The Missouri Western women’s golf returned to action Monday as they took part in the Fort Hays State University Invitational at the Smoky Hill Country Club.

The Griffons sit in fourth place after day one posting a team score of 331. Central Oklahoma leads the field with a score of 305.

Madison Romjue is the leader for Western after the first round. She managed to fire a 79 on the round and currently sits in tenth place. MWSU’s Amber Chivington had the second best score on the team with an 81 placing her thirteenth in the tournament.

The individual leader is Central Oklahoma’s Marla Souvannasing with a first round of 72.

The invitational continues on Tuesday starting at 9 a.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team returned to Spratt Stadium on Sunday afternoon but failed to claim victory against Northeastern State as they lost 1-0.

The Griffons had multiple close opportunities in the first half. Early on Katie Kempf had a shot in the box but couldn’t capitalize with a save by the RiverHawks goalkeeper Jordan Woodruff. Also, Tara Russell had one bang off the post but couldn’t find the back of the net in the 17th minute. Missouri Western’s defense held strong by not allowing a shot on goal.

Northeastern scored the first and only goal of the game on a free kick by Chelsea Martin in the 74th minute. MWSU’s offense was held in check during the second half creating limited chances on goal.

Missouri Western will return to action this Thursday when they travel to Joplin to play Missouri Southern at 6:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

For the second time in a week, the Missouri Western volleyball team handed an MIAA opponent its first loss of the year. This time MWSU took down Central Oklahoma on Saturday night with a 3-1 win in Edmond, 23-25, 25-14, 27-25, 29-27.

Missouri Western clinched the victory with their backs to the wall in set four. The Griffons trailed 24-21 before pulling even with the Bronchos on three straight points that included two Jordan Chohon kills. MWSU was down to its last chance once again at 27-26, but rallied for the last three points of the set to take the match.

After dropping the first set by two points, The Griffons dominated the second set, 25-14. They then pulled off a 27-25 win in set three and won the fourth 29-27 to move to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA. Missouri Western is now one of five teams atop the MIAA standings with their 5-1 conference record.

Jessie Thorup had 22 kills and hit .306 on 49 total attacks. Thorup also had six digs and four block assists. Erica Rottinghaus had 14 kills and Amanda Boender had 10. Jordan Chohon led the team once again with 50 assists. Sarah Faubel was one of four Griffons with double-digit digs. Faubel inched closer to that career record with 17 Saturday night. Kelsey Olion had 14 digs, Chohon added 11 and Rottinghaus chipped in with 11.

Missouri Western returns home next weekend to host Southwest Baptist on Friday night and Pitt State on Saturday afternoon.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western Volleyball team made quick work of Missouri Southern Friday night as they swept the Lions in Joplin, 25-19, 25-20 and 25-17.  It’s the fourth consecutive win for the Griffons as they improve to 10-3 overall and 4-1 in MIAA play.

Erica Rottinghaus led the charge with 14 kills. Amanda Boender turned in her second impressive performance of the week, hitting .750 with 12 kills and no attack errors in 16 total attacks. Boender added two solo blocks. Kelsey Olion led the team with seven digs. Holly Pollock addded six digs. Jordan Chohon had 38 of the team’s 44 total assists.

The Griffons road swing continues Saturday at undefeated Central Oklahoma. The Bronchos are 15-0 after sweeping Northwest Missouri State Friday night.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team dropped its first home game of the season to Central Oklahoma Friday, 1-0. The goal was allowed in the 89th minute to propel the Bronchos past the Griffons.

The first half was a defensive struggle with both teams creating limited opportunities. The Bronchos had six shots on goal with the Griffons providing four chances themselves. Sarah Lyle recorded four saves in the half as well.

MWSU in the second half created two corner kicks early but couldn’t capitalize on the chance to put one in the net. The attack for both teams eventually picked up to create some shots on goal. In the 89th minute, the Bronchos scored off a corner kick that was sent in by Emily Precure and deflected to the back of the net by Reagan Ballard.

Missouri Western will be back in action on Sunday against Northeastern State University. The game is set to start at noon.

— MWSU Sports Information —

For the second straight week and third time this season, the Griffon defense dominated the night on the way to a Missouri Western win. Thursday night, the MWSU D accounted for 14 points and allowed just 31 second-half yards as Missouri Western defeated the Lions, 26-9, in the first ever meeting between the two.

Kirk Resseguie got the scoring going for the defense in the second quarter when he recovered a Lindenwood fumble in the end zone to put the Griffons up 14-0. Resseguie did it again in the fourth quarter when he sacked Graham Lindman for a safety. Sam Brown added the defense’s final points later in the fourth with a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Missouri Western held the Lions to just 23 yards rushing and racked up 223 of their own on 53 carries. The Griffon defense force four turnovers for the second week in a row and held the Lions to 271 total yards.

Resseguie finished with seven total tackles, two of them for loss. Stephen Juergens added another interception and five total tackles to go along with an assisted sack. Mackenzie Wischmann had two sacks. Arbanas Elliot added one and a half sacks. Joey Capul chipped in another sack. Offensively, Raphael Spencer picked up 117 yards for his third 100-yard performance of the season. The Griffons are now 3-0 this season when Spencer eclipses the century mark.

The Griffons are now 3-1 on the year and return to Spratt Stadium next week to take on No. 8 Pittsburg State in the MWSU Hall of Fame game on Oct. 4 at 6 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team moved to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in MIAA play Tuesday night with a five-set victory over Northwest Missouri State, 20-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-16, 15-11. It was the team’s third straight MIAA win.

The Griffons trailed by as many as four points in the fifth set, but rallied back on a 10-2 run to take the match. Trailing 9-5 in the fifth set, a service error by Northwest, then a kill by Amanda Boender turned momentum for the Griffons.

It was Boender’s turn to lead the Griffon offense, racking up 14 kills on the night. Boender hit .387 and added eight block assists and two digs. Erica Rogginghaus had 13 kills and Kelsey Olion finished with 11 kills, nine digs and four block assists.

Sarah Faubel had 12 digs to move within 36 of the MWSU career record. Jordan Chohon added 11 digs and led the team with 51 assists. Lindsey Partridge continued her upward swing with eight kills, including the clincher, and five block assists.

Missouri Western continues the road trip Friday at Missouri Southern before taking on Central Oklahoma on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team finished in tenth place at the 16th Annual NSU Golf Classic. MWSU finished with a team score of 916 after three rounds of golf. Central Oklahoma took the team crown after posting a score of 879 during the tournament.

The Griffons leader was Corey Knight scoring a 219 in his three rounds which allowed him to finish in eighth place.  Jakob Rudosky also had a solid tournament for MWSU shooting a 227 and finished tied for 30th.

Individually Central Oklahoma’s Wesley Jackson and West Texas A&M’s Oscar Spolander each shot a 214 to lead the field.

Missouri Western will wrap up their fall season with the MWSU Drury Inn Central Region Invitational on Oct. 12 – Oct. 14.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western defensive back Marc Harrison was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after his record-tying 100-yard interception return for a touchdown Saturday in the Griffons 30-0 win over Northeastern State.

Harrison’s interception stopped an NSU scoring threat with the RiverHawks trailing 10-0 and helped turn the tide in the Griffons favor.

The 100-yard return tied a school record set by Nate Bruto in 2009 at Fort Hays State.

Harrison, a senior from Raymore, Missouri, also had six tackles (five solo) and a pass break up in Missouri Western’s win.  Harrison’s interception was one of four by Griffon defenders, the most by any team in the MIAA this season. It was his first interception this season and the fifth of his career.

Missouri Western is back in action Thursday as they play at Lindenwood.  The kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. and can be heard on 680 KFEQ AM & here on StJosephPost.com.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team found another tough MIAA challenge Sunday in St. Charles, as they lost to the Lions 1-0. The loss drops MWSU to 3-2-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the MIAA.

Lindenwood’s lone goal came in the 42nd minute by Kirsten Crabtree. It was the only of seven shots on goal to get behind Western goal keeper Sarah Lyle. Lyle finished with six saves.

Offensively, the Griffons stayed with Lindenwood, finishing with five shots on goal. Lindenwood had 10 shots overall to MWSU’s six.

Missouri Western returns home for two matches this weekend. Friday night, MWSU hosts Central Oklahoma at 7 p.m. and Northeastern State comes to Spratt Stadium on Sunday.

— MWSU Sports Information —