The Missouri Western men’s golf team finished in 4th place at the Missouri Intercollegiate Golf Championships held in Sunrise Beach, Mo. at The Club at Porto Cima. The Griffons fired a three round total of 929 (313-317-299) which was three strokes behind Missouri Southern and 19 strokes behind Central Missouri. William Woods won the event with a 907 (301-300-306). There were 16 teams in the event.

Individually sophomore James O’Brien finished in a tie for 9th firing a three round total of 229 (79-78-72) while Weston Apple finished in a tie for 20th with a 232 (76-82-74). Scott Sheldon, Derek Hawkins and Tyler Gast finished firing 234 (77-81-76), 238 (81-79-78) and 239 (83-79-77) respectively.

The winner of the event was Julian Taylor from William Wood University. He fired a three round total of 221 (71-74-76), one shot better than Travis Mays of Central Missouri.

The Griffons return to action on Monday, September 10 and Tuesday, September 11. They will participate in the Pittsburg State University Invitational which will be played at the Crestwood Country Club in Pittsburg, Kan.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western Griffon football team stayed 7th in the latest D2Football.com media poll which was released on Wednesday morning.  Missouri Western will face William Jewell College at home in non-conference action at 6 p.m. on Sept. 8 in St. Joseph, Mo.

The Griffons remained in the same spot after opening the season with a 38-26 win over Central Missouri in their home opener. The Griffons have been ranked in the top 25 in the last five polls.

Three other MIAA schools are ranked in the top 25 as Pittsburg State holds down the #1 spot while Northwest Missouri State and Washburn are #3 and #21 respectively.

Click here to view the D2football.com Top 25.

— MWSU Sports Information —

In the first ever meeting with the William Jewell Cardinals the Missouri Western soccer team came up short falling 3-1 in it’s first road action of the season. Five different Griffons had shots in the contest as MWSU falls to 1-2 on the season.

The Griffons got outshot 11-3 in the opening frame against the Cardinals and gave up eight corner kicks. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Sarah Franklin took an assist from Olivia Dykes in the 33rd minute of action.

Despite the shot differential the Griffons faught back early in the second half tying the score at one in the 55th minute. Senior, Ashlyn Castillo took a corner from K.C. Ramsell tying the score. The goal was the first of the her career for Castillo.

A header in the box from Justine Dover gave William Jewell the lead for good in th 60th minute and Franklin’s second goal of the game in the 86th minute sealed the victory for the Cardinals. Jewell had 21 shots with 10 on goal as they improve to 1-0 on the season.

Kelly Voigts had seven saves for the Griffons as she falls to 1-2 on the season. The Griffons had five shots with three on goal.

MWSU returns to action on Sunday, September 10 with a 4:00 pm match against NAIA opponent Graceland (Iowa) in St. Joseph, Mo.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team sits in a tie for 4th place after day one of the Missouri Intercollegiate Golf Championships which is being held in Sunrise Beach, Mo. at The Club at Porto Cima. The Griffons are tied with Central Missouri firing a 313 which is one stroke back of Columbia College (312) and six strokes back of Missouri Southern (307). The leader of the event is William Woods with a day one total of 301.

Individually the Griffons had one player in the top ten. Weston Apple a junior college transfer from Iowa Western leads MWSU with a 76 which puts him in a tie for 8th. Sophomore’s, Scott Sheldon and James O’Brian are in a tie for 15th and 27th firing 77 and 79 respectively. Derek Hawkins and Tyler Gast fired 81 and 83 respectively. Julian Taylor of William Woods leads the way with a 71 which is two stokes better than Mike Wilson of Columbia College.

MWSU sits one stroke better then William Woods 2 and Drury University and four strokes better than Sioux Falls University who sits in 8th. There are 16 teams in the event.

The Griffons will play the final round of the championship tomorrow, Wednesday, September 5th.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team won the University of Nebraska Kearney Women’s Fall Classic by ten strokes over host school Nebraska-Kearney in its first event of the fall. Missouri Western fired a two round total of 654 (317-337) at Awarii Dunes in Axtell, Neb. Senior, Natalie Bird won the event by eight strokes firing a two round total of 150 (72-78).

Host school Nebraska-Kearney took second place firing a 664 (332-332) which was seven strokes better than Fort Hays State’s, 671 (335-336). Dodge City CC finished fourth with a 699 (340-359) while Central Missouri (728) and Hastings College (728) tied for fifth and Doane (733) finished in seventh.

Bird won the event by eight strokes over Nebraska-Kearney’s Ana Summers, 178 (78-80). Darcy Smith finished in 7th with a 163 (82-81) while Shelby Stone finished in 12th with a 171 (78-93). Casi Webb and Callie Wilson finished in 15th and 21st respectively. Anna Kloeppel finished in 18th with a 175 (82-93) playing as an individual.

The Griffons return to action on September 10-11 participating in the Drury University Fall Shootout in Bolivar, Mo. The event will be held at Silo Ridge Country Club and will be hosted by Drury University.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team fired its lowest round since October 5, 2009 when they fired a 318 in the UNO Fall Classic. In the first round of the University of Nebraska-Kearney Invitational the Griffons fired a 317 while Natalie Bird fired a career low 72 claiming the lead. The event is being played at Awarii Dunes in Axtell, Neb.

The Griffons lead the tournament by 15 strokes over second place Nebraska-Kearney (332). Fort Hays State sits in third with a 335 while Dodge City CC sits in fourth with a 341. Hasting College, Central Missouri and Doane College sit five, six and seven with 356, 358 and 363 respectively.

Bird leads the individual event by five strokes over Carmen Thompson of Fort Hays State (77). Sheby Stone sits in a tie for 3rd with a 78 while Darcy Smith sits in a tie for seventh with an 82. Freshman, Anna Kloeppel fired an 82 playing as an individual in her first ever collegiat event. Casi Webb fired an 85 while freshman Callie Wilson rounded out the Griffons with an 89.

MWSU will play the final round of the event tomorrow, Monday, September 3.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team stayed perfect on the season with victories over Northern State University and Black Hills State University on Saturday afternoon. The Griffons defeated Northern State in three straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 26-24) and wrapped up the tournament with a four set victory over the Yellow Jackets (18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 26-24). Missouri Western improves to 4-0 on the season.

In the match against the Wolves of Norhtern State the Griffons hit an outstanding .236 with 44 kills and just 15 errors. Erin Backhuss led the way with 12 kills hitting .346. For her efforts this weekend she was selected to the All-Tournament team.

With the score tied at 17 in set one the Griffons rattled off three straight taking a 20-17 lead. MWSU never looked back winning the set by three. In set two the Griffons won six of the final ten points taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Griffons outscored the Wolves 8-3 midway through the third set and were able to hang on winning 26-24 taking the match 3-0.

Tournament MVP, Stephanie Hattey finished with six kills and 19 set assits while Jordan Chohon pitched in 19 set assits. Sarah Faubel led the way with 14 digs.

For the Wolves Kelsey Chambers had 11 kills while Jussy Tuscherer pitched in 10. Sami Nygaard had 19 digs while Renee Hoffman had 13.

Against Black Hills State the Griffons pulled out a gutsy 3-1 victory. MWSU lost the first set before rallying to win the next three.

Melissa Cairns led Missouri Western with 11 kills while Faubel had 10. Hattey continued to play well with 24 set assists and 11 digs. Holly Pollock led the defensive charge with 19 digs.

The Yellow Jackets were led by Amy O’Neill with 20 kills while Meghan Sipe had 13. They finished the tournament 1-3.

Missouri Western returns to action next Friday, September 7 participating in the Missouri S&T Tournament in Rolla, Mo. The Griffons take on Southwestern Oklahoma State at 10 am and #6 Southwest Minnesota State at 4:00 pm.

NSU/Dacotah Bank Classic All-Tournament Team
Erin Backhuus – Missouri Western State
Jussy Tuscherer – Northern State
Macey Finizio – Northern State
Kelsey Chambers – Northern State
Amy O’Neill – Black Hills State
Shari Hewson – Minot State

Libero: Kristina Harter – Chadron State
Setter: Drew Smith – Northern State
Tournament MVP: Stephanie Hattey – Missouri Western State

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team opened up the 2012 season 2-0 after defeating a scrappy Chadron State College squad 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23) in the Northern State / Dacotah Bank Classic. Sarah Faubel had a huge match recording a career best 16 kills while leading the way with 21 digs.

In set one the Griffons scored 10 of the final 14 points claiming a 25-19 victory. MWSU hit .226 with 12 kills in the opening set. In set two the Griffons got down early and could not get on track falling 25-19.

The Griffons regained focus in the sets three and four as they had 13 and 15 kills respectively winnning 25-14 and 25-23. In set three the Griffons used an 11-0 run midway through the set jumping to a 2-1 lead in the match. In set four Missouri Western jumped out to a 10-5 lead but the Eagles battled back tying the score at 18. The rest of the set was close but a ball handling error by Chadron State and a Jessie Thorup kill gave MWSU a 24-22 lead. An attack error by the Eagles gave the Griffons the set and the match.

Western improves to 5-2 all-time against the Eagles.

The Griffons finished with 51 kills hitting .157 in the match. Missouri Western had 47 set assits with Stephanie Hattey getting 28 while Jordan Chohon had 16. Defensively five different Griffons had 10 or more digs as they recorded 80 in the match.

Chadron State falls to 0-2 on the season as Jessica Jester and Mollie Jones both had 12 kills.

The Griffons play two more matches tomorrow Saturday, September 1 against Northern State University at 12:00 pm and Black Hills State University at 4:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —