The night got off to a great start for the Missouri Western volleyball team but their bid for a ninth straight win came up short against No. 8 Nebraska Kearney Saturday night.

The Griffons took the first set 25-20 but the Lopers bounced back in a big way, winning set two 25-8 and set three 25-17. Missouri Western came out strong in the fourth set, jumping to a 16-12 lead before Nebraska Kearney stormed back to take the fourth set and the match with a 25-21 set victory.

Erica Rottinghaus finished with 16 kills and eight digs while hitting .464. Sarah Faubel finshed with 19 digs and Jordan Chohon finished the weekend road trip strong with 38 assists and 11 digs.

Missouri Western returns home with a 14-4 mark overall, 8-2 in conference. They will host Northwest Missouri State Tuesday night in the MWSU Fieldhouse before hitting the road again next weekend.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team rallied for their eighth straight win Friday night as they defetead Fort Hays State 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-15).

It’s the program’s longest win streak since the 2002 team started the season 8-0.

It was an impressive night for individual performances. Jessie Thorup hit .467 with 25 kills. Kelsey Olion added 13 kills and 11 digs. Erica Rottinghaus followed with 11 kills and 11 digs. Jordan Chohon had 58 assists and 10 digs. Sarah Faubel added to her MWSU record with 20 kills on the night.

The Griffons are now 14-3 overall and 8-1 and in first place in the MIAA. Missouri Western looks for its ninth stright Saturday night at No. 8 Nebraska Kearney.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team recorded another win on Friday night as they defeated Washburn 1-0. It’s the Griffons third straight win as they improve to 6-4-1 and 3-3-1 in the MIAA.

The first half didn’t produce much on the offensive side for either team. Missouri Western created four shots on goal as a team. Tara Russell had three of those on frame and Layne Shepherd accounted for the other shot on goal. Washburn was able to challenge Sarah Lyle twice in the half.

In the second half, the Griffons were able to control most of the tempo. In the 72nd minute, Tara Russell took a corner kick and found the head of Bridget Blessie for her second goal of the season to give the Griffons a 1-0 lead. It was Russell’s second assist on the year.

Sarah Lyle finished the game with a total of four saves and recorded another shutout. She now has six total shut outs on the season including three straight.

Missouri Western will return to action Sunday at noon against Emporia State inside Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western soccer player Sarah Lyle has been named the MIAA Goalkeeper of the week.

Lyle completed her fourth and fifth shutouts of the season over the weekend, including an 11-save performance against Southwest Baptist on Saturday. The Bearcats had scored a combined 20 goals during a six-game win streak the Griffons halted. It was also Southwest Baptist’s first MIAA loss of the season.

Lyle leads the MIAA with a .902 save percentage and is second in shutouts and goals against average (0.57).

The sophomore from Duluth, Minnesota was a 2013 MIAA Academic Honor Roll member and becomes the first Griffon to be named an MIAA Athlete of the Week since Sept. 29, 2008, when Jenna Weis received the same award.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western football team lost at home Saturday night at Spratt Stadium to Pittsburg State 23-13.

Missouri Western trailed by just four at halftime, 17-13 but two Connor Frazell field goals in the second half and a second half shutout by the Gorilla defense proved too much for Missouri Western.

Trailing 14-10 halfway through the second quarter, Josh Walker nearly gave the Griffons a boost with a 57 yard punt return but Skylarr Gaston chased Walker down from behind an poked the ball out giving the Gorillas the ball at the Missouri Western four yard line. Pittsburg State turned the fumble into three points and gave the Gorillas a 17-13 halftime lead.

The Gorillas outgained Missouri Western 354 to 192. Pittsburg State rushed 48 times for 134 yards. The Griffons 13 points were the most allowed by Pittsburg State this season.

Raphael Spencer came up short of another 100 yard game rushing 17 times for 83 yards. Skyler Windmiller finished 12-27 passing for 114 yards with one interception and Missouri Western’s lone touchdown. Windmiller hit Stephon Weaver for a three yard strike in the second quarter to pull the Griffons within four.

Meshack Kennedy had seven solo tackles and 12 total. Cody Lindsay had the Griffons only sack on the night. The Griffons drop to 3-2 on the season and 3-2 in the MIAA.

Missouri Western hits the road next Saturday for a matchup with Fort Hays State on Oct. 11.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team won their seventh straight MIAA contest in a 3-0 sweep of Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon, 25-17, 25-17, 25-20.

The Griffons rallied on seven straight points in the third to complete the sweep. It’s the Griffons longest winnings streak since beginning the 2002 season 8-0.

Missouri Western dispatched the Gorillas 25-17 in both the first two sets then fell behind 6-3 in the third before rattling off seven straight points that included six Pittsburg State errors. MWSU controlled the rest of the set, winning 25-20.

Jessie Thorup led the way offensively for the Griffons, serving during the seven-point run and racking up 13 kills while hitting .333. Kelsey Olion hit .360 with 11 kills and chipped in four blocks. Sarah Faubel had eight digs a day after becoming the program’s all-time leader in that category. Jordan Chohon finished with 38 assists, five digs and a kill.

Missouri Western hits the road next week playing at Fort Hays on Oct. 10 before making the trip to face No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney on the 11th.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western soccer team got a header from K.C. Ramsell in the 35th minute Saturday in Bolivar to hand Southwest Baptist their first MIAA loss of the season, 1-0.

Sydney Cluck set Ramsell up for the header that was all the Griffons needed behind an impressive, 11 save performance from Sarah Lyle. It was Lyle’s fifth shutout of the season. She now has a save percentage of .902 on the season and has allowed six goals in 10 matches.

The Bearcats had 18 total shots to the Griffons seven with all of Missouri Western’s shots coming on frame. Ramsell’s only shot was the goal and game winner.

The win moves Missouri Western to 2-3-1 in MIAA play and 5-4-1 overall. The Bearcats are not 7-2 and 4-1 in the MIAA.

The Griffons return home next week for matchups against Washburn on Oct. 10 and Emporia State on Oct. 12.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball teams continues to turn heads in the MIAA as they picked up another sweep with a 25-13, 25-16, 25-15 win over Southwest Baptist Friday night.  The win gives the Griffons six in a row.

Senior Sarah Faubel broke the career digs record on the night with 11 digs. The record stood at 1,565 and Faubel now has 1,566.

Missouri Western took control early and never looked back. The Griffon defense didn’t allow more than 16 points in any set.

Offensively, the attack stayed balanced with four players recording at least seven kills. Jessie Thorup posted 10 kills and had a .455 attack percentage to lead the team. Freshman Ashley Mainord got the start and hit a .500 attack percentage with eight kills. Kelsey Olion added nine kills and 11 digs on the night. Jordan Chohon had 30 assist on the night continuing her effective play.

The Griffons return to the court Saturday afternoon to face Pittsburg State starting at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

A month ago, the Missouri Western women’s soccer team got their first win of the season in dramatic fashion. Thursday night, they did it again for their first MIAA win of the year as they defeated Missouri Southern, 1-0.

Tara Russell’s goal with less than two minutes left in the second overtime broke a 0-0 tie and moved MWSU to 4-4-1 and 1-3-1 in the MIAA.

Neither team could find the net through the first 107 minutes of play but Russell found it just in time to put one in the MIAA win column for the Griffons. Missouri Western had 16 shots to Missouri Southern’s 13 and led shots on goal 11-4. Sarah Lyle completed her fourth shutout of the season, finishing with four saves.

Missouri Western heads to Bolivar Saturday for a showdown with Southwest Baptist at noon.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western senior outside linebacker Kirk Resseguie has been named the MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week.

Resseguie, a senior from Lawrence, Kansas, accounted for two of the Griffon defenses three scores against Lindenwood last Thursday in their 26-9 victory.

Resseguie recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter to put MWSU up 14-0 then added a sack for a safety in the fourth quarter.

He finished with seven tackles (5 solo), two tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery as Missouri Western held an opponent under 10 points for the third time in four games.

Missouri Western, who is 3-1 on the season, returns to Spratt Stadium Saturday as they host No. 19 Pittsburg State at 6:00 p.m.