MARSHALL, Minn. – A remarkable season for the Missouri Western volleyball team came to an end in the NCAA Central Region semifinals with the Griffons losing 3-1 to defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul.

The No. 6-seeded Griffons had leads of at least four points in every set against the No. 2-seeded Golden Bears. Missouri Western led the first set 21-19, but Concordia out-scored the Griffons 6-2 to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Griffons led late in a back-and-forth second set, 22-20 and 23-22 before falling 25-22. Missouri Western dominated the third set, 25-18, out-hitting the Golden Bears .243 to .122 in the set. In the fourth, Missouri Western took a 10-6 lead before an 8-1 run gave Concordia the lead for good in the deciding set. The Griffons battled back to tie the set at 16 and again at 17, but couldn’t regain the lead.

The Griffons went toe-to-toe with a team that won the 2016 national championship, its eighth in the last 10 years. Stephanie Doak had a team-high 20 kills and hit .472, her best hitting percentage this season since hitting .625 at Southwest Baptist. Ali Tauchen finished with 11 kills, hitting .320. Shellby Taylor had 10 kills in the match. Lauren Murphy finished with 45 assists and Kayla Ruff had a match-high 22 digs.

Missouri Western ended the season 25-11, the most wins for the program since winning 25 in 1997. The Griffons advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 and won in the regional for the first time in program history. A mid-season turnaround vaulted the Griffons to their first-ever MIAA regular season championship and its 16 MIAA victories are tied for the most in program history.

— MWSU Athletics —

MARSHALL, Minn. – Griffon volleyball (25-10) earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament win on Thursday, knocking out No. 6-ranked Nebraska Kearney (33-4) in the central region quarterfinals 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22).

Sixth-seeded Missouri Western took the first set along with the third and fourth to win for the 14th time in the team’s last 15 matches. The Griffons advanced to the NCAA Central Region semifinals on Friday against No. 3-ranked and defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul (29-3).

FIRST SET RALLY
Missouri Western trailed 6-1 to open the first set and fell down 10-5 before rallying to take its first lead of the set, 14-13. The Griffons then took control of the set, getting it all the way to a 23-17 lead before eventually winning the set 25-21. The Griffons hit .324 in the set while No. 3-seed Nebraska Kearney hit .261.

FOUR IN DOUBLE-FIGURES FOR THE WIN
Stephanie Doak (14), Shellby Taylor (13), Ali Tauchen (11), Mikayla Sellers-Wiebe (10) and Rachel Losch (10) gave the Griffons four players with double-digit kills. It’s proved to be a recipe for success this season with MWSU improving to 13-2 on the year when four players have 10 or more kills.

BACK-AND-FORTH, FOURTH
The fourth set featured 13 ties and five lead changes. Neither team led by more than two in the set until Missouri Western took an 18-15 lead. After MWSU took a 21-18 lead, UNK got it to 21-20 before Missouri Western eventually took the set 25-22 on a kill by Sellers-Wiebe. Missouri Western hit .250 in the set with the Lopers hitting .282. The fourth set win and match victory improved the Griffons to 13-0 this season when they win the fourth.

IT’S THE LAST ONE THAT COUNTS
A new rivalry was born this season as Missouri Western and Nebraska Kearney faced off four times, each time with significance in the context of the teams’ seasons. After losing in three sets in Kearney on Oct. 7, Missouri Western won its next 13 matches, including a 3-1 win over the Lopers in the regular season finale. That win forced the Lopers to share the MIAA regular season championship with Missouri Western. The third matchup between the teams came in the MIAA Championship final on Nov. 18, both teams’ last match prior to Thursday’s regional opener. UNK won that match 3-1 to claim the MIAA postseason title. The teams each won two in the series this season, with three of the four ending after the fourth set. The final three matches between the two teams were all played in the last four weeks.

REMEMBER WHEN
After a 3-1 loss at then No. 15-ranked Central Missouri on Sept. 23, Missouri Western was 7-8. Since that point, the Griffons went 18-2, including the 13-match win streak. The only two losses in the Griffons’ last 20 matches came to Nebraska Kearney. During the 18-2 run, the Griffons faced a ranked opponent seven times, winning five of them.

SEMIFINAL PREVIEW
Missouri Western will play its fourth-straight match against a ranked opponent on Friday when the Griffons take on No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul at 5 p.m. The No. 2-seeded Golden Bears ended Central Oklahoma’s season in three sets on Thursday. Concordia had its own 13-match win streak ended in the NSIC tournament final, losing in three sets to Southwest Minnesota State. Concordia won the 2016 NCAA Division II national championship, its first since winning seven-straight between 2007 and 2013.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Griffon men’s basketball (2-6) fell 65-61 to Central Oklahoma (6-1) in the first conference game of the season Thursday night.

Missouri Western used a 9-0 run to take 49-48 second half lead with 7:48 left in the game. However, the Bronchos countered with a 10-0 run for a nine-point lead with 3:41 left in the game to pull away.

NOTABLES
– Lavon Hightower finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Griffon

– MWSU outrebounded UCO 35-30, it’s the second straight game MWSU won the rebounding margin

– Cole Clearman led Missouri Western in scoring with 17 points, his second highest total of the season

– Central Oklahoma was 56.3 percent from the free-throw line and the Griffons were 66.7 percent

– MWSU shot 40.9 percent from the three-point arc, 2.4 percent better than UCO

UP NEXT
Missouri Western stays home to host Northeastern State on Saturday, Dec. 2. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The MIAA portion of Griffon women’s basketball’s (6-1, 1-0) season got off to bang with Missouri Western handing No. 21 Central Oklahoma (5-1, 0-1) its first loss of the season, 71-59 on Thursday night.

The Griffons overcame an 8-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Bronchos 21-8 in the third quarter and 25-18 in the fourth. Between the last five minutes of the third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth, Missouri Western was on a 20-2 run.

NOTABLES
– Brittany Atkins had a game-high 25 points, going 14-of-14 from the free throw line

– The Griffon bench out-scored UCO’s 39-12, largely helped by Atkins’ 25

– Central Oklahoma committed 10 more personal fouls than MWSU (26-16)

– Cera Ledbetter scored a career-high 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from the free throw line

– Katrina Roenfeldt led MWSU with a career-high 10 rebounds

UP NEXT
Missouri Western stays home and in the MIAA with Northeastern State (4-2, 1-0) visiting the fieldhouse on Saturday, Dec. 2.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three members of the Griffon soccer team have been named All-Central Region by the United Soccer Coaches.

Madeline Cowell was named first team midfielder with Bridget Blessie (D) and Cassidy Menke (F) picking up second team honors.

All three were first team All-MIAA selections and second team D2CCA All-Central Region. Menke was also named first team CoSIDA Academic All-District. Cowell was second on the team with seven assists and fourth with four goals. Blessie scored six goals as a defender and led the team with five game-winners. Menke broke her own MWSU single-season scoring record with 15 goals and became MWSU’s career goals leader in her junior season.

The 2017 soccer season was the best in Missouri Western history as the team won six more games (17) than any in program history and fell one goal short of doubling the previous goals in a season record. Overall, more than 30 team and individual records were broken as the team advanced to its first-ever NCAA Championships bid and finished second in the MIAA.

— MWSU Athletics —

FORT SMITH, Ark. – Griffon men’s basketball (2-5) dropped its third consecutive game, 73-58 at Arkansas-Fort Smith (7-0) on Saturday afternoon.

A six-point game with 2:47 to go, Arkansas-Fort Smith went on a 10-0 run to open up a 16-point lead. UAFS outscored the Griffons 14-5 over the final 2:47. After falling behind by 15 with 3:26 to go in the first half, MWSU went on a 10-0 run to go to halftime down 32-27. Missouri Western opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead at 33-32, but it was short lived.

Lavon Hightower led the Griffons with a season-high 21 points. Joe Hamilton was the only other Griffon in double-figures, scoring 12 points.

UP NEXT
MIAA play begins next week for the Griffons when they host Central Oklahoma on Nov. 30.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Griffon women’s basketball (5-1) won its third straight home game with 52-39 win over Rockhurst (4-2).

QUICK CHANGE
Missouri Western led for over 37 minutes but not after an early surge from Rockhurst. The Hawks took their only lead of the game at the 6:54 mark in the first quarter with a 7-0 run. The RU lead wouldn’t last long as Brittany Atkins sparked a 16-4 Missouri Western run. In the second half, RU used a 9-0 lead to tie the game at 32-32. Again, MWSU would counter the run with a 17-3 run of its own to push its lead to 14 with 2:09 left in the game.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
Perimeter defense was on display for Missouri Western. The Griffons held Rockhurst to just one three-pointer on 16 attempts in the game. MWSU also forced nine turnovers and limited RU to shoot 26.5 percent from the field.

BIG THREE
The Griffons had a trio player’s score in double-figures. Katrina Roenfeldt and Brittany Atkins led the way with 12 points apiece. Dossou Ndiaye added 10 points and eight rebounds for MWSU. Roenfeldt led the team with seven steals.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western opens conference play against Central Oklahoma on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team’s first road game of the 2017-18 season resulted in the Griffons’ third loss (2-3) of the year. Missouri Western led for 28 seconds in the first half of a 73-59 loss at Rockhurst (3-1).

CLOSE AT THE HALF
After falling behind 13-2 to open the game, Missouri Western trailed by eight with three minutes to go in the first half before going on a 9-0 run to take a 30-29 lead with 28 seconds to go before halftime. Rockhurst made two free throws with two seconds left in halftime to take a 31-30 lead to the break. The one-point deficit at halftime was the Griffons’ first of the season. Missouri Western led its previous three games at the half and was tied with Winona State halfway through the season opener. The Griffons would have two more short-lived leads early in the second half on Seth Bonifas jumpers, the second of which gave the Griffons their last lead of the game with 17:51 to go in the game. The Griffons shot close to 43 percent from the field in the first half and just 27 percent in the second. Rockhurst shot better than 63 percent in the second half after just under 38 percent shooting in the first half.

BROWN BESTS CAREER-HIGH
Freshman Trey Brown has had his two highest scoring totals of the young season in the past two games. Brown scored a team-high 12 points Tuesday night on 4-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with three assists and two rebounds. In his first collegiate season, Brown is averaging 6.8 points per game.

BONIFAS IN DOUBLE-FIGURES AGAIN
Seth Bonifas scored 10 points Tuesday night and has now scored in double-figures in four of the Griffons’ five games this season. The senior is averaging 11.8 points per game, more than two points more than he averaged in any of his first three seasons. Bonifas is also averaging a career-high 5.4 rebounds per game after pulling down a team-high six boards against Rockhurst.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western stays on the road for two more non-conference games this week before diving into MIAA play next week. The Griffons will be in Fort Smith, Arkansas to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State (1-3) on Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. and Arkansas-Fort Smith (5-0) on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – For the first time in 17 years, Missouri Western volleyball will play in the NCAA tournament.

The Griffons were awarded the No. 6-seed in the central region championship and will open play Thursday, Nov. 30 against the No. 3-seed Nebraska Kearney in Marshall, Minnesota.

Southwest Minnesota State is the host and No. 1 seed in the Central Regional and they’ll face No. 8 seed Arkansas Tech. Concordia-St. Paul is the No. 2 seed and they face No. 7 seed Central Oklahoma out of the MIAA. The No. 4 seed is Northern State and they open with 5th-seeded Minnesota Duluth.

Missouri Western’s run to the NCAA Championships began on Oct. 13 when the team upset then No. 7-ranked Central Oklahoma on the road. The win set off a string of 13-straight victories, culminating in the program’s first-ever MIAA regular season championship, a shared title with Nebraska Kearney.

A tie-breaker left the Griffons with the No. 2-seed in the MIAA Championships, where they advanced to the final, again against Nebraska Kearney. A four-set loss to the No. 6-ranked Lopers left the Griffons NCAA postseason hopes in jeopardy.

Now, the team will make its first NCAA Championship appearance since 2000, facing a team they’ve played three times this season, going 1-2 against Nebraska Kearney.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western football offensive coordinator Chet Pobolish was named head football coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Monday.

Pobolish served one season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at MWSU after five seasons at Southeastern Louisiana University.

“I’m super pumped for Chet and his wonderful family,” MWSU head coach Matt Williamson said. “Southwestern Oklahoma State is getting a phenomenal football coach with exceptional effort. Chet’s so much more than just a football coach, he’s a great friend of mine and a tremendous person. He will do an incredible job there and I wish him the best.”

Pobolish’s Griffon offense averaged 359 yards and 28 points per game this season. Missouri Western’s 216.7 rushing yards per game were the second most in the MIAA. The Griffons scored at least 40 points in five-straight games, including a 65-point performance at Northeastern State on Sept.30.

A national search for Pobolish’s replacement will begin immediately.

— MWSU Athletics —