wins in a season with four matches left this year.

Missouri Western held Fort Hays to just eight shots, two on goal but the Griffons only managed five shots, with three coming on frame.

The Griffons return to Spratt Stadium for three straight home contests beginning with first place Central Missouri on Friday night.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western football team scored early and often in the first half of a 40-14 win at Washburn Saturday afternoon.

The Griffon defense held the Ichabods scoreless for three quarters, extending their shutout streak to five quarters dating back to last week at Fort Hays and collected five Washburn turnovers, including two for scores. The defense held Washburn to 289 yards of offense, most of that coming in the second half. It was also a career-day for quarterback Skyler Windmiller. The redshirt-freshman threw for 264 yards, which was also a season high for the Griffon offense through the air.

Raphael Spencer got things started on Missouri Western’s first drive with a four yard touchdown run. Spencer finished with 20 carries for 58 yards in the Griffons first win of the year without a 100-yard rushing game from the junior running back.

Mike Jordan put the Griffons up 14-0 on Washburn’s next possession with a 39-yard pick-6. Stephen Juergens added the defense’s second td in the second quarter on a 15-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. It was the Griffons’ fifth defensive touchdown of the season.

Windmiller put MWSU up 24-0 in the first quarter with a 71-yard touchdown pass to Brandynn Clark – his longest pass of the season. Windmiller finished 18-24 passing with one touchdown and an interception. John Schmiemeier had his best game of the season, going 4-5 on field goal attempts.

The win is the third straight for the Griffons over the Ichabods and improves the team’s 2014 record to 5-2. Missouri Western returns to Spratt Stadium next week for homecoming when they host Emporia State.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit Saturday in Topeka as they won three straight sets to upset fifth-ranked Washburn 20-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-18, 24-22.

The Griffons are off to their best start through 21 matches since the 1987 squad that finished 5th at the NAIA Tourmanent with a 63-6 overall record.

It was the second time MWSU defeated Washburn this year, both times with the Ichabods ranked No. 5 and the first time the Griffons have swept a season series from Washburn since 2000. Missouri Western is now 17-4, 11-2 in the MIAA and remains in a three-way tie for first place with Central Missouri and Nebraska Kearney.

With nine matches left in the regular season, MWSU has surpassed last season’s win total and have matched the most wins for the program since 2005.

Missouri Western had seven match points in the fifth set, including the first at 14-13 before eventually pulling out their second win of the season against Washburn.  The Ichabods drop to 18-3 and 10-3 in the MIAA.

Washburn led 13-11 in the fifth set before Western scored three straight to get to match point at 14-13.

Three Griffons finished the night with double-doubles. Erica Rottinghaus had 22 kills, 12 digs and hit .327. Kelsey Olion had 17 kills and 12 digs. Jordan Chohon had 60 assists and 14 digs. Sarah Faubel led the team with 24 digs and Jessie Thorup finished with 20 kills. The Griffons had 18 total team blocks, led by Amanda Boender’s 10 block assists.

Missouri Western hit .197 overall as MWSU edged Washburn in kills, 73-69 and in digs, 87-79.

The entire match featured 45 ties and 18 lead changes.

The Griffons are back in action Friday at the MWSU Fieldhouse as they host Missouri Southern at 7:00 PM.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team won for the 10th time in 11 tries Friday night as they defeated Emporia State in five sets at Emporia.

MWSU claimed the decisive set with a 15-13 victory, winning on a Hornet attack error. Nothing was easy for the Griffons who pulled out the win with a .173 hitting percentage. After dropping the first set, 25-18, the Griffons were in danger of falling in a 2-0 hole to the Hornets. Emporia State led 24-20 in the second set before Missouri Western rallied for five straight points, including two service aces from Kelsey Olion and two kills from Erica Rottinghaus. MWSU took the second set 28-26 then took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-23 win in set three.Emporia State forced the fifth set with a 25-20, then Missouri Western took control, leading the entire final set.

Rottinghaus finished with a season-high, 21 kills and matched her season best, 15 digs. Amanda Boender also matched her best performance of the season with 15 kills. Olion and Jessie Thorup each finished with 13 kills. Jordan Chohon had 60 assists and 10 digs, while Sarah Faubel led the team with 19 digs.

The first-place Griffons are now 16-4 and 10-2 in the MIAA. They travel to Topeka for a rematch with No. 5 Washburn Saturday night. The last time the two squared off, Missouri Western handed the Ichabods their first loss of the season. The two teams are now part of a four-way tie atop the MIAA standings with Central Missouri and Nebraska Kearney. The match will begin at 6 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The script was there and Missouri Western women’s soccer team followed right along with their fifth consecutive 1-0 victory Friday night against Nebraska Kearney. With the win, the 2014 Griffons have matched the school record for most wins in a season with eight.

Tara Russell scored in the first minute of the second overtime to give Missouri Western the victory. Russell scored in the box off a deflection for her second-straight game winner and the fourth goal of the season for the senior.

Neither team managed much offense with the Lopers claiming a 7-6 advantage in total shots. Each team mustered just three shots on goal. All three of those Nebraska Kearney shots equated to saves for Sarah Lyle and her, school record, eighth save of the season. The Griffon defense has pitched five straight shutouts, not allowing a goal since Sept. 28 against Northeastern State.

Missouri Western is now 8-4-1 and 5-3-1 in the MIAA. The Griffons travel to Fort Hays on Sunday for a, something must give battle with the Tigers, who completed their third straight shutout on Friday night. The match begins at noon.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team earned a three set sweep of Northwest Missouri State Tuesday night for their ninth win in 10 matches.

The Griffons took set one 25-20, won set two 25-21 and rallied from behind to take the third set 27-25. MWSU faced set point, 24-21 in the third set but rallied to take the set and match.

Jessie Thorup led the team with eight kills. The Griffons were able to win despite a .099 hitting percentage and 25 total attack errors. Jordan Chohon finished with 28 assists and Sarah Faubel had 12 kills.

With the win Missouri Western is now 15-4 overall and 9-2 in the MIAA. The Griffons hit the road this weekend to face Emporia State on Friday night and Washburn on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western sophomore Taylor Gant has been named the MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week for women’s soccer.

Gant helped a stellar defensive effort last week that helped the Griffons to a program-best, four game winning streak. Missouri Western has not allowed a goal since Sept. 28 and has allowed just three goals in their last seven games. Gant has played a pivotal role in shutting out the last four opponents and helping her team set a MWSU record, seven shutouts in a season.

The Overland Park, Kansas native has started every game in her first two seasons at Missouri Western. She becomes the second Griffon named MIAA Soccer Athlete of the Week. Last week, Sarah Lyle was named the conference’s Goalkeeper of the Week.

The soccer program is in the midst of what could be its best season ever. Missouri Western has already exceeded the best start in program history; have the most shutouts in a season; Chad Edwards became the all-time wins leader this weekend and the team’s seven wins are one shy of the school record for most in a season with six matches remaining.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team won its fourth consecutive game Sunday afternoon as they beat Emporia State 1-0 inside Spratt Stadium.  The four straight wins is the longest in school history as they improve to 7-4-1 and 4-3-1 in the MIAA.

In the first half, the Griffons created three shots on goal but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Griffons defense held strong again allowing the Hornets only one shot.

Missouri Western was able to strike early in the second half and create multiple opportunities. Missouri Western scored in the 48th minute when Tara Russell found the back of the net from 10 yards out. The assist came from Sydney Cluck.

Sarah Lyle recorded two saves on the night and now has seven shut outs this season. It’s her seventh shutout of the season, the most for any Griffon goalkeeper in a single season.

MWSU accumulated 18 shots with seven of those on goal and only allowed three total shots for Emporia State.

Missouri Western is back in action Friday as they travel to Nebraska-Kearney at 7:00 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western football team avoided consecutive losses for the first time since 2008 with a 26-7 win at Fort Hays Saturday night.

Missouri Western rushed for a season-high 202 yards, including 165 from Raphael Spencer and passed for 153 for 355 total yards of offense without a turnover. It was MWSU’s highest offensive output of the season. The Griffon defense held the Tigers to just 7 points on 396 yards and turned Fort Hays over three times.

The Griffons jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 71-yard touchdown run by Spencer and a 33-yard field goal from John Schmiemeier. The Griffons led by six at the half, 13-7, but shut the Tigers out in the second half while adding 13 more points of their own.

Skyler Windmiller finished 15-26 for a career-high 153 yards through the air. The redshirt freshman added 22 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. It was also a career night for Dee Tolliver, who hauled in five catches for 49 yards. Spencer added two catches for 45 yards and Stephon Weaver had five receptions for 31 yards.

Stephen Juergens led the team with 12 total tackles. Juergens also had one of three MWSU sacks on the night. Kirk Resseguie and Cody Lindsay added the other two. Jonathan Owens picked up his first career interception and Sam Brown had his second of the season.

With the win, Missouri Western improves to 4-2 on the season and extends their winning streak over Fort Hays to 10 games. The Griffons will play their first afternoon game next Saturday when they travel to Washburn.

— MWSU Sports Information —