The Missouri Western men’s golf team sits in 9th place after day one of the MWSU Drury Inn Central Region Invite firing a two round 604 (300-304).  The event is being played at the par 71 St. Joseph Country Club.

The Griffons are three strokes ahead of Augustana (SD) 607 and one stroke behind St. Cloud State’s 603. Henderson State (578 (289-289)) is one stroke ahead of Nebraska-Kearney’s 579 (289-290). Arkansas Tech and Central Missouri are tied for third with 580’s.

Missouri Western is led by junior Derek Hawkins who fired two 74’s finishing with a 148 which put him in a tie for 17th. James O’Brien (75-76) and Scott Sheldon (74-77) fired 151’s while Dylan Watts and Evan McCarthy finished with 154 (77-77) and 156 (78-78)  respectively.

Matt Jennings of Henderson State leads the 100 player field shooting a two round eight under 134 (67-67). He is six strokes ahead of teammate Gil Debusscher and Lance Lawson of Nebraska-Kearney who fired a 140.

The final round of the event will begin at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday with a shotgun start.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western soccer team had their offensive struggles continue Sunday as they fell to Emporia State 1-0 at Spratt Stadium.

The Hornets broke a scoreless game early on in the 11th minute. Bridget Wages moved across the goal line and positioned herself for an unassisted goal in the right corner of the net. It was her first goal of the season.

That’s how the game would end as neither team scored in the second half.

The Griffons had 11 total shots against Emporia’s 19. Goalkeeper Sarah Lyle finished with eight saves compared to Hornets’ keeper Melaine Nuessen who had three.

Missouri Western is 2-9-1 and 0-5 in the MIAA. They play again Wednesday night against Washburn in their make-up game from Friday night.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western racks up 547 yards of offense improving to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in MIAA play. The Griffons scored 31 first quarter points and four different Griffons scored touchdowns in the game. MWSU forced four NSU turnovers and controlled the time of possession having the ball for over 31 minutes.

The Griffons opened up the contest on fire on both sides of the ball scoring 31 first quarter points on their way to a 41-7 halftime lead. The Griffons took the opening drive 75 yards on four plays which was sparked by a 53 yard scamper on the opening play of the game by Raphael Spencer. The drive was capped by a 22 yard run by Travis Partridge.

The RiverHawks responded nicely going 82 yards on seven plays which was helped by a personal foul on MWSU and missed tackles. They tied the score at seven on a 25 yard run by Terrance Dixon. The rest of the quarter was all Griffons. Partridge scored his second touchdown of the game on a two yard run with 8:55 to play in the quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff the Griffons forced a fumble by Vernon Jones which was recovered by Brock Kimball. MWSU went 22 yards on five plays which was capped by a John Schmiemeier 24 yard field goal giving MWSU the 17-7 advantage. The Griffon defense forced a punt by NSU which they then took 91 yards on nine plays. Partridge hit Derek Libby for a 40 yard bomb helping prolong the drive. Partridge connected with Alek Ferbet from 10 yards out giving MWSU the 24-7 lead with 2:39 to playin the quarter. The catch and touchdown was Ferbet’s second of his career.

MWSU then got a sack fumble from Nick Williams which set up a 23 yard touchdown run from Spencer capping the first quarter scoring at 31-7 in favor of Missouri Western.

In the second quarter the Griffons used a career long 54 yard field goal from John Schmiemeier and a 23 yard run from Dominic Thomas taking the 41-7 lead into the locker room.

The Griffons racked up 413 yards of total offense in the half with 223 coming through the air as Partridge completed 17-of-26 passes with one touchdown. Libby and Reggie Jordan each had four receptions. Spencer led the way on the ground with 94 yards on five carries and one touchdown.

The RiverHawks had 151 yards of offense with 87 coming through the air. Thor Long completed just 6-of-16 passes with one interception. On the ground Terrance Dixon rushed for 47 yards on seven carries with a touchdown.

Defensively Austin Baska led the Griffons with five tackles while Kyler Harris led NSU with eight.

Missouri Western opened up the second half scoring when Spencer ran in from nine yards out giving MWSU the 48-7 lead with 9:18 to play in the third. NSU got a 29 yard field goal from Drew Patton cutting the lead to 48-10 after three.

The fourth Griffon player scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter when Tra Brown went in from 12 yards out with 2:16 to play in the game giving MWSU the 54-10 victory. This marks the second consecutive season that the Griffons opened 6-0.

The Griffons forced four turnovers in the victory holding NSU to just 306 total yards. The Griffons had 311 rushing yards with Spencer going for 115 while Brown finished with 74. Partridge finished with 219 passing yards with Libby leading the way with 77 receiving yards.

NSU had 196 yards passing with 53 coming on the last drive of the game when Cory Meaders completed 3-of-6 passes for 53 yards. Long finished with 143 yards and two interceptions. Dixon led the way with 61 rushing yards while Steven hopper had 42 on eight carries.

Kalan Booker and Wallace Carter each got interceptions for the Griffons as Stephen Juergens led the charge with seven total tackles.

NSU falls to 0-6 overall and in the MIAA. Langston Jones and Kyler Harris both had 12 tackles.

The Griffons return to action on Saturday, October 19 when they travel to Joplin, Mo. to take on the Missouri Southern Lions. Game time is set for 6:00 pm from Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball won their fourth straight match with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 26-24) victory over the East Central Tigers in the final  match of the MSSU Invite. The Griffons hit .268 with Erica Rottinghaus leading the way with 12 kills. The Griffons even their record at 10-10 with the victory.

Both teams came out on fire as the Griffons hit .382 with 18 kills in set one while East Central hit .342 with 16 kills. MWSU scored the final two points on kills by Erin Backhuus and Kelsey Olion picking up a 26-24 victory in set one.

In set two Missouri Western dominated a 12-3 run claiming a 16-11 lead after an attack error by the Tigers. The Griffons won the set 25-15 taking a comanding 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was back and forth as East Central opened up a 16-11 after a 6-0 run. The Griffons remained calm using their own 8-2 run taking a 22-21 lead after a ball handling error by ECU. With the score tied at 24 the Griffons got back-to-back kills from Olion and Amanda Boender getting the 26-24 set victory.

Olion finished with 11 kills while Kelly Scannell had 36 set assists. Sarah Faubel had 15 digs in the match.

East Central falls to 6-11 overall as they had 36 kills with Danielle Essix leading the way with nine kills. Madison Seiler had 17 set assists while Jessica Wilkinson had 10 digs.

The Griffons return to action on Tuesday, October 15 with a non-conference contest against William Jewell. Game time is set for 7:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team improved to 7-10 on the season as they defeated Emporia State Tuesday night at MWSU Fieldhouse 3-1.

It was the first victory against the Hornets since Sept. 23, 2006 when the Griffons won 3-2, and the first home win for the Griffons over the Hornets since Oct. 16, 2002 when they won 3-1.

In the first set, Western took control early but let it slip away. After a 2-1 lead, Paige Vanderpool put together four straight kills for the Hornets. Missouri Western struck back later on in the set after it trailed 19-16.

The Griffons scored six out of the next nine points to tie the match at 22. Sarah Faubel put together a streak of kills to take the lead back. Kelsey Olion also added two kills as Western finished the set with a 28-26 victory.

After taking the first set narrowly, the Griffons led throughout the second set. Missouri Western opened with a 5-1 lead after Erica Rottinghaus had a kill. The Griffs expanded their lead to 16-10 after a kill from Olion. The Hornets battled back to mark the score 19-17, but MWSU held on and score six out of the next eight points to win it 25-19 and lead 2-0.

Emporia State came out of the break ready to take the third set. The Hornets came out on fire taking a 16-9 advantage before the Griffons came back with three straight points of their own.

Their run was short lived, however, as the Hornets won the third set 25-18.

The fourth set was again back and forth as neither team could command much of a lead. Missouri Western fell behind midway through as the game settled at 15-13.

The Griffons took a slim lead, 18-17, before the match was tied at 20. Western scored two more points to again take the lead.

Rottinghaus finalized the match with a strong kill at the end to win the set 25-23 and win the match 3-1.

Olion led the Griffons with 16 kills on the night. Rottinghaus had 13 to place second. Kelly Scannell had a team-high and career-high 47 assists. The Hornets were led by Courtney Haring and Meghan Dugan who each had 12 kills.

Missouri Western avenged an earlier-season loss to the Hornets, who defeated the Griffons 3-2 in Emporia, Kan. Missouri Western returns to action this weekend in the Missouri Southern Invitational where it will play three matches.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team moved up two spots to finish 3rd at the NWMSU Bearcat Fall Invite held at Mozingo Lake Golf Course.

The Griffons fired a two day total of 658 (330-328) which was one stroke ahead of Rockhurst (659) and 15 strokes back of second place finisher Norhtwest Missouri State (643).

The winner of the event was Bellevue University with a two round total of 635 (317-318).

Sophomore Callie Wilson led Western with a 163 (84-79) which placed her 10th while freshman Madison Romjue fired a 164 (85-79). Amber Chivington, Anna Kloeppel and Shelby Stone finished with a 166, 169 and 170 respectively. Darcy Smith played as an individual with a 169.

The winner of the event was Renee Santoyo of Bellevue with a 152 (75-77) will Brianna Bondon of Rockhurst finished with a 156.

The Griffons will play the final fall event on Monday, October 21 and Tuesday, Ocotber 22. They will play in the Lindenwood University MIAA Fall Preview.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team tied for 14th at the UCM Heart of America Invitational that was played at Keith Memorial Golf Course.

The Griffons finished with a three round total of 901 (302-299-301) which tied them with Minnesota State (302-304-295).

The winner of the event was host Central Missouri firing a three round total of 865 (295-283-287). They finished 14 strokes ahead of second place Arkansas Tech.

Junior Scott Sheldon led the way for Western with a 220 (75-73-72) which put him in a tie for 16th. Derek Hawkins and James O’Brien both finished with 226 while Evan McCarthy and Tyler Gast shot 229 and 238 respectively.

Sam Migdal of Central Missouri, Jason Purdy of Arkansas Tech and Max Lazzo of Washburn finished with 214 with Lazzo winning the event in a playoff.

The Griffons will host the MWSU Drury Inn Central Region Invitational on Monday, October 14 and Tuesday, October 15. The event will be played at the St. joseph Country Club and will wrap up the fall portion of Missouri Western’s schedule.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western football team remained No. 6 in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll that was released Monday.

The Griffons defeated the Central Oklahoma Bronchos Saturday 63-30 and will host Northeastern State on Saturday, October 12 at 1:30 p.m. in St. Joseph, Mo. This will be Missouri Western’s annual homecoming game.

Among other MIAA schools, Northwest Missouri is ranked No. 3 while Pittsburg State is ranked 10th, Washburn is 15th and Emporia State is ranked 23rd.

Missouri Western has been ranked in the top 25 in the last 24 polls and has received votes in 44 of the last 45 polls by the American Football Coaches Association.

Click here to view the AFCA Top 25 poll.

— MWSU Sports Information —