OLATHE, Kan. – Fort Hays State opened its 2015-16 season on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Central Region Preview in Olathe, Kan., at Prairie Highlands Golf Course. The Tigers finished 18th as a team, led by Hannah Perkins.

Final Results

The Tigers had an entire roster of freshmen compete at the tournament. Perkins, the 2014 Kansas Class 5A Individual State Champion, led the Tigers by shooting rounds of 88 and 77 at the par-72 course. She finished in a tie for 49th individually. Kelsey McCarthy finished 83rd with rounds of 87 and 93. Hannah Karasiuk was one stroke back of McCarthy in a tie for 84th with rounds of 90 and 91. Bailey Jones was consistent, shooting two rounds of 92 to finish 89th. Lexie Schaben tied for 91st with rounds of 96 and 91.

As a team, the Tigers shot a total of 708. Augustana won the tournament, shooting 599 as a team, just 23-over par as a team. Emily Israelson of Augustana and Marla Souvannasing of Central Oklahoma tied for first, each shooting even par overall.

The Tigers return to action next week at the NSU Women’s Golf Classic in Tahlequah, Okla., Sept. 14-15.

(FHSU Athletics)

The Green Bay Packers have signed WR Ed Williams to the practice squad. The signing was announced Tuesday by Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations.

Williams, a 6-foot, 196-pound rookie out of Fort Hays State (Kan.), spent the preseason with the Packers after originally signing on Aug. 3. He will wear No. 19 for Green Bay.

Williams caught four passes for 28 yards in the preseason.

(Green Bay Packers)

FHSU Athletics

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State held steady in the first regular season edition of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II Poll, released on Tuesday (Sept. 8). The Tigers remained No. 14 in the national rankings and join two other MIAA schools in the top 25.

Fort Hays State posted a pair of neutral site victories this past week, defeating Missouri S&T and Truman in Tahlequah, Okla. Northeastern State had wins over the same two opponents, but dropped three spots in the latest poll to No. 24 after holding the No. 21 spot in the preseason poll. Making a huge leap in the rankings was Lindenwood, which knocked off preseason No. 23 Drury and then No. 3 Quincy University on its home field in the opening week. Lindenwood moved from unranked to No. 7 in the first regular season poll.

The MIAA looks strong early as four of the five teams are 2-0. Upper Iowa is receiving votes in the first poll.

Below is the NSCAA Division II Poll for September 8, 2015.

Also receiving votes: East Stroudsburg University (6), Regis University (4), Nova Southeastern University (4), Wilmington University (4), Upper Iowa University (3), Tiffin University (3), California State University Monterey Bay (2), Chowan University (2), Clayton State University (1)

Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference
September 7, 2015

Head coach Chris Brown and select players met with members of the media Monday at Lewis Field Stadium.

FHSU head coach Chris Brown

Sophomore RB Shaquille Cooper

Senior WR Andrew Flory

Senior LB Brock Long

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State sophomore running back Shaquille Cooper was named the MIAA/AstroTurf Football Offensive Athlete of the Week on Monday. Cooper had a big night in Fort Hays State’s 30-29 win over Central Oklahoma in the season opener this past Thursday.

A native of Coral Gables, Fla., Cooper put together 195 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns in a 30-29 win over Central Oklahoma in Edmond. He rushed for 163 yards on 21 carries, averaging 7.8 yards per carry, and added 32 receiving yards. His only two receptions of the game went for touchdowns, one from 26 yards and the other from six yards. Cooper’s rushing touchdown came on a 79-yard dash to pull the Tigers within two points in the third quarter at 23-21 after FHSU trailed 20-0 midway through the second quarter.

Cooper had a 21-yard run that sparked an 85-yard touchdown drive to get the Tigers on the board in the second quarter. His 26-yard receiving touchdown made it 20-14 in favor of UCO before halftime. His six-yard touchdown reception put the Tigers in front 27-23 with 5:00 remaining in the third. He had 24 yards of rushing on Fort Hays State’s game-winning drive that ended in a 19-yard field goal as time expired.

Cooper now has four 100-yard rushing games in his career at FHSU in just five games played at the position.

FHSU Athletics

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Fort Hays State’s Maurizio Costa scored two goals on Sunday to up his season count to three in a 2-0 shutout over Truman. The 14th-ranked Tigers improved to 2-0 overall on the season with the win.

Costa put the Tigers on the board early by scoring on an Auston Clifton shot that rebounded off the Truman goalkeeper. Clifton picked up the assist for his deflected shot that Costa put away, giving the Tigers a 1-0 advantage in the eighth minute. In the 55th minute, Costa struck again, this time on a pass to the top of the box by Mauricio Castorino to give the Tigers a two-goal cushion.

The Tiger defense and goalkeeper Michael Yantz would make that score stand. FHSU faced nine shots from Truman and Yantz saved two, moving to 2-0 on the year. FHSU fired 14 shots in the game.

FHSU hits the road again next week for a pair of matches in Colorado. The Tigers face UC-Colorado Springs on Friday, Sept. 11, then CSU-Pueblo on Sunday, Sept. 13.

FHSU Athletics

HAYS, Kan. – Late game goals are starting to become a pattern here in the early season for the FHSU women’s soccer team. Unfortunately on Sunday, FHSU was on the short end in a 1-0 loss to Minot State at FHSU Soccer Stadium. The Tigers moved to 1-1 overall on the season, while Minot State improved to 2-0.

In the 83rd minute Minot State’s Ninfa Ramirez broke away from the FHSU defense and beat FHSU keeper Abbie Flax in the bottom right corner of the net for the game’s only goal. Flax recorded four saves on the day. Neither team took very many shots in the game, just nine for Minot State and six for FHSU. Jordan Hester was the only Tiger to get more than one shot off in the game.

Next up, the Tigers travel to Minnesota to take on Winona State on Thursday, September 10 at 7pm.

Fort Hays State Volleyball fell twice on Saturday (Sept. 5) at the Wildcat Open in Marquette, Mich., hosted by Northern Michigan University. After a win in the season opener on Friday, the Tigers have now dropped three straight and sit at 1-3 overall.

Upper Iowa 3, Fort Hays State 0

Fort Hays State fell by just two points in the opening set against Upper Iowa, but could not recover in a straight set loss. Upper Iowa took the match by scores of 26-24, 25-22, and 25-19.

The Tigers fell behind 5-0 in the first set before slowly crawling back. With Upper Iowa leading 13-9, the Tigers went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. Crystal Whitten had a pair of kills and Morgan McKean had a service ace in the run, coupled with three hitting errors by UIU. FHSU went on to lead by three twice at 19-16 and 20-17 on kills by Rebekah Spainhour, then led 23-20 after a kill from Whitten. But the Peacocks stormed right back with a pair of kills and a hitting error by the Tigers to tie the set 23-23. The Peacocks eventually came up with the final two points on a kill and a Tiger attacking error to win 26-24.

FHSU never led the rest of the match, trailing by as many as seven in the second set and nine in the third set. The Tigers hit less than .100 in the first and third sets and finished the match at .127. Upper Iowa was under .200 in the first and third sets, but hit a strong .316 in the second set. The Peacocks hit .210 overall for the match.

Mallory Flagor led the Tigers with 11 kills, while Whitten added 10. Hannah Wagy had 26 assists and Azlyn Cassaday and Whitten tied with a team-high 12 digs.

Northern Michigan 3, Fort Hays State 2

Fort Hays State let the opportunity to finish with a weekend split slip through their hands in the second match on Saturday. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in their match with tournament host Northern Michigan, only to see the home team rally for three straight sets. Northern Michigan took the match 23-25, 20-25, 25-14, 25-21, 15-8.

The Tigers held on for the first set win. FHSU led 24-20 before seeing NMU rally for three straight points, but Rebekah Spainhour ended the home team’s hopes with a kill. In the second set FHSU rallied for eight straight points after trailing 15-12 to take a 20-15 lead. FHSU cruised to closing out the set on consecutive kills by Spainhour and Azlyn Cassaday.

Northern Michigan started its comeback by getting ahead of FHSU by five points early in the third, then methodically pulled away for an 11-point win. FHSU was in good shape leading by four at 10-6 in the fourth before NMU took nine of the next 15 points to tie the set 15-15. FHSU led 20-18, then NMU rallied for five straight points to take a 23-20 lead. The Wildcats took two of the final three points to win by four.

The Wildcats used the momentum to take command early with a 5-1 lead in the decisive set and eventually led 10-2 before closing the Tigers out by seven.

Kayla Chosa had 14 of her game-high 21 kills over the final three sets for Northern Michigan. With just three errors, she hit a scorching .514 in the match.

Rebekah Spainhour had a big match for the Tigers, putting down 17 kills with just four errors to hit .394. Crystal Whiten added 11 kills, but with nine errors, hit just .053. Hannah Wagy produced 39 assists and Mallory Flagor had a team-high 13 digs followed by Taylor Denney with 12.

Northern Michigan hit .221 for the match, while the Tigers hit .148.

The Tigers return to action next week in Oklahoma at the Tiger/Savage Storm Classic, held in both Durant and Ada, Okla. The Tigers will be in Durant for their first two matches on Friday(Sept. 11) and then Ada for their final two matches on Saturday(Sept. 12).