The Missouri Western volleyball team wrapped up the 2011 Holiday Inn Express & Suites Classic with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-21) victory over Arkansas-Monticello. Western hit .198 in the match with 42 kills improving to 8-7 on the season. Western went 3-1 in the classic.

Western’s largest lead of the first set was four points until they won the final two points to get the six point (25-19) set one victory. The Griffons had 16 kills hitting .263 in the first set victory.

The two teams played the first 10 points of set two evenly. Western would dominate the rest of the match opening up a nine point lead at 18-9 after an attack error by Amy Kleypas. Western cruised the rest of the way winning 25-16 taking the 2-0 lead in the match.

Set three would be more competitive as the teams played to a 12 all tie. Western used three straight attack errors by the Lady Blossoms giving Western the 21-16 lead in the third set. The Griffons ended the match and set with Tahler Johnston smashing her 12th kill of the match.

Western had 43 kills and 38 set assists in the match. Stephanie Hattey had 35 set assists to go along with nine digs. Sarah Faubel had 10 digs for Western.

The Lady Blossoms fall to 2-15 hitting .065 with 28 kills. Amy Kleypas had nine kills for Monticello. Amy Bazemore had 26 of their 27 set assits while Kleypas had 10 digs.

The Griffons return to MIAA play on Tuesday, October 4 hosting the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. Match time is set for 7:00 pm in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western won an exciting five set thriller in match two of the 2011 Holiday Inn Express & Suites Classic defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 16-25, 25-18, 15-13). Tahler Johnston had 20 kills and 11 digs in the match. Western improves to 7-6 on the season.

The Griffons battled back in set one outscoring the Savage Storm 14-6 closing out a 25-21 victory in set one. Alex Behnke’s kill from Sarah Faubel sealed set one for Western. The Storm evened things up at one leading the entire second set taking the 25-21 victory.

Set three also went Southeastern Oklahoma’s way taking the 25-16 victory and the 2-1 lead in the match. Western stayed composed using a 10-2 run in the fourth set to take a 17-8 lead after an attack error by Lunden Azuara. Western won the set pushing the match to a fifth and deciding set which is a race to 15 (win by two).

The two teams would be tied nine different times in the fifth and deciding set. Western hung in there using three attack errors by the Savage Storm in the final four points to claim the 15-13 victory in the set and take the match.

Western hit .181 with 63 kills and 58 set assists. Western had 92 digs in the match with Stephanie Hattey and Sarah Faubel each recording 20. Hattey also recorded a career best 52 set assists while Behnke finished with a career best 19 kills.

Azuara finished with 24 of the Storm’s 56 kills. They hit .165 in the match. The Storm had 81 digs with Azuara leading the charge with 22. The Storm fall to 7-10 with the loss.

The Griffons close out the classic with two matches tomorrow. Western will take on Arkansas-Fort Smith at 12:30 pm and close out the classic against Arkansas-Monticello at 12:30 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western used two unanswered goals to defeat the Washburn Lady Blues in their final non-conference match of the season in Topeka, Kan. With the victory the Griffons have surpassed their win total from last season. The Griffons improve to 3-3 overall heading into MIAA play.

The first half did not start off like the Griffons would have liked as goal keeper Kelly Voigts received a yellow card in the eighth minute of play which allowed Washburn’s Leah Talley to record her third goal of the season on a penalty kick giving the Lady Blues the 1-0 lead.

Western played hard the rest of the half and with just under ten minutes to play in the first frame Ashley Juravich found Katie Kempf from 10 yards out tying the score at one in the 31st minute. For Kempf it marked her second goal of the season.

The two teams played even soccer until the 67:20 mark of the game when Ashlyn Castillo found Juravich from 15 yards out. Juravich put her second goal of the season in the lower right corner past Lady Blues goalie Mallorie Monhollon giving Western the 2-1 lead.

Washburn put pressure on down the stretch finishing the game with 12 shots, but just three finding the net. Western had six shot with four on goal. Both goal keepers had two saves in the match as Missouri Western had 13 fouls to the Lady Blues five. Washburn had six corner kicks to the Griffons one as the Lady Blues fall to 1-7-1 on the season.

Juravich had four of the Griffon six shots with two on goal. She finished with one goal and one assist. Voigts improves to 3-3 on the season. Washburn was led by Brianna Ament with two shots and one on goal.

Missouri Western returns home to open up MIAA play on Saturday, October 1st against 12th ranked Central Missouri. First kick is scheduled for 7:00 pm from Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western women’s golf team finished second at the Fort Hays State Women’s Invitational firing a two round total of 682 (348-334). Western finished seven strokes back of Fort Hays State, 675 (342-333). Northwest Missouri finished third with a  696 (355-341) while Iowa Western CC finished with a 737 (369-368).

The winner of the event was Kiley Johansen of Fort Hays State as she defeated Steph Charteris of Northwest Missouri State in the first playoff hole. Both players shot two round totals of 165. Missouri Western’s Kristen Cooley finished in a tie for fifth with a 170 (79-90).

The Griffons other four players finished no lower than 13th. Natalie Bird (85-86) and Darcy Smith (94-77) finished in a tie for 7th firing 171 while Shelby Stone finished in 11th with a 176 (90-86) and Casi Webb finished in 13th with a two day total of 180 (95-85)

Western’s Darcy Smith and Kristen Cooley fired the two lowest rounds of the tournament with a 77 and 79 respectively.

Western will continue it’s fall season on Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7 when they play in the NWMSU Bearcat Fall Classic in Maryville, Mo. The event will be played at Mozingo Lake Golf Course.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team moved up one spot on the final day of the 13th Annual Northeastern State University Invite finishing in 15th. The event was played at the Muskogee Country Club which is a par-71 course. Western fired a three round total of 916 (304-297-305) which was four strokes better than 16th place finisher St. Mary’s University (Texas).

The winner of the event was Central Oklahoma with a two day total of 846 (291-279-276) which was 10 strokes better than second place finisher Arkansas-Fort Smith, 856 (286-283-287). Host school Northeastern State finished third with an 868 while Dallas Baptist finished fourth with an 871. The top MIAA team was Washburn University in sixth place with an 875.

Ethan Adamson of Arkansas-Fort Smith won the event with a 208 (71-69-68), while Andrew Green (72-70-67) and Josh Creel (71-68-70) finished second with 209’s. Tyler Gast of Missouri Western finished in a tie for 14th with a 217 (69-75-73).

Logan Gilliland finished in a tie for 32nd shooting a 221 (78-69-74) while James O’Brian finished with a 232 (79-76-77). Scott Shelton and Kenny Stone fired 237 (78-78-81) and 239 (79-77-83) respectively.

Western wraps-up their fall schedule on Monday, October 3 and Tuesday, October 4 when they participate in the Southwest Baptist University Invitational in Bolivar, Mo. The event will be played at Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western senior golfer Kristen Cooley leads after the first round of the FHSU Invitational in Hays, Kan. The tournament is being held at the Smoky Hill County Club, a par-71 course. Cooley fired a 79 on the first day leading by three strokes over Kiley Johansen of Fort Hays State (82).

As a team the Griffons shot 348 and trail host school Fort Hays State (342) by six strokes. Northwest Missouri State is 13 strokes (255) back in third. Iowa Western Community College sits in fourth place firing a day one total of 369.

The three other team scorers for the Griffons are all in the top 15 after the first day. Natalie Bird is tied for fifth after a round of 85. Shelby Stone is tied for 11th with a 90 while Darcy Smith sits in 15th after a round of 94. Casi Webb sits in a tie for 16th after a 95 in the opening round.

The final round of the tournament will be a shotgun start, beginning at 9 am on Tuesday morning.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team struggled against 6th ranked Washburn falling 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 26-24) in Topeka, Kan. Western hit .034 with 28 kills as Tahler Johnston led the way with eight kills. Western falls to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in MIAA play.

The high powered Lady Blues jumped out to a 15-10 lead in set one. They kept up the pressure outscoring Western 10-2 on their way to the 25-12 set one victory.

The Griffons hung with the Lady Blues in set two playing the first 20 points even. From there is would be all Lady Blues outscoring the Griffons 15-6 claiming the 25-16 set two victory and 2-0 lead in the match.

After two sets the Griffons had just 15 kills hitting .000. Meredith McCormick had five kills hitting .154 while Shelby Corkill had four. Corkill had eight of the Griffons 23 digs after two sets.

Washburn hit .353 with 31 kills as Korie Thompson, Hillary Hughes and Jessica Fry all collecting six kills. Abby Wittman and Gracie Peterson each had 13 assists.

Western came out of the locker room on fire taking the early 10-3 lead in set three using a 5-0 run off Stephanie Hattey serves. The Lady Blues bounced back going on an 8-0 run taking the 11-10 lead after an Amanda Guess kill. Western regained their composure using a 7-0 run to claim a 17-11 lead. The run was capped off by a block by McCormick and Lindsey Williams.

The Lady Blues responded once again tying the score at 22 before closing the set on a 4-2 run winning the set 26-24 claiming the 3-0 victory. The Lady Blues improve to 11-1 on the season and 4-0 in MIAA play. Washburn hit .270 in the match with 44 kills. Hughes led the charge with nine. WU had 56 digs with Kelsey Lewis collecting 12. Wittman and Peterson finished with 18 and 13 set assists. The Lady Blues had 13 blocks in the match.

Hattey had 20 of the Griffons 26 set assists while Corkill had 12 of the Griffons 42 digs. Corkill finished with seven kills while McCormick had six.

The Griffons will hit the road next weekend to take part in the 2011 Holiday Inn Express & Suites Classic hosted by Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas on Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1. Western opens up play on Friday at 10:00 am against Texas A&M International University.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western volleyball struggled on the road against the Emporia State Lady Hornets falling 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-17) on Friday evening in White Auditorium. Western led just twice the entire match as they fall to 5-5 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play.

Set one belonged to the Lady Hornets as they jumped out to a 12-8 lead and cruised to the 25-17 set one victory. Western hit just .050 in set one with 11 kills and nine errors while the Lady Hornets hit .355 with 12 kills and just one error.

Western played set two tougher claiming their first lead of the contest at 4-3 after a ball handling error by ESU’s Katie Deutschmann. Western and the Lady Hornets played the next 22 points even as Western claimed the 15-14 lead. From there the Lady Hornets dominated play outscoring Western 11-5 taking the set 25-20 and a two set lead.

Set three belong to ESU as they jumped out to a 11-4 lead and cruised to the 25-17 victory. The Lady Hornets improved to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in MIAA play.

Tahler Johnston led the Griffons accumulating 10 of their 33 kills. Shelby Corkill had nine leading Western with a .238 hitting percentage. Stephanie Hattey had 23 set assists while Sarah Faubel had eight digs.

Deutschmann led the charge for the Lady Hornets with 10 kills and 21 digs. Meg Schwartz had 15 digs while Paige Vanderpool chipped in 13.

Western returns to action on Saturday, September 24 when they take on the 6th ranked Washburn Lady Blues at 2:00 pm in Topeka, Kan.

— MWSU Sports Information —