The Missouri Western football stays No. 6 in this weeks American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Poll which was released Monday morning. The Griffons have been ranked 6th for three straight weeks. Missouri Western has been ranked in the top 25 in the last 22 polls and has received votes in 42 of the last 43 polls by the American Football Coaches Association.

Missouri Western is one of four MIAA school ranked in the top-25 with Northwest Missouri State being ranked No. 3, Pittsburg State No. 14 and Washburn at No. 22.  The Griffons held on to their position in the poll after defeating the Missouri S&T in the home opener by a score of 63-3.

Emporia State and Missouri Southern are other MIAA schools receiving votes in this weeks poll.

The Griffons return to MIAA action this weekend when they hit the road to take on the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers in Kearney, Neb. Kickoff is set for 3:00 pm from Cope Field at Foster Field.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team was able to move up one spot on the final day of the Holiday Inn & Suites Lake Elmo Invite to finish 8th out of 15 teams. The Griffons fired a two round total of 687 (341-346) which was one stroke better than SW Minnesota State’s 688 (343-345). The winner of the event was Central Oklahoma with a 608 (301-307). The event was played at the par 72 (6019) Tartan Park Golf Course.

Griffon freshman Maidson Romjue led the way finishing in a tie for 36th with a two day total of 169 (88-81). Callie Wilson was one stroke behind Romjue with a 170 (82-88) while Shelby Stone finished with a 172 (84-88). Amber Chivington and Darcy Smith fired 176 (87-89) and 187 (93-94) respectively while Anna Kloeppel played as an individual firing 173 (80-93).

The winner of the event was Bethany Darrough of Central Oklahoma with a 146 (73-73) which was five strokes better than teammate Taylor Neidy who fired 151 (75-76).

The Griffons return to actio on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22 when they participate in the Southwest Minnesota STate University Mustang Invitational. The event will be played in Marshall, Minn. at the Marshall Golf Course.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team shot a 341 on day one of the 2013 Holiday Inn & Suites Lake Elmo Invitational which puts them in 9th place in the 15 team field.

Central Oklahoma leads the charge shooting s 301 which is 18 strokes better than second place Augustana College (319). The Griffons are one stroke behind Sioux Falls (340) and two strokes ahead of Southwest Minnesota State (343).

The Griffons are led by sophomore Callie Wilson who fired a round one 82 which puts her in a tie for 22nd. Shelby Stone fired an 84 putting her in a tie for 38th while Amber Chivington, Madison Romjue and Darcy Smith finished with 87, 88 and 93 respectively. Anna Kloeppel played as an individual finishing with a round on 80 putting her in a tie for 12th.

The leader of the event is Bethany Darrough of Central Oklahoma who shot a 73 which is one stroke better than Christy Nelson of Upper Iowa (74).

The final round of the event will be played Monday with a shotgun start at 9:00 am.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The 6th ranked Missouri Western football team rolled to a 63-3 victory over the Missouri S&T Miners in their 2013 home opener in Spratt Stadium. The Griffons ran for 331 yards with Tra Brown and Raphael Spencer going for 109 and 107 respectively. The Griffons improve to 40-24 in September under Partridge and 30-14-1 in home openers. The Griffons have beat the Miners eight straight times improving to 2-0 on the season.

Travis Partridge scored on an 11-yard rush up the middle to break the scoreless game with 8:14 to go in the first quarter.

Minutes later, sophomore running back Raphael Spencer ran the ball in from 30-yards out to mark the score 14-0. Spencer continued his damage into the second quarter, scoring on 41-yard run on the outside as the Griffons went up 21-0 with 12:36 left in the first half.

Later in the half, reserve end Mackenzie Wischmann blocked a punt up the middle and freshman Darrian Bass recovered the ball and ran it into the end zone. Bass’ score made it 28-0 with just more than four minutes to play in the half.

After the Miners added a field goal, Dominic Thomas’ 92-yard kick return was negated by a holding call, one of nine penalties the Griffons garnered in the opening half. Still, Partridge marched the team down field and found freshman Daylon Harper in the end zone for a 6-yard reception with 22 seconds left.

At halftime, Spencer led the ground game with 107 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns. Partridge was 8-for-16 with 77 yards and a touchdown. Leading the team with four tackles at halftime was Jarred Henry.

Partridge opened up the second half with a 34-yard strike to Dee Tolliver, who ran into the end zone making it 42-3 with exactly 14 minutes to play in the third.

Reserves proceeded into the game late in the third quarter for the Griffons, and Nate Wilson hit Jon Green in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. Tra Brown sped to the outside and broke out a 59-yard score to make it 56-3 to start the fourth.

Brown then busted another long touchdown with 2:59 to go. The 39-yard sprint made it 63-3.

Five Griffons scored their first career touchdown, including Brown, Wilson, Green, Harper and Bass.

The Griffons finished with 462 yards on 61 plays while the Miners had just 213 on 73. Tolliver led the way receiving for MWSU catching three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Brody Berrie led the way with nine tackles with five being solo and four being assisted. Jorge Belcher and John Oglesby finished with seven total tackles.

The Miners fall to 0-2 on the season. Zenel Hudson had 16 carries for 23 yards while DeSoto Dickson had 22 yards on seven carries. Reed Brown had 130 yards connecting on 15-of-26 passes with two interceptions. Chris Emesih led the way defensively with six tackles with one sack.

The Griffons return to MIAA play on Saturday, September 21 when they travel to Kearney, Neb. to take on Nebraska-Kearney. Kickoff is set for 3:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team dropped their final game of the NSIC Challenge, losing 3-0 to Augustana College.

The Vikings led for the majority of all three sets. They finished the match with 25-17, 25-21 and 25-14 victories.

MWSU was led by Erica Rottinghaus, who had 14 kills. Kelly Scannell led the team with 16 assists. Rottinghaus now leads the team with 102 kills. Along with Lindsey Partridge and Jessie Thorup, she has started all eight matches for the Griffons.

Courtney Ysker led Augstana with a game-high 16 kills and tied the team lead of digs with 10.

The Griffons return to action this Tuesday. They open up MIAA play as they head to Northwest Missouri State to play the Bearcats. The match is set to start at 7 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team struggled in the first match of the 2013 NSIC Challenge against the St. Cloud State Huskies falling 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 15-25, 25-19). The Griffons were led by sophomore right side hitter Jessie Thorup with 13 kills. In the second match of the day the Griffons fell in a heartbreaker 3-2 after winning the first two sets. The Griffons fall to 2-4 on the season. They will take on the University of Sioux Falls at 2:00 pm and close out the challenge with a match at Augustana at 7:00 pm.

St. Cloud State Match
Box Score | Season Stats | Career Stats
The two teams played the first 18 points of set one to a 9-9 tie. The next few points would be all Huskies as they used an 8-2 run claiming a 17-11 lead after an attack error by Erica Rottinghaus. The Griffons remained calm going on a 10-5 run cutting St. Cloud’s lead to 22-21 after a Thorup kill. Unfortunately the Huskies would close out the set winning 25-22.

In set two a 9-1 run midway through the set by the Huskies helped them build a 16-8 lead. The Griffons outscored St. Cloud 11-9 the rest of the way but it was to little to late as they fell 25-19 in the second set.

The Griffons responded nicely in the third set taking control early and cruising to a 25-15 victory. The Griffons had 11 kills in the set while hitting .206. In the fourth set the Griffons got down early and could never recover falling 25-19 in the set and 3-1 in the match. The Huskies improve to 4-1 with the victory on the season.

The Griffons hit .135 in the match with 42 kills. Thorup and Rottinghaus combined for 24 of those kills while Erin Backhuus finished with nine. Jordan Chohon had a nice match setting the ball finishing with 35 set assists while Sarah Faubel led the way defensively with 19 digs.

The Huskies finished the match hitting .108 with 48 kills. Dani Domeier led the way with 13 kills while Erin Ohlemann had 21 set assists. Defensively three different Huskies had 15 digs in the match.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western used a big second half on its way to a 1-0 victory over the Wayne State (Neb.) Wildcats on Friday
afternoon. Tara Russell set a new Griffon record for shots in a game with seven, breaking the old record of six which was held by numerous Griffons. MWSU improves to 2-2 with the victory as Ashley Juravich scored her second goal of the season. The victory also marked the first ever against Wayne State as MWSU improves to 1-3 all-time against the Wildcats.

The Griffons dominated the first half of play on the score sheet getting 11 shots with four on goal. Teddi Serna, Bailey Dervin, Tara Russell and K.C. Ramsell each had one shot on goal.

The Wildcats had five shots with Josie Brown takcing two. Wayne State (Neb.) had the best chance in the first half when Macy Hagen’s shot from 20 yards out went off the crossbar. The two teams would go into the half tied 0-0.

The Griffons had three corner kicks in the half while the Wildcats had five fouls to the Griffons two.

The Griffons controlled the second half out shooting the Wildcats 18 to four with nine coming on frame. Juravich got her second game winning goal of the season putting a shot in the bottom left corner of the net in the 48th minute. The assist came from Russell.

The Griffons kept up the pressure in the second half not giving the Wildcats any breathing room. Despite not getting another goal the Griffons set a team record for shots in a game with 29 and shots on goal with 14. The old records were set last season on September 2, 2012 against East Central University. The Griffons had 25 shots with 12 on goal in that contest. MWSU also had 12 shots on goal against East Central on September 2, 2007.

The Wildcats fall to 0-3 on the season as they had nine shots with just two on goal. Brown led the way with three shots while Kylie Comba made 13 saves falling to 0-3.

The Griffons return to action on Tuesday, September 17 when they travel to Kirksville, Mo. to take on former MIAA opponent Truman State. Game time is set for 3:00 pm on the Bulldog Pitch.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western baseball team is offering the 15th Annual Free Community Clinic.

The clinic is being held on Saturday, October 5 from 9:00 am – 1:30 pm at the Griffon baseball field at the Spring Sports Complex on the campus of Missouri Western State University.

Check in begins at 8:30 am. The camp is for boys and girls grades 1st-5th and is limited to the first 75 children. You must call Coach Verduzco at 816-271-4484 to reserve your spot.

Please leave your child’s name, grade and a phone number to reserve a spot. Lunch is provided. Bring your mitt, cap, helmet, and cleats if desired.

Instruction is offered in all areas pitching, hitting, fielding and throwing.

The clinic is generously sponsored by community businesses and local Griffon Baseball supporters. A rain date is schedule for Sunday, October 6th.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team gave up three straight goals in the first half against the 13th ranked William Jewell Cardinals falling 5-2 in their home opener. The Griffons got two goals from junior transfer Tara Russell in the effort. The Griffons fall to 1-2 with the loss.

The first half was an offensive explosion as both teams combined to score six goals. The Cardinals got on the bard first in the 3rd minutes when Sarah Franklin took an pass from Emily Monroe putting WJC up 1-0.

Western responded nicely in the 10th minute when Katie Kempf found Russell tying the score at one. The goal marked Russell’s second of the season.

The Cardinals dominated the next 20 minutes of play scoring the next three goals. Franklin got her second goal of the game and third of the season of an assist from Olivia Dykes in the 19th minute. Jade Gifford gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead 10 minutes later when she blasted a shot from 40 yards out which found the net. The final Cardinal goal came in the 32nd minute when Franklin dished out an assist to Leah Connery at the 31:43 mark putting William Jewell up 4-1.

The Griffons kept playing hard and in the 41st minute Tara Russell scored her second goal of the night and third of the season cutting the WJC lead to 4-2 at the half.

Missouri Western only got out shot 10 to eight in the frame but goalie Sarah Lyle only made three saves. The Griffons had five shots on goal with Russell getting three on goal. Kelli Santag had three saves for the Cardinals.

The Griffons played better in the second half holding the Cardinals scoreless until the 76th minute. The Cardinals got the goal from Connery after Lyle misplayed the ball in the box.

Western had 12 shots total with seven on goal. Teddi Serna and Russell each had four shots. Lyle falls to 1-2 making 11 saves.

The Cardinals improve to 2-0 on the season. They had 24 shots with 16 shots on goal. Franklin had five shots with all five making it on frame. Franklin and Connery both had two goals on the night.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, September 13 when they host the Wayne State (Neb.) Wildcats. Game time is set for 4:00 pm in Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —