PUEBLO, Colo. – Fort Hays State Men’s Golf opened its 2019-20 season on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 16-17) at the Farmers Insurance Samuel Proal Invitational, hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo. The Tigers finished 12th overall in the tournament, contested at Walking Stick Golf Course, a par-72, 7,243-yard layout. Cole Gritton led the Tigers in his first tournament as a Tiger.

Gritton, a senior transfer from Colorado Christian University, improved 10 places on the leaderboard in the final round, finishing in a tie for 13th at 3-over par overall. Seven players finished under par overall, led by an 11-under par effort from CSU-Pueblo’s Andrew Ni. Liam Duncan of New Mexico Junior College was right on his heels with a 10-under par finish. Gritton was a steady performer for the Tigers throughout the tournament, posting scores of 74 (+2), 73 (+1), and 72 (E).

The Tigers as a team tied for seventh after the first round, firing a 296, their best collective effort of the three rounds. FHSU followed that with rounds of 306 and 304.

Pete Carney led the Tigers in the first round with an even-par 72. He followed that with rounds of 79 and 78. He tied teammate Bryce Cowan for 44th overall at 13-over par. Cowan carded rounds of 74, 80, and 75. Chandler Roberts shot rounds of 76, 76, and 79, tying for 49th at 15-over par, and owned the second-best round of the Tigers in the second round. Isaiah Grover tied for 54th at 17-over par with rounds of 76, 78, and 79.

New Mexico Junior College claimed the tournament with a team score of 865, just 1-over par overall. CSU-Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines tied for second at 869, each 5-over par as a team.

Fort Hays State heads back on the road next week to the MSSU Fall Invitational, a mandatory MIAA event, held at Shangri-La Country Club in Monkey Island, Oklahoma.

DENVER – The No. 12 Fort Hays State University men’s soccer team faced off against the Regis University Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers entered into the matchup on a two-game skid and that form continued as the match resulted in a 3-0 loss.

Fort Hays State found themselves behind early in the match. Just one minute into the contest, Regis’ Ben Shepherd slid a ball past goalkeeper Cullen Fisch to begin the score tally.

With only five minutes remaining in the first half, the Rangers struck again. Parker Klein ripped his shot to Fisch’s left-hand side for a 2-0 lead.

Following halftime, the Rangers marched down the field. Defending inside of their own 18-yard box, the Tigers were backed into an uncomfortable position. Mariano Benitez made contact within the box and was called for a foul. Shepherd stepped up to the spot for the Rangers and tucked his shot away to mark the third goal of the contest.

Fort Hays State took 10 shots through the duration of the match. Goalkeeper Cullen Fisch was kept busy in net as he faced 15 shots and made six saves.

Within the 90 minutes, six yellow cards were handed out. The Tigers’ Santiago Agudelo, Alec Bevis, and Alonso Rodriguez all had bookings.

For the Tigers, this marks their second-worst start to a regular season in program history, with 2017 being the only one to top this in those ranks. FHSU started 0-4-2 in 2017, but went on an 11-1 tear over its next 12 and made the NCAA Tournament, finishing the year at 11-6-2.

The black and gold were knocked out of the NCAA Championship tournament in 2017 by Northeastern State University, but FHSU defeated Northeastern State in all three meetings last year (NCAA Tournament included). On Thursday, Sept. 19 the Tigers square off with their long-time conference rival, but this time playing as members of the Great American Conference. The Tigers are 9-7-5, all-time against Northeastern State.

This will be FHSU’s first game played in Hays since its victory over Rockhurst in the season-opener and its first game in Great American Conference play. The men’s soccer program still holds a 17-game home win streak and will look to keep that alive.

HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State volleyball team wrapped up a busy weekend with a come-from-behind victory against Northwestern Oklahoma State Saturday evening (9/14). The victory came after the Tigers opened the day with a three-set loss to Western Colorado.

After splitting two matches for the third-straight day dating back to last week, the Tigers wrap up non-conference play with a 3-5 record. The Mountaineers of Western Colorado moved to 3-4 following the win, while the NWOSU Rangers are now 5-4 on the season.

With the MIAA down to 11 volleyball schools, the Tigers will play each team twice in an expanded 20-game conference schedule beginning next week. FHSU will travel to Topeka, Kan. to take on No. 4 Washburn on Friday at 6 p.m. (Sept. 20) before returning home to host Emporia State one week from today (Sept. 21). First serve is set for 5 p.m. from Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Fort Hays State 3, Northwestern Oklahoma State 1 (20-25, 19-25, 19-25, 18-25)
The Tigers head into league play on a high note after a gritty win over Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Rangers appeared to be en route to their fourth win of the weekend after a 25-20 victory in the first set, but FHSU rallied to send the Tiger faithful home with a win.

The Black and Gold could not get out of their own way in the first set, giving the Rangers 12 points on 10 attack errors and two setting miscues. The teams traded the lead for much of the set until NWOSU used a 9-4 run to turn a 16-16 tie into an opening-set victory.

The Tigers turned things around in the second set, swinging at a .359 clip (17-3-39) to overpower a .289 swing rate by the visitors. Morgan West made the most of her opportunities in the frame, dropping in five kills on six attempts. Taylor White tallied three service aces in a five-point stretch late in the set to help the Tigers pull away and level the match.

Delaney Humm was a consistent presence in the Tiger offense, recording six kills in three sets and four in the other. The freshman helped FHSU pull away in the third set after breaking a 10-10 tie with a big kill. Humm followed that up with a service ace, leading to a five-point Tiger run. The Rangers closed within two later in the set, but three NWOSU errors and one final kill from Mykah Eshbaugh handed the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Rangers managed to keep the fourth set close for the first few rallies, but the Tigers took the lead for good when a Tatum Bartels kill put them in front 8-7. Humm later gave Fort Hays State a chance at set point with a kill and an assisted block with fellow freshman Morgan Christiansen before the match came to a close on a Ranger attack error.

Humm matched her season high with 22 kills, adding 11 digs, one block, one service ace and one assist. Bartels was also sharp on offense, adding 17 kills with a .364 attack percentage. Abbie Hayes led the team with a career-best 32 digs, the most for a Tiger since the 2015 season (Ari Jacobsen, 39 vs. MWSU, 11/6/15). Katie Darnell’s career-high 61 digs were the most for an FHSU setter in over three years (Hannah Wagy, 61 at Westminster, 9/10/16).

White added 21 digs to her three service aces, while Madison Miller totaled 10 digs and one kill.

After a rough first set, the Tigers finished the match with a .241 attack percentage while holding NWOSU to a .184 swing rate. Fort Hays State had a sizeable lead in back row statistical categories, putting up 80 digs to just 57 from NWOSU and recording three more service aces (FHSU 5, NWOSU 2). The Rangers won the blocking battle, 8-3.

Western Colorado 3, Fort Hays State 0 (18-25, 19-25, 23,25)
The Tigers had trouble with Western Colorado in the opener, allowing the Mountaineers to record their best swing rate of the season at .300. Western Colorado also had a big advantage in blocks, totaling nine team blocks to just four for the Tigers.

Fort Hays State recorded an impressive .300 attack percentage in the opening set, but had no answer for a swing rate of .484 by the visitors.

Tatum Bartels made just one error on 15 swings in the first match of the day, leading the team with 10 kills and a .600 swing rate. Bartels also led the team with four block assists. Katie Darnell led the team with 22 assists with Haley McCorkle adding 13.

HASTINGS, Colo. – Fort Hays State accomplished the feat of posting a perfect score to win the Bronco Stampede hosted by Hastings College on Saturday. The Tigers swept the top five placements in the race for a perfect score of 15, topping a field of 10 teams. The top four Tigers nearly crossed the line all at the same time, led by Israel Barco.

Barco edged teammate Justin Moore for the individual title by just 0.2 seconds. Barco covered the 8K course in 26.35.7, while Moore posted 26:35.9. Reed Rome was just 0.3 seconds off Barco’s winning pace, hitting 26:36 flat. Robbie Schmidt was just 0.3 seconds behind Rome in 26:36.3. Only 0.6 seconds separated first through fourth.

Kaleb Crum gave the Tigers a perfect team score by crossing the line in 26:56.8. He was still nearly 10 seconds faster than sixth-place finisher Nelson Kemboi of Southeast (Neb.) Community College.

The Tigers still would have dominated the team scoring with their second wave of runners. Abraham Garcia finished eighth, Peter Franklin was ninth, Robert Loeffler was 11th, Seppe van ‘t Westende was 12th, and Michael Eisenbarth was 13th. Even Caleb Carrasco, Guillaume Plagneaux, and Jorge Gallegos were in the top 20.

Friends University was the closest competitor to the Tigers, finishing with 88 team points. Concordia (Neb.) was third with 123.

Fort Hays State returns to action in a couple of weeks at the Emporia State Invitational on Friday, September 27.

HASTINGS, Neb. – The Fort Hays State women’s cross country team claimed first at the Bronco Stampede, hosted by Hastings College on Saturday (Sept. 14). The Tigers topped a field of 11 teams and won by 11 points over Concordia University (Neb.). Abigail Stewart paced the Tigers with a second-place overall finish.

Stewart covered the 5K course in 19:41.7, finishing just six seconds behind individual champion Aileen Gurrola of Friends University. Teammate Brooke Navarro joined Stewart as one of six runners in the field that broke the 20-minute mark. Navarro finished fourth in a time of 19:48.1.

Tessa Durnell and Averi Wilson also turned in top-10 finishes. Durnell finished seventh in 20:02.2 and Wilson covered the course in 20:13.8. Emily Salmans was 14th overall, but scored 13 team points since one runner in the top 15 was unattached. She rounded out the top five for FHSU with a time of 20:31.9.

Fort Hays State was the only team in the field to place four in the top 10 of the race.

The team will take a week off before returning to action at the Emporia State Invitational on Friday, September 27.

HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State volleyball team opened the 2019 Tiger Classic with one win and one loss Friday inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers were unable to solve Chadron State, falling in three sets, before taking down Southern Arkansas in a three-set sweep in the nightcap. FHSU moves to 2-4 on the year with the split, while the Eagles improves to 4-1 and the Muleriders dip to 1-4 overall.

The action continues with six more matches beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday. The Tigers will take to the court at 1 p.m. against Western Colorado before wrapping up their non-conference schedule with Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. A full schedule for day 2 of the 2019 Tiger Classic can be found here.

Fort Hays State 3, Southern Arkansas 0 (25-10, 25-17, 26-24)
The Tigers came out of the gates on fire in the second match of the day, posting a .391 attack percentage to win the opening set in convincing fashion. FHSU was equally as efficient on defense, blocking four shots and holding the Muleriders to a -.120 swing rate in the opening frame.

After leading the first set wire-to-wire, the Tigers once again never trailed in the second frame. Fort Hays State took advantage of 10 SAU attack errors, building a lead and never letting go.

The Black and Gold seemed poised to run away with the third set after capturing the first six points. But the Muleriders slowly chipped into the lead, ultimately earning a chance at set point with a 24-23 lead. Tatum Bartels leveled the score with a booming kill out of a timeout before another SAU miscue gave the Tigers a serve for the match. Delaney Humm finished things off with one final kill and secured the first home win of the season.

Humm led the team with 13 kills, posting an impressive .476 swing percentage. Katie Darnell tossed up a team-high 18 assists while Haley McCorkle added 12. Kayla Vitztum dropped in three service aces in addition to four kills and two blocks.

The Tigers finished the match with a season-best .277 attack percentage to go along with six blocks and three service aces. FHSU held the Muleriders to a -.012 swing rate on the day.

Chadron State 3, Fort Hays State 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23)
The Tigers had kept pace with the Eagle offense all afternoon, recording 38 kills to Chadron’s 40. But the discrepancy in errors made a big impact, with FHSU recording 23 attack errors and Chadron State putting up just 12 miscues. The Eagle front line was a big cause of the headache, recording nine team blocks.

The Tigers recorded a .140 attack percentage in the loss, while Chadron countered with a .264 attack percentage. Delaney Humm led the team with 11 kills, Tatum Bartels added six and Kayla Vitztum totaled six.

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State notched its second straight 1-0 shutout of an opponent, winning its home opener over CSU-Pueblo. The Tigers moved to 2-1 overall on the season.

The first half saw persistent offense from both sides. Only three shots were on goal for the half (all by Fort Hays State) and there were 14 total shots taken. Scoring chances were plentiful, and it seemed either side was poised for a breakthrough at some point in the second half.

That breakthrough came in the 76th minute for the Tigers. Sophomore forward Jordan Thompson found herself with just the goalie between her and the net. She dribbled in from the left side of the penalty box, put a nice move on goalkeeper Rylie Martin, and hit the wide-open shot for her first goal of the season. The ThunderWolves put a couple of shots on target in the final six minutes, but the Tigers held on for the victory with a pair of saves from Megan Kneefel.

Head Coach Blake Reynolds was proud of his team’s performance tonight. “CSU-Pueblo is a great team and it was a back-and-forth game for both teams. I told the girls at halftime that it feels like a one goal game. Whoever gets that one goal would be the one to win this game. It took one special moment and Jordan Thompson made a fantastic individual effort. We grinded out another 1-0 win just like last week in Sioux Falls. This was a good win for us.”

Kneefel (1-1) picked up the win in a shutout performance. CSU-Pueblo’s Rylie Martin (1-2) took the loss.

The Tigers get a week off and are back on the road for a matchup with Emporia State (Sept. 20). The match is set for 3:00 p.m.

HAYS – Fort Hays State saw their 12-game regular season win streak snapped in a 28-17 loss to Missouri Western State Thursday night at Lewis Field. It’s the first regular season loss at home since the 2016 season, when they fell 28-7 to a then No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State. It’s also the first 0-2 start for the Tigers since 2013.

Fort Hays State drove to the Griffons (1-1) two-yard line on their first possession but had to settle for a Dante Brown field goal following a false start. Brown missed on a 49-yard field goal attempt early in the second quarter and the Griffons would take advantage, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second quarter.

Wyatt Steigerwald connected with on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Damen Wheeler, Jr. at the 12:36 mark, giving Missouri Western the lead 7-3.

Following a muffed punt by the Tigers which gave MWSU a short field at the FHSU 20-yard line, the Griffons scored on the next play, a 20-yard pass from Steigerwald to Kyle Berry to push their lead to 14-3 with 8:29 to go in the second quarter.

Missouri Western marched 62 yards in seven plays for yet another touchdown, a 12-yard run by Shamar Griffith at the 4:07 mark and led 21-3 at halftime.

The Tigers could not advance the ball past midfield on their first two drives of the second half. They advanced to the Griffons 24-yard line on their third possession but DJ Stirgus intercepted a Fuller pass at the goal line.

Fuller found Manny Ramsey on a 28-yard scoring strike with 8:24 to go in the game, however, the two-point conversion failed and the Griffons led 21-9.

A bad snap on a punt with 5:33 remaining in the game gave Missouri Western the ball at the Tiger 26. Markel Smith would score on a 6-yard touchdown run four plays later to push the score to 28-9.

The Tigers picked up one more touchdown late on a four-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Hunter Budke, but it was too-little, too-late.

Fuller threw for 333 yards for a second straight week, completing 23-of-49 attempts. Ramsey and Harley Hazlett each had five receptions, Ramsey finishing with 102 yards and Hazlett with 90. Charles Tigner led the ground game with 44 yards but the Tigers were held to 14 as a team.

Hayden Kreutzer, making the first start of his career, led the Tigers with nine tackles.

Steigerwald completed 17-of-29 passes for 197 yards for the Griffons. Smith ran for a team-high 84 yards and Devon Holmes had seven catches for 70 yards.

#25/22 Fort Hays State (0-1, 0-1 MIAA) vs
Missouri Western (0-1, 0-1 MIAA)
Thursday, Sept. 12 – 7 pm
Hays, Kan. – Lewis Field Stadium

Game Sponsor: Eagle
Game Theme: Blackout (Wear black to the game)
Free Pregame Concert: Country artist Seth Cook (5-6:15 pm on the east lawn outside of Lewis Field Stadium)
Game Sponsor Promotion: Eagle is giving away 500 TGOF shirts starting at 5:30 PM on the northwest side of Lewis Field. Look for the “We love FHSU” flag.

 

Fort Hays State Football will play its first home game of the 2019 season on Thursday night (Sept. 12) when it takes on Missouri Western. Kickoff is set for 7 pm at Lewis Field Stadium. The No. 25/22 ranked Tigers seek their first win of the season after falling in the season opener at Central Missouri last week.

The Tigers look to avenge a loss to the Griffons last year. Missouri Western defeated FHSU by a score of 23-13 in St. Joseph when FHSU was No. 5 in the AFCA Top 25 Poll. Prior to that, FHSU had won two in a row against the Griffons. This will be the first meeting between the teams in Hays since the 2016 season, when the Tigers won 35-27. FHSU won the 2017 installment of the series, winning 38-10 in St. Joseph. This is the third straight meeting between the teams in which the Tigers have held a top-25 national ranking.

Fort Hays State has been tough at home the last two seasons, going 12-0 in MIAA play during that span at Lewis Field Stadium. The only blemish at home since the beginning of the 2017 season was a playoff loss to Ferris State (Mich.). FHSU has claimed its last four home openers.

Fort Hays State held a 30-21 fourth-quarter lead over Central Missouri in the season opener, but UCM rallied for a pair of touchdowns in the final six minutes of the game to upend the then No. 11/8 ranked Tigers. Chance Fuller threw for a career-high 333 yards in the game, while Harley Hazlett (184), Charles Tigner (120), and Layne Bieberle (104) all produced over 100 all-purpose yards in the game.

The Tigers held the Mules to 34 total yards in the first quarter, but the Mule offense found its footing after halftime. The Mules produced 329 of their 516 yards in the game in the second half. The 516 yards allowed was well above the average of 326.1 the Tigers surrendered per game in 2018. However, it was the second straight year the Tigers surrendered more than 500 to the Mules.

The Tiger defense will look to bounce back after its second-half struggles last week. Tanner Hoekman and Drew Harvey tied for a team-high eight tackles each last week. FHSU held Missouri Western to 302 total yards last year despite the loss.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 12 Fort Hays State University was defeated on Wednesday night by No. 19 Maryville University, 3-0.

In every nearly every major statistic, the Saints came out leading. By the end of the match, the Tigers had failed to put even one shot on goal.

Santiago Agudelo opened up the game with a fire lit inside from their previous defeat at Eastern New Mexico, taking two shots in the first four minutes. Following a corner by Sergio Villalba in the 12th minute, Maryville raced down the field and scored a goal off of the boots of Mirza Hasecic from the edge of the 18-yard box.

From that moment the Saints had complete control of the first half, only allowing one shot from the Tigers.

Beginning the second half, an Agudelo shot that missed the target preceded a pair of fouls, one by each side. After that foul, the Saints were once again backing the Tigers into their own territory. In the 53rd minute, the Saints’ Braden Johson hit the back of the next on a three-yard tap in to increase the Maryville lead, 2-0.

Just over 20 minutes later, the Saints struck again. The ball found the feet of Grady Schliepsiek just outside the six-yard box. Schliepsiek struck the ball inside the left post past goalkeeper Cullen Fisch for the final goal of the match.

A bright spot of the Tigers performance was their ability to win corners (6) and the abilities of Fisch, who tallied four saves on seven shots faced, at the back of the defense.

The Tigers will head to Denver, Colo. on Sunday to face off against the Regis University Rangers for Fort Hays’ final out of conference matchup of the regular season. While the two programs have never gone head-to-head, Regis currently posts a 0-1-1 record after drawing with Saint Martin’s University and losing to Concordia University (Ore.).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State moved to No. 12 in the first regular season edition of the United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25 Poll. The Tigers started the year ranked No. 3 in the poll, but a 1-1 start to the season last week pushed the Tigers down nine spots in the poll.

Eastern New Mexico, the team that defeated FHSU over the past weekend, jumps into the poll this week at No. 17 after a 2-0 start to the season. Along with their win over the Tigers, the Greyhounds also knocked off then No. 17 ranked Colorado Mesa.

Fort Hays State will play a ranked opponent on Wednesday (Sept. 11) when it heads to Kansas City to face Maryville University of St. Louis. The No. 12 Tigers and No. 19 ranked Saints will clash at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri at 3 pm. The match pits a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago. FHSU will then head to Denver on the weekend to take on Regis University.

The No. 1, 2, and 3 ranked teams in the nation all lost during the opening week allowing West Chester, a 2018 national semifinalist along with FHSU, to move up to No. 1 in the nation. Cal Poly Pomona, the national runner-up fell all the way out of the Top 25 from a No. 2 preseason ranking.

Below is the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll for September 10, 2019.

Rank	School	Prev	W-L-T
1	West Chester University	4	1-0-0
2	Adelphi University	5	1-0-0
3	Lander University	5	2-0-0
4	Young Harris College	5	1-0-0
5	Azusa Pacific University	11	2-0-0
6	West Texas A&M University	9	1-0-0
7	Ohio Valley University	15	1-0-0
8	Barry University	1	1-1-0
9	Palm Beach Atlantic University	10	2-0-0
10	California State University-Los Angeles	20	2-0-0
11	Midwestern State University	14	2-0-0
12	Fort Hays State University	3	1-1-0
13	University Of Indianapolis	NR	2-0-0
14	California State University-San Bernardino	NR	2-0-0
15	Gannon University	NR	2-0-0
16	Mercy College	24	1-0-1
17	Eastern New Mexico University	NR	2-0-0
18	Spring Hill College	20	1-0-0
19	Maryville University of St. Louis	NR	2-0-0
20	Lynn University	12	1-0-0
21	Rogers State University	NR	1-0-1
22	Wilmington University	NR	2-0-0
23	Simon Fraser University	13	1-1-0
24	Seton Hill University	NR	2-0-0
25	St. Mary’s University (Texas)	NR	2-0-0

Also receiving votes: University Of Charleston, Queens College, Queens University Of Charlotte, Wingate University, University Of West Florida, Bellarmine University, Clayton State University, Northeastern State University, Florida Tech

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark, – Fort Hays State senior goalkeeper, Cullen Fisch has been awarded the Great American Conference (GAC) Goalkeeper of the Week, as announced on Tuesday (Sept. 10) by the league office. This is the first time a Tiger athlete has been selected as a receipient of this honor.

Fisch helped propel No. 3 Fort Hays State to a 3-0 victory against Rockhurst in their home-opener by notching five saves and a clean sheet. In their loss to Eastern New Mexico, the La Vista, Neb. native proved to be a bright spot tallying another five stops. Fisch begins his season with an .833 save percentage adding 10 saves to his stat line.

The Tigers will go on the road to face Maryville University on Wednesday (Sept. 11) from Kansas City, Mo. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.