The Missouri Western women’s golf team sits in 11th place after firing a round one 357 at the MIAA Fall Preview Tournament which is being play at Whitmoor Country Club in St. Joseph, Mo. There are 17 teams in the field with Central Oklahoma leading the charge with a 305. Northeastern State and Augustana (SD) are close behind shooting 314 and 315 respectively.

Sophomore’s Amber Chivington and Callie Wilson lead the way for the Griffons firing 88’s in round one which puts them in a tie for 45th. Anna Kloeppel is close behind with an 89 while Madison Romjue and Shelby Stone fired 92 and 96 respectively. Darcy Smith finished with a 91 playing as an individual.

The leader of the event is Baylee Price of Northeastern State leads the way with a 72. She leads Bethany Darrough of Central Oklahoma and K. Sethasomponbe of Minnesota State by one as they both fired 73’s.

The final round of the event will be played tomorrow with a shotgun start in the morning.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western soccer team closed out the home portion of the 2013 schedule on Sunday afternoon falling 2-0 against the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The Griffons fell 2-0 falling to 2-11-2 overall and 0-7-1 in MIAA action. The Griffons honored four student-athletes that played their final game in Spratt Stadium. They include Rayelin Garcia, Ashley Juravich, Marissa Nolan and Alexa Adams.

The Griffons opened up the game aggressive as they had a few early opportunities with a couple corner kicks and a free kick from five yards out. Unfortunatly the Griffons did not get goal on their six first half shots. Marissa Nolan led the way with two shots with one on goal.

The Lopers got things going midway through the half scoring on a corner kick. McKinzie Rieber took the corner usnig the far post to guide it in the back of the net. the Lopers took a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minutes when Lauren Hoeft put a header in the back of the net off an assist from Meaghan Pasbrig.

UNK had seven shots with five on goal. Rieber took two shots with both being on goal. Katelin Mielke had three saves while Sarah Lyle had three saves for the Griffons.

The second half was a slow period as the Lopers had seven shots to the Griffons two. The both teams had two shots on goal in the frame.

Overall the Griffons had eight shots with five on goal while the Lopers had 14 shots with seven on goal.

Lyle finished with five saves while while both teams had three corner kicks and five saves. The Lopers improve to 6-8-2 overall and 3-4-2 in MIAA play.

Missouri Western returns to action on Thursday, Ocotber 24 with an MIAA road contest at #24 Central Missouri. Game time is set for 7:00 pm in Warrensburg, Mo.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Travis Partridge engineered a come-from-behind victory against Missouri Southern, topped by a record-breaking 99-yard touchdown pass — the longest play from scrimmage for Missouri Western — as the Griffons won 35-21.

The Griffons fell behind 21-17 at halftime but came back for the win. The momentum switched sides as Missouri Western took a 28-21 lead with 3:15 left in the third quarter. Behind by a point, Partridge nailed Stephon Weaver on a six-yard pass for the score. Reggie Jordan caught the ensuing two-point conversion to move the Griffons ahead by a touchdown, 28-21.

Two drives later, the Lions moved all the way down to the goal line, but Abranas Elliott forced a Giresse Forchu fumble at the 1-yard line. John Oglesby recovered the ball instantly, and on the next play, Partridge and the offense made the Lions pay with a history-breaking play.

Partridge hit Josh Walker for a 99-yard touchdown pass to give the Griffons their longest play from scrimmage of all-time. The touchdown put the Griffons ahead 35-21 and they left Joplin with a victory for the second straight time.

The game started with Partridge hitting Daylon Haper in the end zone for six. Raphael Spencer followed that score with one of his own, a 1-yard rush after Southern’s Terrance Allen fumbled on the Lions opening play from scrimmage. The quick 14-0 lead helped the Griffons early on. But the Lions came back and went on a 21-3 run to end the half ahead 21-17. The Griffons didn’t allow another point and scored 18 of their own.

Partridge finished the day going 15 of 28 with 244 yards and three scores. He had zero turnovers on the day as well. Spencer added 20 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown.

John Schmiemeier made both of his field goals with a long of 41 yards. The Lions were led by running back Chris Barnwell, who had 21 carries for 128 yards.

MWSU returns home for a matchup with Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon. The game starts at 1:30 p.m. at Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western fought hard until the end but dropped a 15-11 final set to Central Oklahoma and lost 3-2 Saturday evening. MWSU is now 11-11 and 4-4 in the MIAA. The Bronchos advance to 16-5 and 6-3 in the conference.

Kelly Scannell had continued her impressive assist streak. She recorded 67 assists to set a career high and the most assists since Madison Benton had 69 on Nov. 6, 2009 in a match against Nebraska-Omaha. It was only eight shy of the Griffon all-time record. That gives her 496 assists in 19 matches with seven starts.

The Griffons opened up the match with an opening set victory.

Neither team lead by more than two early on until the Bronchos put together a steady run to take a 14-9 lead. The Griffons returned the run as Erica Rottinghaus added a kill to make it 15-13. The Bronchos extended their lead to 21-14 and looked to win the set.

But the Griffons came back furiously.

Helped by a couple attack errors, Erin Backhuus, Kelsey Olion and Amanda Boender all had kills to bring the Griffons back to tie the match at 23. Two more points were added in favor of the Griffons as they ended the set with an 11-2 run for the 1-0 lead.

The Bronchos won the second set 25-19, leading the whole way to tie the match a 1 apiece. The Griffons came back and won the third set 25-18.

Tied at 14, the Griffons began to make their run. Olion and Rottinghaus put together four straight kills to open up their lead. Ahead 22-17, Olion scored three more kills to win the set 25-18.

The fourth set was the closest of the match. Neither team could separate itself by much as the match was tied at 23. The Bronchos score two consecutive points, however, and kept the Griffons from leaving Edmond with the win and sending it to the final set.

A 15-11 fifth-set win gave Central Oklahoma the 3-2 victory.

Kelly Scannell had a team-high, season-high and career-high 67 assists. Sarah Fauble led the team with 19 digs. Olion and Rottinghaus continued to be two outstanding offensive players on the team, accumulating 22 kills each for the team high.

The Griffons next head to Nebraksa to play Kearney-Nebraska Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western soccer team battled the Fort Hays State Tigers to a 1-1 double overtime tie on a chilly Friday evening at Spratt Stadium. Ashley Juravich picked up her third goal of the season as the Griffons improve to 2-10-2 overall and 0-6-1 in MIAA play.

The Griffons snapped their scoreless streak in the first half when Juravich scored her third goal of the season in the 9th minute giving MWSU a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later the Tigers tied the score at one when Amanda Talbott took an assist from Hailey Davey. It was Talbott’s fourth goal of the season.

The Griffons had four shots in the half with three shots on goal. K.C. Ramsell had two shots with one on goal while Sarah Lyle made four saves.

The Tigers had seven shot with all three coming from Talbott. Kelsey Grey had two saves. Both teams had two corner kicks in the frame.

The two teams had their opportunities in the second half as the Griffons had seven shots in the frame and the Tigers had five with one hitting the post.

The Griffons trailed in the shot category after regulation 12-11 but has seven on goal to the Tigers six. Ramsell had three shots while Talbott and Jordan Hester had three.

Grey had six saves while Lyle had five. Both teams had nine fouls with the taking five corner kicks to the Tigers four.

Neither team got much going in overtime number one as the Tigers had four shots with one on goal. The Tigers had one corner kick in the frame.

In the second frame the two teams continued to produce chances as the Griffons best chance came off the foot of Juravich.

The Griffons finished with 13 shots with nine on goal as Ramsell had four shots with three on goal. Lyle had eight saves in net.

The Tigers had 20 shots with nine on goal. Talbott had six shots with four on goal while Grey had eight saves.

Missouri Western will play their final home match of the 2013 season on Sunday, October 20 with a contest against the University of Nebraska-Kearney at 12:00 pm. The Griffons will honor four seniors before the game who include; Ashley Juravich, Raylin Garcia, Alexa Adams and Marissa Nolan.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western soccer team struggled on Wednesday evening in their make up game with Washburn as they allowed two second half goal and lost 2-0.

Western falls to 2-10-1 overall and 0-6 in the MIAA.  The Griffons are winless now in their last nine matches.

Missouri Western and Washburn had a slow start to the game with the two of them combining for just eight shots. The Griffons had just one shot coming from Sydney Andrews.

The Ichabods had seven shots with Bailey Wobin tacking three with one shot. Taylor Mayhew and Caysie Beetley both had two shots. Sarah Lyle had four saves in the frame.

Western continued to struggle in the second period of games giving up the game winning goal just three minutes into the half. Caysie Beetley put a header past goal keeper Sarah Lyle. Washburn put the finishing touches on the game in the 54th minute when Beetley found Bailey Wobig on a cross sealing the 2-0 victory.

Washburn improves to 7-5-1 on the season and 4-2-1 in MIAA play. WU had 15 shots with nine on goal. Mayhew had four shots on goal while Wobig had five shots with three on goal.

Missouri Western had five shots with Andrews taking two. Teddie Serna had the only shot on goal for MWSU.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, October 18 with a contest against the Fort Hays State Tigers. Game time is set for 7:00 pm from Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team won its fifth straight match after the Griffons swept William Jewell 3-0 Tuesday night at MWSU Fieldhouse.

Western jumped out to a 9-5 lead after Amanda Boender recorded a kill. Minutes later, the Cardinals came back to tie the match take a slim, 17-16 lead.

Boender added two points to take the lead back. The match settled at 20 apiece before the Griffons pulled out the set 25-22 thanks to Holly Pollock’s kill.

The second set proved to be Missouri Western’s best set.

Missouri Western’s lead quickly expanded to 11-5 after Erica Rottinghaus’ attack added another kill by the junior. The Griffons doubled William Jewell’s points at 18-9 and 22-11.

The Griffons closed the set 25-12 to take a 2-0 lead.

In the final set, the Cardinals fell behind 9-3 but scored 8 of the next 13 points to pull within two. It took a while for the Cardinals to tie the set, but they finally did at 19. The set went back and fourth until was tied a 22.

Rottinghaus closed the show as Kelly Scannell set up her final kill of the match to take the 25-22 win and a 3-0 victory.

Scannell led th team with 39 assists in the 3-set match. Boender and Rottinghaus both had 13 kills to tie for the team high. Rottinghaus also led the team with 14 digs.

The Griffons return to action this weekend for an MIAA match against Central Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team finished its fall season with an 11th place finish hosting the MWSU Drury Inn Central Region Invitational at the St. Joseph Country Club. The Griffons fired a three round total of 920 (300-304-316) which put them one stroke behind Augustana (S.D.) and Harding and one stroke ahead of Concordia-St. Paul. The University of Nebraska-Kearney won the event with a three round 879 (289-290-300) which was eight strokes ahead of Central Missouri (887).

The Griffons were led by junior Derek Hawkins with a 225 (74-74-77) while James O’Brien finished with a 229 (75-76-78). Scott Sheldon, Evan McCarthy and Dylan Watts fired 232, 236 and 245 respectively.

Matt Jennings of Henderson State won the event firing a 209 (67-67-75) which was three strokes ahead of Cy Moritz of Central Missouri.

The Griffons will return to action next spring when they return to action. The open up in Russellville, Ark. taking part in the Arkansas Tech David Falconer Memorial Classic on March 10 and March 11. The event will be played at Chamberlyne Golf Club.

— MWSU Sports Information —

For the second straight season the Missouri Western football team will go into the Missouri Southern contest with the highest American Football Coaches Association ranking in school history as they moved up two spots to 4th in the latest AFCA Top 25 poll.

The Griffons are coming off a 54-10 homecoming victory over the Northeastern State RiverHawks last Saturday. The Griffons have tied last season start of 6-0 and will be trying to go 7-0 for the first time since 1981.

Among other MIAA schools, Northwest Missouri is ranked No. 2 while Pittsburg State is ranked 7th, Washburn is 13th and Emporia State is ranked 20th.

Missouri Western has been ranked in the top 25 in the last 25 polls and has received votes in 45 of the last 46 polls by the American Football Coaches Association.

The Griffons and the Lions will kickoff on Saturday, October 19 at 6:00 pm from Fred G. Hughes Stadium in Joplin, Mo.

Click here to see the entire AFCA Top 25 Poll.

— MWSU Sports Information —