ST. JOSEPH – The 20th ranked Missouri Western soccer team continued its winning ways Friday night with a 2-0 victory over Nebraska Kearney. MWSU improves to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in MIAA play with its sixth shutout win of the season.

STARS SHINE
While the Griffons didn’t light up the scoreboard Friday night, they did get goals from their two leaders and Sarah Lyle was part of the 22nd shutout of her career. Sydney Cluck got the Griffons on the board in the 15th minute with her sixth goal of the season. The goal tied Cluck with Taylor Schwartzkopf for the second most on the team. The MIAA’s scoring leader gave the Griffons their second goal. Cassidy Menke took a pass from Brooke Howe, headed it up and around a defender then put it in the net for her 11th goal of the season.

ON FRAME ALL NIGHT
Missouri Western out-shot the Lopers 19-4, including 12-0 in the first half. Ten of those Griffon shots were on goal, the most by the team since Sept. 24 at Lindenwood. Bridget Blessie led the team with five total shots and three on goal. Menke added four shots and Sarah Blakley had three. Ashley Mathis and Cluck had two shots each. On the flip side, Lyle and Ally Barb didn’t have too much work to do on the way to another combined shutout. Nebraska Kearney did not register a shot on goal in the game.

UP NEXT
The Griffons host Fort Hays State (6-3-2, 3-1) Sunday at noon. The Tigers escaped Maryville with a 2-1 win over Northwest Missouri, Friday afternoon.

— MWSU Athletics —

FORT HAYS, Kan. – The Missouri Western volleyball team extended its winning streak to four games with a sweep at Fort Hays State 25-22, 25-14, 25-1.

The Griffons improve to 11-8 and 5-1 in the MIAA.

KEEP DIGGIN’
Missouri Western recorded 82 digs in the sweep, the most by MWSU in a three-set match this season. Kayla Ruff had 24 digs in the match, the most for her in a three-set match as well. Her performance also ranked fourth all-time in program history for a three-set match.

FINISHING STRONG
Fort Hays started the match with a 6-0 rally and outhit the Griffons by .037 in the first set. Despite the slow start, MWSU closed the match with a 9-3 advantage to win the set 25-22. In the next two sets, Missouri Western held the Tigers to hitting percentages of 0.81 in the second set and .175 in the third set as it hit above .298 in the last two sets.

UP NEXT
The Griffons travel to #9 Nebraska Kearney on Saturday, Oct. 7 with first served scheduled for 7 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY – For the third time this fall, Missouri Western junior Shi Qing Ong has been named the MIAA Women’s Golfer of the Week.

Ong placed second with a 1-under-par 141 earlier this week at the Central Oklahoma RCB Classic at the Golf Club of Edmond in Edmond, Oklahoma. She tied her own school record for lowest score in a round with a 2-under-par 69 on the final day of the event. On the first day, Ong carded a 1-over-par 72.

Last season, Ong was named MIAA Golfer of the Week four times and earned first team All-MIAA and WGCA All-Region honors.

— MWSU Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla. – Missouri Western junior Shi Qing Ong placed second with a 1-under-par 141 at the UCO RCB Classic at the Golf Club of Edmond on Tuesday. Her 2-under-par 69 in the final round tied for the lowest round in program history, a record she set last fall. Ong carded a 69 in the second round of the MIAA Fall Preview on Sept. 27, 2016.

Chong Yong scored a 155 in the event. Tiffanie Yabut and Jenna Kosmatka both shot 161 over the two rounds. Katie Irvin rounded out the MWSU scorecard with a 179.

As a team, Missouri Western finished seventh with a 618. Central Oklahoma claimed the team championship with a 585 and Arkansas Tech’s Peerada Piddon won the individual title with a 3-under-par 139.

The Griffons play in their final fall tournament on Monday at the Midwest Classic in Warrensburg, Missouri.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western soccer’s Sydney Cluck became the third member of her team to earn MIAA weekly honors when the senior was named Women’s Soccer Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week Tuesday.

Cluck broke an MWSU record with three assists in Friday’s 5-2 win over Missouri Southern and scored her team’s only goal in a shutout of Southwest Baptist Sunday. The senior again claimed the MWSU career assists record with her performance Friday night after trading the all-time record back-and-forth this season with Madeline Cowell. Cluck also enters this week second all-time at Missouri Western with 35 career points after her five point output last weekend.

The Spring Hill, Kansas native joined Cassidy Menke as Griffons to receive the honor this season. Sarah Blakley was named MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week earlier this season. The No. 24-ranked Griffons are off to a 9-1 start and are in a three-way tie for first place in the MIAA entering two home contests this weekend. Missouri Western hosts Nebraska Kearney this Friday at 6 p.m. and Fort Hays State, Sunday, at noon.

— MWSU Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team shot a 306 on Monday and is in fourth place after the first round of the UCO RCB Classic at the Golf Club of Edmond.

Shi Qing Ong led Missouri Western with a 1-over-par 72 and is tied for third place after the first round. Chong Yong tied for 16th after she shot a 76 in the round. Tiffanie Yabut carded a 78 to finish inside the top 25. Jenna Kosmatka finished the opening round with an 80 and Katie Irvin scored an 89.

Central Oklahoma leads the team standings with a 293. Chole Thackeray from Southwestern Oklahoma State and Holly Standing from Arkansas Tech lead the individual field with an even-par-71. MWSU tees off the second round on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY – Missouri Western volleyball’s Stephanie Doak and Lauren Murphy have been named MIAA Players of the Week. MWSU swept Northwest Missouri State on Sept. 26 and Southwest Baptist on Sept. 30 and defeated Missouri Southern 3-1 on Sept. 29.

Doak was named Hitter of the Week after she finished with 47 kills, averaged 4.7 kills per set and had a .359 hitting percentage in the three matches. She hit over .429 in two of the three matches as well. Against Missouri Southern, Doak had 22 kills and a .436 hitting percentage. She also had nine digs and four block assists on the week.

Murphy was named Specialist of the Week as she paced the Griffon offense with 140 assists and averaged 14.0 assists per set. She had 41 assists or more in all three of the Missouri Western wins during the week. Murphy had a double-double in a win against Missouri Southern, as she finished with 57 assists and 11 digs. Her weekend also included 16 digs, five kills, two aces and a block assist.

It is the first MIAA Player of the Week honor for both Doak and Murphy in their Missouri Western careers.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The 24th-ranked Missouri Western soccer team earned their third consecutive win as they shutout Southwest Baptist 1-0 inside Spratt Stadium Sunday.

The Griffons improve to 9-1 and they’re 3-0 in the MIAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Sydney Cluck scored her fifth goal of the season in the 48th minute. Cluck headed in a Sarah Blakley free-kick from 30 yards out. For Blakley, it is her third assists on the season.

SECOND HALF BLITZ
Missouri Western’s offense when on an attack blitz in the second half. The Griffons fired six shots within the first five minutes of the period. MWSU had six shots on goal in the and outshot SBU 19-3 in the second half alone.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western continues its homestand on Friday as they host Nebraska-Kearney at 6 p.m. in Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Missouri Western football team scored on its first four possessions and never looked back on the way to the most points by a Griffon football team since 2011.

Missouri Western (3-2) won its first road game of the 2017 season 65-17 at Northeastern State Saturday. While the score total was the most since the Griffons put 81 on Lincoln in 2011, it was an impressive bounce-back defensive effort that stuck out Saturday in Oklahoma.

DEFENSE REBOUNDS
Missouri Western shut out Northeastern State in the first half and limited the RiverHawks to 293 yards and 15 first downs in the game. The Griffons picked off two Northeastern State passes, recovered three fumbles and had three sacks on the day. It was a group effort with no Griffon totaling more than four tackles. Markel Fluker had four tackles, all solo stops with a sack, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Cale Cornman also had four tackles with a sack and a forced fumble. Cornman also blocked a field goal attempt, the fourth by the Griffons this year. One of the interceptions went for six as Tyrell Robison returned an interception 29 yards, tight-roping the sideline and hurdling a defender into the end zone.

DON’T NEED YARDS TO SCORE POINTS
The Griffon offense had a modest 470 yards despite scoring 65 points. The defense and special teams helped set up the Griffons with short fields. Still Missouri Western averaged 6.7 yards per play, rushing for 299 yards and passing for 171. Joshua Caldwell just managed his third-straight 100-yard rushing performance with 101 on the ground and one rushing touchdown.

SPREADING THE LOVE
Nine different Griffons registered carries in the game, with five different players scoring rushing touchdowns. Seven different Griffons caught passes, none more than two with Austin Burau and Dijuan Ussery each pulling in receiving touchdowns.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western hosts Lindenwood (2-3) next Saturday, Oct. 7 for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western volleyball (10-8) swept Southwest Baptist (2-16) in the MWSU Fieldhouse Saturday. It was the third straight win for MWSU.

LIMITING ERRORS
Missouri Western had its most efficient hitting game of the season. MWSU only had 12 attack errors and hit a season-best .388 in the match. Five different Griffons had 10 or more attack attempts and finished with hitting percentages above .316. Rachel Losch finished with a .692 hitting percentage with 10 kills and Stephanie Doak had 11 kills with a .429 hitting percentage.

ALL-AROUND TAUCHEN
Ali Tauchen did it all for Missouri Western in the sweep. The freshman finished with 11 kills and hit .316 and recorded two block assists. At the service line, she finished with one ace and served for eight straight points in the first set. Tauchen was also credited with eight digs in the sweep.

UP NEXT
The Griffons will look to continue their winning streak on Friday, Oct. 6. when they travel to Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —