ST. JOSEPH – A penalty kick in the fifth minute was all No. 2 Central Missouri needed to hold off the Missouri Westenr soccer team Friday night at Spratt Stadium.

The PK by Jada Scott early in the game shot past Paige LaBadie into the top right corner of the goal. Central Missouri was able to hold off Missouri Western for the final 85 minutes to move to 6-0 on the season and drop the Griffons to 5-2.

Missouri Western was credited with six shots on the night, two on goal. LaBadie fell to 0-2 on the year, but had three saves in the game. Missouri Western limited Central Missouri to just eight shots and only four on goal, including the PK.

Missouri Western stays home and hosts Lindenwood on Sunday at noon. It’s the first MIAA game for the Griffons. Lindenwood played Northwest Missouri to a 2-2 draw on Friday in Maryville. Missouri Western defeated the Lions 1-0 in overtime last Sunday.

— MWSU Athletics —

QUINCY, Ill – The Missouri Western Women’s Tennis team fell to Quincy University 5-4 in a dual.  For the second straight week, the dual would be decided in the #1 singles match.

Quincy University jumped out to an early lead on the Griffons, taking all three doubles matches.  Missouri Western would then flip the script and take four of the six singles matches.  The Griffons would take straight set wins in #2 singles, #4 singles and #5 singles.

At #2 singles, Yasmine El Ghazi won 6-3, 6-3.  Sofia Aguuilera won 6-2, 6-3 at #4 singles and Federica Salmaso took the #5 singles, 6-3, 6-1.  MWSU would pick up a three set win from Joanna Abreu Roman, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. Emilee Dent would fall at #6 singles.  Karolina Ström found herself in the match-clincher at #1 singles for the second consecutive dual.  Ström would take the first set 7-5 before falling in the next two.

MWSU also picked up wins from Kaylene Quirk and Nicole Bonham in extra match play. The Griffons will travel to Southern Nazarene on Friday, Sept. 30 for a 3:30 p.m. match.

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ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western Volleyball’s Kortney Blaufuss has been named MIAA Volleyball Athlete of the Week. Blaufuss started all four matches this past weekend in the GAC-MIAA Crossover at Shawnee, Oklahoma. In her four matches, Blaufuss recorded 171 assist, 33 digs, nine kills, eight blocks and three aces.

Blaufuss had 39 assists in a sweep over Southeastern Oklahoma State with eight digs, three blocks, two kills and one ace. In another sweep against Southern Nazarene, she had 38 assists, nine digs, two aces and one block. Against Northwestern Oklahoma State, Blaufuss dished up 39 assists, eight digs, two blocks and a kill. In the final match against Southwestern Oklahoma State, she had a career high 55 assists, eight digs, six kills, and two blocks. The performance of 55 assist will tie her for ninth all-time in assist for a four set match.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Missouri Western soccer team is off to a school record 5-1 start after another overtime win on Sunday at Lindenwood. Bailey Dervin’s goal off a Maddy Cowell corner kick in the 98th minute gave Missouri Western its third overtime win in as many tries this season and the program’s first win at Lindenwood since 2012.

Dervin’s game winner came with less than two minutes remaining in the first overtime to give Missouri Western its third-straight win, all by a 1-0 score and second in overtime. The Griffons were out-shot (16-11) for the second straight game, but controlled the action in the overtime period with three shots to just one by the host school. Lexie Martin improved to 3-0 on the season with a seven-save, shutout performance, her second goose egg of the season in three starts.

The win improved Missouri Western’s record to 5-1 on the season, one win better than 2015’s record 4-1 start. The Griffons return home this week to host a non-conference match against No. 3 Central Missouri, who improved to 5-0 on the season with a 1-0 win against Northwest Missouri on Sunday. The Griffons host the Jennies at 6 p.m. this Friday, before getting into MIAA action with a re-match against Lindenwood at home next Sunday.

— MWSU Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Missouri Western Women’s Golf team concluded their second meet of the season with a sixth place finish at the NSU Women’s Golf Classic at Cherokee Springs Golf Course in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Shi Qing Ong continued her early success, finishing second with a score of 147.  Ong was just one stroke back from the leader.  Jenna Kosmatka made the most of day two by dropping her score by seven strokes to finish tied for twenty first with 157.  Madison Romjue also saw her score drop from the previous day, finishing inside the top 30 with a 159.  Tiffanie Yabut finished with a 162 and Brittany Kennedy with a 217 for the Griffons.

Southwestern Oklahoma State won the event as a team, while Northeastern State’s Baylee Price took individual honors.  Missouri Western travels next to the MIAA Preview on Sept. 26 and Sept. 27 at Mules National Golf Club in Warrensburg, Missouri.

AXTELL, Neb. – Missouri Western Men’s Golf team shot a 619 in the UNK Invite at Awarii Dunes in Axtell, Nebraska.  Weather limited the invitational to only two rounds.

Individually, the Griffons were led by Patrick McCarthy who shot a 148 to finish tied for 20th in his first collegiate meet.   Jakob Rudosky would finish tied for the 31st shooting a 150.  Also appearing in his first college meet was Kevin Kim, who finished with a 157 for the Invitational.   Jake Giles ended his rounds with a score of 164 and Lucas Horseman withdrew after the first round due to injury.

Jay Cottam of Nebraska Kearney won the meet with a 141.  UNK also won the team title behind a score of 583.  Missouri Western will travel to Muskogee, Oklahoma on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20th for the NSU Men’s Golf Classic.

— MWSU Athletics —

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Missouri Western Women’s Tennis team knocked off Truman State 5-4 today in dual play.  It is the first dual win for the Griffons on the 2016-17 season.

Missouri Western opened up with an 8-2 doubles victory from Karolina Strom and Joanna Abreu Roman.  The Griffons would go on to drop the next to doubles matches 8-3 and 8-6, trailing 2-1 for the match.

The Griffons would use the singles matches to storm back and claim the match 5-4, after falling behind early to Truman State 4-2 . Missouri Western picked straight set victories in number one singles from Karolina Strom, 6-3, 6-4, number two singles Sofia Aguilera, 7-5, 7-5 and number four singles Federica Salmaso, 6-1, 6-1. After dropping the first set 7-6, Joanna Abreu Roman fought back to win the set 6-1, 6-2.  Strom’s win at number one single clinched the comeback for the Griffons.

Missouri Western travels to Quincy, Illinois on Sept. 22 for a dual against Quincy University, starting at 3:30 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western soccer team had chance after chance after chance. It just took the team 96 minutes to take advantage of one of them.

Cassidy Menke’s goal off a rebound in the sixth minute of overtime was Missouri Western’s only goal, and the only one her team needed in a 1-0 overtime win over Minnesota Crookston on Sunday afternoon. Missouri Western, again, dominated the action. The Griffons ended the contest with a 24-3 shot advantage, 11-2 for shots on frame. Missouri Western just couldn’t find the back of the net until Ashlyn Powers took a shot from the right wing that deflected off Minnesota Crookston goalkeeper Olivia Puttin’s diving hand, right to Menke, who hesitated then rolled one in from inside the box for the win.

Lexie Martin earned her second career victory in goal for the Griffons, moving to 2-0 on the season with her first career shutout. Martin’s back line stepped up and limited Minnesota Crookston to just two shots on goal and Martin did her part by saving both. Menke led the Griffons in shots with six, three coming on goal. Maddy Cowell took five shots with one on goal. Powers had four shots with three on goal.

The Griffons improved to 3-1 in the season and will move later this week into conference opponents, though the games will not count toward the MIAA standings. Missouri Western travels to Northwest Missouri Stat, Friday for a non-conference tilt, then it’s across Missouri for the Griffons to Lindenwood on Sunday.

— MWSU Athletics —

JOPLIN, Mo. – The opponent and location were different, but the script was much the same as week one as the Missouri Western football team defeated Missouri Southern 51-14 on Saturday night. It was the Griffons’ fourth-straight win in Joplin and the largest margin of victory in Joplin for the Griffons in the 47-year history of the rivalry.

For the second straight game, Missouri Western dominated the ground game, out rushing Missouri Southern 262 yards to 30. The Griffon offense totaled 525 yards and limited Missouri Southern to 284. The 51 points in Joplin combined with the 44 scored last week are the most points for a Griffon Football team through the first two weeks since scoring 117 combined against Mesa State and Lincoln in 2010.

Skyler Windmiller had one of his best games in a Griffon uniform, completing 83-percent of his passes (15-18) for 229 yards and two touchdowns. The junior signal caller also rushed 10 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Much like last week, Windmiller spread the football around, completing passes to eight different Griffons, nine total caught passes on the night. Brock Broughton and Terry Jackson Jr. caught the touchdown passes. Broughton led the Griffons in receiving yards with 83. Patrick Bolton led the team with four receptions for 46 yards.

On the ground, Josh Caldwell led the way again, rushing 12 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Kendall Short carried it 16 times for 77 yards and Derek Gray added his second career touchdown on six carries for 24 yards.

Missouri Western overcame three first half turnovers to take a 28-6 lead to halftime. The Griffons also once again won despite some special teams hiccups. Missouri Southern blocked a Griffon punt for a safety. Dijuan Ussery also fumbled on a kick return and the Griffons missed their third field goal of the season.

The win sets up the game of the week in the MIAA next Saturday as the Griffons host Central Missouri at 6 p.m. in St. Joseph. The Griffons and Mules are both 2-0 with Central Missouri ranked No. 16 in last week’s AFCA poll and No. 8 in the D2Football.com poll. It’s Family Weekend and Military Appreciation night at Spratt Memorial Stadium.

— MWSU Athletics —

Game One
ST.  JOSEPH – The Missouri Western Volleyball team swept Oklahoma Baptist 3-0 (25-21 25-15 25-12) to open the Gold & Green Challenge at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Griffons fought off 8 straight Bison points in the first set before finishing on a 6-2 run to win the opening set.  Rachel Friedrichs had six of her team high 13 kills in the first set. Missouri Western raced out to an 8-3 second set lead and never looked back from there. The Griffons finished the set with 4 straight points capped by an ace from Tiana Butler.  MWSU never trailed at any point in the third set and a Shellby Taylor kill would start a 9-1 run to close out the match for the Griffons.

Missouri Western finished with 47 kills and six aces as a team.  The Griffons will play their second game of the Gold & Green Challenge at 6 p.m. against Missouri S&T in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Game Two
ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western Volleyball lost to Missouri S&T 3-1 (25-20 23-25 21-25 30-32) in the Gold & Green Challenge at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Griffons only allowed the Miners one lead in the first set and that was after the match’s first point.  Missouri Western closed the first set with back to back kills from Rachel Friedrichs and Shellby Taylor.  Second set saw the Griffons break out of the gates earlier with a 7-1 lead.  S&T countered with an 11-1 run of their own to tie the match at 15.  The Miners carried that momentum to win the second and third set.

Early in the fourth set, both teams traded multiple 4-0 runs.  S&T had opportunities to put away the match but the Griffons bought back with kills by Ashley Mainord, Kelsey Olion and Rachel Friedrichs.

Friedrich led MWSU with 18 kills with Blair Russell adding 12.  The Griffons split the day’s matches and will open play tomorrow at 9 a.m. against East Central and finish the day at 6 p.m. against Minnesota State.

— MWSU Athletics —