We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Northwest’s Bruder named MIAA Volleyball Co-Athlete of the Week

Northwest2013riggertKANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University sophomore Maddy Bruder has been named the MIAA’s Volleyball co-Athlete of the Week. Bruder led the Bearcats to a 3-0 week with road wins over Missouri Western, Lindenwood and No. 11 Central Missouri. She shared the honor with Annie Wolfe of Nebraska-Kearney for hitter of the week. Washburn’s Natalie Bates was named specialist of the week.

Bruder averaged 4.27 kills per set, finishing the three-match stretch with 47 total kills. She also had 30 digs and seven blocks defensively. In a five-set win over Lindenwood on Oct. 7, Bruder had 21 total kills with 14 digs and three blocks, giving her eight double-double performances on the season. It also marked the third time this year hse has surpassed 20 kills in a match. On Saturday against the Jennies, Bruder hit .375 with 18 kills and eight digs. She committed just three attacking errors and had four blocks.

Northwest returns home for a four-match homestand starting on Friday, Oct. 14, against Washburn University in Bearcat Arena at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Northwest soccer loses 1-0 at Nebraska-Kearney

Northwest2013riggertThe Northwest Missouri State University soccer team drops close match to Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday afternoon, 1-0, in Kearney, Neb.

Northwest falls to 4-6-1 overall and 2-3 in MIAA play. The Lopers improve to 4-7-1 and 1-4 in conference action.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Nebraska-Kearney took four shots to the Bearcats’ eight.
– Northwest earned four corners on the afternoon to the Lopers two.
– Nebraska-Kearney was called for four offsides. The Bearcats with just two offsides calls.
– The Lopers were whistled for nine fouls with Northwest was called seven times.
– Annie Poelzl and Danielle Wolfe had a team high two shots on the afternoon.
– Ashley Malloy and Jamie Neal spent a half each in goal, both had one save a piece.

Key Northwest Sequence
– In the 73rd minute, Peri Rainey fired a shot to equal the score from the close right wing that was saved by the Lopers goal keeper.

Up Next
– The Bearcats return to Maryville, Mo. with a four home game stretch, first up is the RiverHawks on Friday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m.

No. 18 Northwest volleyball survives at Lindenwood in five sets

Northwest2013riggertThe Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team picked up a five-set victory over Lindenwood, 3-2, on Friday in St. Charles, Mo.

– The No. 18 ranked Bearcats move to 17-1 overall and 5-1 in MIAA play with the victory. Lindenwood falls to 5-11 and 1-5 in conference action with the loss.
– Maddy Bruder had 21 kills, 14 digs, three blocks and one assist. It marked the fifth time in her career she has tallied 20 or more kills in a single match.
– The Bearcats dropped the first set, 25-21, but came back to win the next two, 25-17 and 25-23. Northwest fell in the fourth set, 26-24, but took the deciding fifth set, 15-10.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Miranda Foster had 14 kills, 16 digs and three blocks in the win.
– Sarah Dannettell had 61 assists with 15 digs, four kills, three blocks and one service ace.
– Olivia Nowakowski had 21 digs and a pair of assists.
– Jackie Becker had 12 kills and a pair of blocks.
– Darcy Sunderman had 11 total kills.
– Alexis Williams tallied eight kills, five blocks and five digs.
– Megan Stilmock had 12 digs defensively.

Key Northwest Sequences
– With a two-point lead in the second, 18-16, Northwest closed out the set with a 7-1 run. Bruder had back-to-back kills to force a Lindenwood timeout. Out of the break, Bruder tallied another kill to make it 21-16. A Lion attack error and a block by Dannettell and Williams widened the margin to 23-16. Lindenwood scored to make it 23-17 but Bruder and Dannettell combined for a block to give the Bearcats set point. Williams put away a kill off an assist from Dannettell to give Northwest the second set, tying the match, 1-1.

– Down 22-17 in the third set, Northwest rallied to score eight of the next nine points to win the set and take a 2-1 lead. After a Lion service errors, Foster and Bruder combined for three-straight kills to force a Lindenwood timeout trailing by just one, 22-21. Out of the timeout, Williams and Bruder combined for a block to force a 22-22 tie. A bad Lion set gave the Bearcats a 23-22 lead. After a second Lindenwood timeout, Bruder marked up another kill to make it 24-22. On set point, the Lions got a killl but Lindenwood errored on the ensuing service to give Northwest the 25-23 set win.

– Northwest scored nine of the last 11 points in the fifth set to win the match. With Lindenwood leading 8-6, Northwest used a 5-0 run to take an 11-8 lead after kills from Sunderman, Becker and Bruder. Holding a 13-10 lead, Bruder closed out the set with back-to-back kills to give the Bearcats the win.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will head to Warrensburg on Saturday to take on No. 11 Central Missouri at 7 p.m. in the Multipurpose Building.

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffons get swept by No. 18 Northwest Missouri State

MWSUST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western volleyball team fell to No. 18 Northwest Missouri State 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-19) on Tuesday inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

After trading jabs early, the Griffons fell behind midway through the first set. Trailing 17-10, Kelsey Olion would get a kill to start a 7-0 run and allow MWSU to tie the set at 17-17. However, Northwest had one more run left in them to take the first set.

Unable to overcome a slow second set, Missouri Western found itself in another early hole in the third set. The Griffons would fight back into the set with a 3-0 run to get the score to 18-14. Northwest would again have another run in them to win the set and match.

Kelsey Olion would lead the Griffons with nine kills with Rachel Friedrichs adding seven kills. Olion also provided Missouri Western with three aces. Kortney Blaufuss recorded 23 assist as Tiana Butler finished with 12 digs.

The loss snaps a six-match winning streak for MWSU over Northwest Missouri. Missouri Western hosts #11 Central Missouri on Friday at 6 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest’s Pitts earns preseason All-American honor

Northwest2013riggertCHARLOTTE, N.C. – Northwest Missouri State University junior Justin Pitts has beened named to the first team Preseason All-America Team by the Sporting News College Basketball Yearbook. The magazine’s preview included an NCAA Division II top-10 along with a 25-man Preseason All-America list.

Now a two-time first-team All-MIAA performer, Pitts scored in double figures in all 32 games in 2015-16, scoring 20 or more points 21 times, including a career-high 38 points against Minnesota State in the Central Region semifinals, third-most in school history (3/13/16). He was the MIAA’s Player of the Year, reaching 1,000 career points in just 53 games. Through two seasons at Northwest, Pitts is the all-time leader in three point field goal percentage, drilling 49.4 percent of his shots from behind the arc (131-for-265). The Blue Springs, Mo. native led the Bearcats in scoring (21.7), three point percentage (49.4), assists (5.0) and steals (1.5), helping Northwest to an MIAA-record 19 conference victories, an outright MIAA regular season title, an MIAA tournament title and a third-straight trip to the Central Region Championship game during the 2015-16 season.

Northwest will begin the season on Friday, Nov. 11, against Upper Iowa in St. Joseph, Mo.

— Northwest Athletics —

Northwest Missouri State moves up to No. 20 in AVCA Volleyball Top 25

Northwest2013riggertLEXINGTON, Ky. – The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team moved up to the No. 20 spot in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll on Monday.

The 14-0 Bearcats won all three matches last week, all sweeps including the MIAA openers against Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern.

Northwest heads to Pittsburg, Kan., for a match with the Gorillas on Friday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Bearcats will face No. 12 ranked Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla., at 4 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Missouri Western finishes tied for 15th at NSU Men’s Golf Classic

riggertMissouriWesternMUSKOGEE, OKLA. – The Missouri Western Men’s Golf team finished with an 894 for a final team score at the NSU Men’s Golf Classic in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

The Griffons were led by Jakob Rudosky and Patrick McCarthy who both finished with a 220. Rudosky and McCarthy had identical scores of 73 for each round of day two. Kevin Kim shot a 226 and finished both rounds with a 75 for the second day. Lucas Horseman came in with a 228 for the tournament, with a final round of 75. Jake Giles ended the tournament with a 246 for the Griffons.

Missouri Western’s completed its first 54 hole tournament of the fall season, after weather shortened last week’s UNK Invite. The Griffons travel to Lake City, Minnesota on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 for the JR Watkins Invite hosted by Winona State University.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest volleyball sweeps Truman State Tuesday

Northwest2013riggertBy David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – In Northwest Missouri State’s 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 victory over Truman State Tuesday evening at Bearcat Arena, the players showed the traits of why they earned a spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 for the first time in school history.

The No. 22-ranked Bearcats improved to 12-0 in front of a spirited crowd of 329 fans.

“Personally, I don’t like thinking about the rankings,” said Northwest senior outside hitter Miranda Foster. “I know being 22 is an awesome step for our program, but we are hungry for more. There is more in our tank, and we know that.

“It was really important for us to get this win because people talk and hype us up and that is a good thing. But we have to keep our heads on and understand we have to take it point by point. It was important for us to focus on this match.”

The Bearcats started the match without one of their leading hitters, senior middle hitter Jackie Becker and her back-up, sophomore middle hitter Sofia Schleppenbach.

But the outstanding hitting of Foster and sophomore Maddy Bruder more than made up for the loss of two key injured players. Bruder finished with a team-high 15 kills and Foster added nine.

Sprinkling in kills were junior Alexis Williams and junior Darcy Sunderman. They gave the Bearcats more than enough firepower to beat Truman State. Sunderman had eight kills and Williams added six.

Putting the hitters in favorable positions for kills was junior setter Sarah Dannettell, who had 34 assists. And keeping the ball alive for the Bearcats was sophomore libero Olivia Nowakowski, who had 21 digs.

“We have been talking since preseason about the depth of our team,” Foster said. “I think tonight was just another test of that. Yes, Jackie is one of our key players, and Sofia is vital to our team, too. Tonight proved high vital every single one of us are. It was important for us to get this win. We did well.”

The Bearcats showed in the first set that they weren’t going to allow Truman State to pull off an upset. Tied at 10-10, Northwest scored the next three points and never faced a tie score for the rest of the first set. With a 17-15 lead, the Bearcats scored six straight points for a commanding 23-15 lead.

During the second set, the Bearcats revealed another necessary characteristic of a top 25 team. Northwest was trailing 6-4 when it scored seven straight points for an 11-6 lead. The Bearcats appeared to be rolling to an easy second set, but Truman State had other ideas.

The Bulldogs closed to 17-16 and had all the momentum. Northwest needed to make a play to halt Truman State’s run. Bruder came up with a block for a Northwest point.

Truman State kept battling even when it faced a 23-20 deficit. At 24-21, the Bulldogs twice fought off set point. On the third set point, they made a couple of nice saves, but had no answer when Bruder finished off the set with a strong kill.

“The biggest thing that was going through my head was put the ball away and finish this rally because it was definitely a big back and forth, back and forth rally,” Bruder said. “Sarah put me in a great position to split the block. Sarah found it. It was all my teammates. I just saw the hole in the block and went swinging for it. I terminated the ball, got the rally over, got the game over.”

Another key component of a top 25 team is to maintain intensity with a commanding 2-0 lead. Northwest did exactly that late in the third set as Truman State pushed the Bearcats to play at a high level.

Truman State held several leads midway through the third set, including 12-11. Northwest moved in front 16-14, but the Bulldogs fought back to tie the set at 18-18-18 and 19-19.

The point of the set came next. Dannettell made the perfect set, placing the ball just above the net for Sunderman to make a powerful kill that was impossible to dig.

“It was beautiful,” Sunderman said of the set. “I was struggling at the beginning. I decided I am going to focus on my feet and attack the ball with my feet and the rest would come through, and it worked out. Sarah gave me a good set to put the ball away and I did. I did my job.”

Momentum swung completely in Northwest’s favor for the rest of the set. The Bearcats scored five of the last six points after Sunderman’s kill to finish off the match.

“One thing we focused on was staying at our level,” Sunderman said. “After that, we really pressed forward and played at our level.”

— Northwest Athletics —

Northwest volleyball team enters AVCA Top 25 at No. 22

Northwest2013riggertLEXINGTON, Ky. – The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team was ranked 22nd by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Monday. The 11-0 Bearcats completed a 3-0 weekend at Central Missouri after receiving votes in last week’s poll.

According to AVCA records, this marks the first time a Northwest Missouri team has earned a top-25 ranking. The Bearcats return to the court on Tuesday, Sept. 20, against Truman State in the team’s final non-conference match of the year. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in Bearcat Arena.

— Northwest Athletics —

Western/Northwest soccer game moved to Spratt Stadium Friday

riggertMissouriWesternST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western soccer team will host Northwest Missouri State on Friday afternoon after weather forced the game to be moved to Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at 5 p.m. on Friday in Maryville, but will now be played at 2:30 p.m. in St. Joseph. It will count as a home game for the Griffons, but is still considered a non-conference game.

It will be the third consecutive game in the stadium for both teams. Heavy rains in northwest Missouri forced the Bearcats to move their last two non-conference games to Spratt Stadium. Missouri Western enters Friday’s rivalry match up 2-1 on the season. Northwest Missouri is also 2-1, with both of its wins coming last week at Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Athletics —

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File