KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA announced Monday afternoon that Missouri Western’s Jabbar Miles and Brandin Dandridge were named MIAA Players of the Week following the Griffons win over No. 5-ranked Fort Hays. Miles earned Defensive Player of the Week while Dandridge was named Special Teams Player of the Week as a returner.

Miles finished Saturday’s game with two of the Griffons’ three interceptions. Miles halted the Tigers’ 64 yard drive with 3:08 left in the first quarter, picking off Fort Hays quarterback Jacob Mezera after his pass bounced off the hands of his intended receiver. Miles then broke the Tigers’ hearts again in the third quarter. The Tigers were putting together another promising drive before Miles intercepted Mezera’s pass for the end-zone, catching the pass at Missouri Western’s own one yard line before returning it out to the 16. Miles was also the second-leading tackler for the Griffons and added one pass breakup.

Dandridge helped the Griffons in their control of field position throughout the game. He finished the game with three punt returns for 86 total yards, averaging over 28 yards per return. His longest return of the night came early in the first quarter, as he raced down the Griffon sideline for 58 yards to the Fort Hays 19-yard line. His return set up the Griffon offense for its first score of the game. Dandrigde also played a key role for the Griffon defense. With six seconds remaining in the first half and the Griffons backed up to their own five-yard line, Dandridge intercepted another Fort Hays pass attempt for the end-zone.

— MWSU Athletics —

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – For the second-straight week, the Missouri Western women’s soccer team (2-2) rebounded from a Friday loss with a Sunday win. This week it was a 2-1 victory at Sioux Falls (1-3).

Newcomer Lillian Davis scored her first goal as a Griffon just 38 seconds into Sunday’s game to give Missouri Western a 1-0 lead. Davis’ first career goal came from an assist by Megan Maenner. Madison Utley gave MWSU a 2-0 lead in the 57th minute with an unassisted goal. Less than two minutes later Sioux Falls’ McKayla Philippi snuck a header past Anna Meyer off a corner kick that pulled the Cougars within one. Fifteen second half shots by Missouri Western limited Sioux Falls to just five opportunities and helped the Griffons escape with the win. With Davis and Utley scoring, Sunday, four different Griffons have provided the team’s four goals this season.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western gets a first look at some conference opponents next week in non-conference games. The Griffons travel to Lindenwood (2-1-1) on Sept. 14 for a non-conference tilt.

— MWSU Athletics —

WICHITA, Kan. – The 25th ranked Missouri Western volleyball team (7-4) went 1-1 on the final day of the 2018 Jet Classic, hosted by Newman University.

The Griffons made quick work of the host-school before getting into a five-set barn burner with St. Edward’s (8-4).

MATCH 1: #25 MWSU 3, Newman 0 (25-20, 25-11, 25-18)
The Griffons tied a season-high with eight aces and put up eight blocks in a dominant sweep of the host, Newman (1-7). Missouri Western had 60 points in the match to Newman’s 31; 44 kills to Newman’s 26 and the Griffons didn’t allow a single Newman ace in the match. Ali Tauchen had 11 kills on a .563 hitting percentage, five total blocks and two aces. Stephanie Doak had 15 kills to lead the Griffons. Lauren Murphy had 38 assists to go with four total blocks, seven digs and two aces.

MATCH 2: St. Edward’s 3, #25 MWSU 2 (23-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-18, 27-29)
St. Edward’s prevented the Griffons from coming home with a 4-0 record on the weekend in a wild final match of the day for Missouri Western. The teams traded close sets back and forth before the Griffons used a 13-2 run to end the fourth set, forcing the fifth. Missouri Western jumped ahead early in the fifth and had the game at match point, 14-11 in the fifth. From then on it turned into a back-and-forth set with the Griffons struggling to get ahead before St. Edward’s claimed the set, 29-27 and the match 3-2. Stephanie Doak had a career-high 26 kills in the match and was one of five Griffons with double-digit kills. Lauren Murphy had a double-double with 70 assists and 18 digs. Shellby Taylor had 18 kills. Rachel Losch hit .308 with 10 kills and six total blocks. Ali Tauchen had 16 kills and Sam Duncan had 14.

UP NEXT
The Griffons finally get to play in front of a home crowd, unveiling the newly remodeled MWSU Fieldhouse and two banners from the record breaking 2017 season on Sept. 14 against No. 10 Central Missouri (9-2).

— MWSU Athletics —

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – An Augustana (1-1-1) goal in the 16th minute Friday night was the difference in an otherwise even game as the Missouri Western soccer team (1-2) lost 1-0 to the Vikings.

Julie Plonsky snuck a shot by Anna Mayer with an assist from Peyton Stenzel that gave the home team a 1-0 win over Missouri Western. It was the only of nine Augustana shots on goal to get past the Griffons’ freshman goalkeeper. The Vikings’ nine shots on goal to the Griffons’ three was the biggest discrepancy on the stat sheet. Missouri Western had 10 shots to Augustana’s 14. Eleven of Augie’s shots came after halftime to make the final tally look a little different.

Lillian Davis led Missouri Western with four shots. Mayer ended with a season-high eight saves. It was the first time this season the freshman played all 90 minutes.

The Griffons stay in Sioux Falls for the weekend, playing at the University of Sioux Falls (1-2), Sunday at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

WICHITA, Kan. – The 25th-ranked Missouri Western volleyball team (6-3) began its weekend in Wichita with a 3-0 sweep of Arkansas – Fort Smith (5-4) Friday. It was the first of three matches the Griffons will play at the 2018 Jet Classic hosted by Newman University.

After comfortably winning their first set with a .324 team hitting percentage, the Griffons’ second set was the most competitive. After three straight points by the Lions, Marian Carbin called a timeout with the Griffons down 19-17 in the second set. The two point deficit would end up being the largest deficit of the day for the Griffons, as they went on to score four straight points and secure the 25-23 set win. Missouri Western completed the sweep with a 25-21 win in set three that saw the Griffons limit Arkansas-Fort Smith to a .190 hitting percentage, .161 in the match.

Stephanie Doak continued her impressive early season play, leading the Griffons in kills once again with 13 and added a team-high two blocks. Sam Duncan recorded 10 kills. Lauren Murphy led all players with 36 total assists. Murphy also led all players with three service aces. Audrey Keim led Missouri Western with 15 digs to add her to her 147 total digs on the season.

Missouri Western will play its remaining two matches of the tournament on Saturday. The Griffons next match will be against host Newman, Saturday at noon.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The early season gauntlet continues this week for Griffon Football as Missouri Western’s 2018 home opener welcomes the defending MIAA Champions and fifth-ranked Fort Hays State Tigers to Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium.  The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ or you can click here to listen.

Missouri Western dropped the season opener at then-No. 5 Northwest Missouri last week, 28-6. A visibly improved Griffon team moved the ball up and down the field against the vaunted Bearcat defense, but saw drives stalled by penalties and missed opportunities. Missouri Western totaled 324 yards of offense against the Northwest defense that limited opponents to 213 yards per game a season ago. A Griffon defense dotted with new names gave up 378 yards to Northwest, but 182 of those yards came on three long touchdown plays, all at least 34 yards and two more than 50. Missouri Western held Northwest to just one third quarter first down on four drives. Fort Hays State trailed Central Missouri for the first 45 minutes of its home opener last week, but a 5-yard touchdown pass with three minutes remaining clinched a 20-16 victory for the Tigers. Down 16-6 late in the fourth quarter, Fort Hays scored two touchdowns in less than two minutes to complete the comeback. The game winning score came three plays after an unforced fumble by Central Missouri’s back-up quarterback at the UCM 3-yard line.

Missouri Western quarterback Dom Marino led the Griffons with 75 rushing yards on 14 carries and passed for 226 yards without turning the ball over. Keylan Mack was Marino’s go-to target for much of the game, pulling in seven catches for 67 yards. Elijah Cunningham caught three passes, but averaged 21 yards per reception, totaling 64 receiving yards. Transfer tight end Luke Vang caught four passes for 50 yards. James Huskey didn’t look like a linebacker playing his first MIAA game since 2016. The redshirt senior led the Griffon defense with eight total tackles, 2.5 for loss. The Griffons also recorded a pair of sacks against the Bearcats. Kwentin Polk got a strip sack in the fourth quarter that ended a Northwest drive in Missouri Western territory. Tyler Basch went 2-for-3 on field goal attempts in week one. The senior was named to the Fred Mitchell Award preseason watch list. After making his last 10 attempts of 2017, Basch missed his first attempt of the 2018 season, but was true on his other two to give the Griffons their only points last week at Northwest.

Fort Hays State gave up 508 yards of offense to Central Missouri, most of it coming in the first half. The Mules rushed for 277 yards and passed for 263. Fort Hays State totaled 327 yards of offense, 134 on the ground and 226 through the air. Charles Tigner leads the Tigers on the ground with 83 rushing yards. Tigner averaged 7.3 yards per carry against Central Missouri. Jacob Mezera was 19-of-40 through the air for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Layne Bieberle caught eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Doyin Jibowu led four Tigers with double-digit tackle numbers. Jibowu had 12 total tackles with one sack. Tanner Hoekman had an interception and broke up two other passes.

The game is the second of three-straight against ranked opponents for the Griffons. Next week, Missouri Western travels to No. 21 Central Missouri, pitting the Griffons against the MIAA’s top-three teams from 2017 in the first three weeks of the 2018 season. Missouri Western’s first three opponents this season combined to win 28 games last season, while the other eight teams the Griffons will play this year won a total of 34 games in 2017.

Fans will find a new Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium feature this week as the Bill Snyder Pavilion debuts. On Griffon Football game days, the “Pavilion Party Deck,” is open to all fans with a ticket to the game. Fans will find food provided by VanZinos BBQ and Anheuser-Busch products provided by Hi-Ho Bar and Grill. The pavilion was dedicated this summer in honor of the St. Joseph native and legendary Kansas State football head coach. Snyder also attended Missouri Western, briefly, when it was St. Joseph Junior College. The pavilion was conceptualized and donated by Steve Craig.

— MWSU Athletics —

OLATHE, Kan. – After round one of the team’s first tournament of the season, the Missouri Western women’s golf team sits in ninth place out of the 17 teams competing in Olathe. Missouri Western finished with an overall team score of 317 and +29.

Leading the Griffons in the first round was Shi Qing Ong. Ong finished the round +4 with a score of 76. Her score places her tied for 13th out of the 90 golfers competing at the event. Ong enters this season looking to build off of her 2017 campaign, in which she won the MIAA Women’s Golf individual title.

The next Griffon on the leaderboards is Chong Yong, who shot a 79 in the round. Anna Bech shot at 80 for the Griffons.

There is a lot of room for movement along the team leaderboards. Missouri Western sits just two strokes out of seventh place, and only four strokes away from cracking into the top six.

The Griffons will begin the second round of the Central Region Preview at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

— MWSU Athletics —

SEARCY, Ark. – The Missouri Western soccer team (1-1) bounced back Sunday with a 2-1 win at Harding (0-2) to split its two games at the GAC-MIAA Challenge.

Tempo had swung Harding’s way late in the first half until Ashley Mathis gave the Griffons their first goal of the season in the 42nd minute on an assist from Sara Collins. After Collins stole the ball from a defender at the goal line, she got it to Mathis for the 1-0 lead just minutes after both Griffons had entered the game. The momentum swing in Missouri Western’s favor played through halftime.

Just 2:39 in to the second half, Cassidy Menke padded her Missouri Western career goals lead with an unassisted goal through the middle of the Harding defense in the 48th minute. Menke’s 25th career goal turned into the game winner after Harding scored on a penalty kick in the 67th minute.

After being out-shot 14-5 in the first half, the Griffons took nine shots in the second, four on goal and held Harding to nine. Menke had three of the team’s shots, just the one on goal. Kelsey Roe took a pair and looked to have scored MWSU’s third goal of the game off a Mackenzie O’Neill corner kick in the 86th minute. Roe got a shot past the Harding goal keeper that was blocked right at the line by a Lady Bisons defender.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western goes north next weekend for a pair of games in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Griffons play at Augustana (0-1-1) on Friday, Sept. 7 and at Sioux Falls (0-1) on Sunday, Sept. 9.

— MWSU Athletics —

DENVER, Colo. – The 21st ranked Missouri Western volleyball team (5-3) looked to be headed for a 3rd place finish in the Gold Bracket at the Colorado Premier Challenge, but No. 14 Central Missouri (6-2) spoiled the party.

After being swept in the Gold semifinals by No. 8 Southwest Minnesota (5-2), Missouri Western jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Central Missouri before surrendering three straight sets to its MIAA rivals. On the day, Missouri Western hit .149 with its opponents hitting .294. Ali Tauchen and Stephanie Doak each had 27 kills to pace the team. Tauchen added three total blocks to score 28.5 points for MWSU. Doak scored 28. Rachel Losch had a team-high six total blocks. Lauren Murphy had 80 assists and Audrey Keim had 43 digs.

GOLD BRACKET SEMIFINALS
#8 Southwest Minnesota 3, #21 Missouri Western 0 (17-25, 9-25, 22-25)
The Griffons fell victim to maybe the hottest team in the Colorado Premier Challenge field in their first match of the day. Southwest Minnesota held Missouri Western to a .071 hitting percentage in the match and hit .317 itself. Missouri Western looked like it would push the match to a fourth set after taking a 19-15 lead in the third, but the Mustangs answered with a 6-0 run to jump on top 21-19. Missouri Western tied it at 21, but managed just one more point as Southwest Minnesota clinched the sweep with a 25-22 set win.

GOLD BRACKET 3RD PLACE MATCH
#14 Central Missouri 3, #21 Missouri Western 0 (25-21, 26-24, 17-25, 25-27, 6-15)
Missouri Western used some runs to come from behind and claim each of the first two sets. Down 14-8 in the first, MWSU went on a tear to take a 19-17 lead it never surrendered. Tied at 21, Missouri Western scored the final four points to take the set. Missouri Western fell behind again in the second set, 5-0 from the get-go, but slowly chipped away to eventually pull close. A 5-0 spurt late put the Griffons up 22-19, before having to hang on for a 26-24 win. The Griffons hit. 255 in the first and .265 in the second, but dropped to .028 in the third and hit .000 in the fifth. Three Griffons hit double-digit kills in the match. Doak led the team with 19. Tauchen had 18 and Shellby Taylor added 10. Audrey Keim had a career-high 34 digs in the match.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western stays on the road next weekend with a trip to the 2018 Jet Classic hosted by Newman University. The Griffons will play Arkansas-Fort Smith on Friday, Sept. 7 and Newman and St. Edward’s on Saturday, Sept. 8.

— MWSU Athletics —