The Missouri Western State University football jumped into a tie for 25th in the latest American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Coaches poll following a 31-24 victory over Southwest Baptist University.

The Griffons have received votes in eight of the ten polls this season but it’s the first time this year they have been in the top 25.

Three other MIAA schools are in the top 10 as Pittsburg State came in 2nd, Northwest Missouri State 3rd and Washburn 9th.

The Griffons have currently won five straight football games coming into this week’s match-up with 3rd ranked Northwest Missouri State. Western holds a 7-2 overall record and 5-2 in MIAA play while the Bearcats are 8-1 and 6-1 in MIAA action. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western football players Michael Hill and David Bass receive weekly MIAA honors for their performances in last week’s 31-24 victory over the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. Hill a redshirt junior running back received MIAA Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career while Bass a redshirt junior defensive end received MIAA Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

MIAA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Michael Hill, RB, Missouri Western

Hill had another outstanding game for the Griffons accumulating 297 all-purpose yards, which includes a career best 246 on a career high 41 carries. Hill’s 41 carries breaks the Griffons single-game record which was 40 by three different players. The last to do it was Derrick Pitts vs. Central Missouri in 2003.  Hill was just 37 yards shy of tying the career-high for yards in a game, which is 283 by Tony Williams vs. Missouri-Rolla in 1996. The Griffons improved to 5-0 when rushing for over 200 yards in a game finishing with 356 against the Bearcats. Western also finished with over 500 yards of total offense for the second consecutive week. The junior from St. Joseph, Mo., gave the Griffons a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter catching a 13-yard pass from Travis Partridge. He led the Griffons with four catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Hill is just 23 yards shy of 1,000 yards on the season. He is averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

MIAA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Bass, DE, Missouri Western

Bass continues to dominate opposing offensive lines as he tied the single game Missouri Western record for sacks in a game for the second time this season with four against the Bearcats. The junior from St. Louis, Mo., had six tackles with five being for a loss of 19 yards. Bass is just one tackle for a loss for tying the single season record. He has 17.5 with two games to play. Eric McDowell has the record with 18.5 in 2003. He also has 13 sacks on the season which is two behind McDowell’s 15 which he set in 2003 as well. Bass is also three sacks from breaking the career record for sacks. Bass has 27.5 while the leader Kinney Redding has 30.5, which was set from 1974-77. Bass helped the Griffons hold a team under 100 yards rushing for the third time this season, allowing the Bearcats just 44.

The Griffons return to action on Saturday, November 5 when they host 3rd ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. The game will be the MIAA game of the week with kick off set for 2:00 pm. Western will also honor 12 seniors before the game who include: Adam Clausen, Jack Long, Isaac Collins, Greg Zuerlein, Jake Buckwalter, Nic Burrell, Tom Madget, Cody Kremer, Oliver Pryor, Jesse Engelken, Kip Peters and David Fowler.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-12, 29-27, 25-20) against the 5th ranked Washburn Lady Blues in MIAA action on Saturday afternoon in the MWSU Fieldhouse. Stephanie Hattey led Western with 31 set assists and 13 digs. The Griffons fall to 12-13 overall and 5-7 in MIAA play.

Western came out of the gates sluggish hitting just .081 with eight kills and five errors on 37 attacks in set one. The Griffons fell in the first set 25-12 against the high powered Lady Blues. Washburn hit .472 with 20 kills in 36 attacks. They had just three errors in the set.

Set two started like the first as the Griffons got down 12-7 after a Jessica Fey kill for Washburn. The Griffons responded nicely going on a 9-4 run tying the score at 16 after a Hannah Zimmerrman kill from Hattey. Both teams went on mini 3-0 runs playing to a tie at 19. The two teams played close the rest of the way and the Griffons took their first lead of the game at 27-26 lead after an Amanda Boender kill but three straight points by Washburn gave them the 29-27 victory and the 2-0 lead in the set.

Western hit .074 in the second set with 14 kills and 28 digs. They also had four blocks in the set. The Lady Blues it .121 with 16 kills and 27 digs in the set.

The Griffons played the Lady Blues close through the first 24 points as the score was tied at 12 early on in set three. From there the Lady Blues used a 5-0 run gaining a 17-12 lead. The two teams played even the rest of the way but Western would fall 25-20. Zimmerman and Shelby Corkill both had eight kills while Sarah Faubel and Tahler Johnston finished with 13 and 10 digs respectively.

Washburn improves to 25-1 overall and 12-0 in MIAA play. Washburn had 49 kills with Breanna Lewis getting 11 and Jessica Kopp and Jessica Fey both recording 10. Abby Wittman had 24 set assists while Kelsey Lewis had 12 digs.

Western will hit the road on Tuesday, November 1when they travel to Maryville, Mo. to take on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats in Bearcat Arena. Match time is set for 7:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western soccer team fell in their final game of the season by a score of 2-0 on Senior Day in Spratt Stadium. Western honored four seniors before the game who played their last game in Spratt Stadium. They were Molly Slattery, Brooke English, Audrey Henderson and Jeanna Ross. Western ends its season 4-10 overall and 1-7 in MIAA play.

The Griffons struggled in the opening frame giving up two goals to the Hornets in the first 24 minutes. The Hornets scored the first goal in the 19th minutes when Mallory Walden scored her third goal of the season off a Kelly Bacon assist. Walden scored her second goal in the 24th minute off a free kick from 30 yards out which beat Kelly Voigts in the bottom right had corner.

The Hornets had 12 shots with 8 on goal while the Griffons had six with three. Audrey Henderson had two shots with one on goal while the Hornets were led by Mandi Lozenski with five shots and two on goal.

In the second half the two teams play even soccer as both teams recorded three shots apiece with Voigts recoding one save for Western in the frame.

The Grffons had nine shots in the game with five on goal. Henderson, K.C. Ramsell and Ashley Juravich all had two shots in the contest. Voigts recorded seven saves in goal.

The Hornets improve to 3-9-5 overall and 2-5-1 in MIAA play. They had 15 shots with nine on goal. Lozenski finished with five shots while Nikki Schmitz recorded five saves.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team fell in a five set thriller on Friday evening to the Emporia State Hornets (23-25, 25-15, 17-25, 25-22 and 15-11) in the first match of pink week. Western fell for the first time at home as they fall to 12-12 overall and 5-6 in MIAA action.

The Griffons played the first first 26 points to a 13 all tie after a Hannah Zimmerman kill. Zimmerman had seven of the Griffons 17 kills in set one. Western closed the set winning 12 of the final 20 points earning the 25-23 victory. Western hit .250 with just four errors in the set. Stephanie Hattey picked up 13 assists and 10 digs in the first set for Western.

Set two belonged to the Hornets as they used an 11-1 run taking a 17-7 lead. Western cut the lead to 18-13 but ESU closed on a 7-2 run claiming the 25-15 victory evening the match at one apiece. Western had just eight kills hitting .028 in the set.

Western came out in set three on fire matching the Hornets point by point. The Griffons closed the set on a 14-6 run claiming the set 25-17 taking a 2-1 lead in the match. Set four would be another competitive set as Western took an early 12-9 lead after an ESU attack error. ESU regained control going on an 8-2 run claiming a 17-14 lead.

Western calmed down tying the score at 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. With the score tied at 22 the Hornets scored the last three points taking the 25-22 victory forcing a fifth set.

The fifth and final set went back and forth but once again the Hornets closed outscoring the Griffons 6-3 taking the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

Western had 59 kills in 172 attacks for a percentage of .186. Five Griffons had 10 or more kills with Johnston and Zimmerman recording 15 and 14 respectively. Hattey finished with 46 of the Griffons 55 set assists. She also had a career best 31 digs.

The Hornets improve to 16-8 overall and 8-3 in MIAA play. They had 63 kills with Katie Deutschmann led the way with 13. Amanda Gerety had 35 set assists while Meg Schwatz finished with 29 digs.

The Griffons play their final match of their four match home stand on Saturday, October 29 when they take on the 5th ranked Washburn Lady Blues. Match time is set for 1:00 pm from the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —