Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference
November 11, 2014

Head Coach Chris Brown

Bandit Back Nathan Lindsey

Linebacker Justin McPhail

Wide Receiver Ed Williams

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State saw its recent woes continue on Tuesday evening, dropping a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-18) match to No. 13 Washburn in Topeka, Kan.

The Tigers (13-17, 7-14 MIAA) have now lost four consecutive matches, and will look for a win in the season finale later this week to end the 2014 campaign with a win. FHSU hit just .129 as a team in Tuesday’s matchup, unable to compete with the Ichabods’ .330 hitting percentage.

Close midway through the first (trailing 13-10), FHSU allowed a 6-0 run by WU that put the set out of reach. The Tigers dropped the game, 25-15.

In the second, FHSU again hung tough for the early part – trailing by three (10-7) before another Ichabod run (five unanswered) gave the home team a seven point lead (14-7). The Tigers never regained their poise, falling two games behind in the match with a 25-14 set defeat.

Out of the break, WU jumped to a 5-1 lead and never looked back, slowly stretching the lead to nine (18-9) before taking the set, 25-18.

Rebekah Spainhour and Sara Hewson led the Tigers’ offense, totaling seven kills each. At the net, Callie Christensen’s three blocks was a team-high, while Taylor Mares had two blocks to go with five kills.

Setters Reagan Vanderplas and Kristin Conor each had 14 assists, while Keanu Bradley and Hewson each had nine digs (team-best marks).

FHSU closes out the season on Saturday (Nov. 15) at Emporia State. Game time is 3 p.m.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State Men’s Soccer received its third consecutive berth into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Central Regional for 2014. The Tigers will play Northeastern State, the top seed, on either Nov. 22 or 23 in Tahlequah, Okla.

Both FHSU and NSU are already in the round of 16 as the Central Region receives only two selections to the tournament. The teams will meet in what is virtually a regional final before meeting the team that comes to the Elite Eight from the Midwest Regional in the Super Region 3 Final.

The Tigers enter the NCAA Tournament at 11-5-3 overall and is 0-1-1 versus the RiverHawks this season. FHSU dropped a 2-1 contest on the road in Sept., before playing to a 1-1 draw at FHSU Soccer Stadium on Oct. 26. Fort Hays State will look to reverse its recent fortune, falling 1-0 in the season finale to West Texas A&M before dropping a MIAA Tournament Semifinal matchup to Lindenwood, 1-0.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State’s Nathan Lindsey was named the Beyond Sports Network National Division II Athlete of the Week on Monday, November 10 for his efforts in the 49-41 win over Missouri Southern this past weekend. Lindsey had a great all-around game on both defense and special teams.

Lindsey recorded five tackles, a sack, two fumble recoveries, and one interception on defense, and scored two touchdowns in the game, one on defense and one on special teams. His first touchdown was on a 49-yard fumble recovery in the second quarter to push Fort Hays State’s lead to 21-7 at the time. His second touchdown was a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 5:48 to play in the game which gave the Tigers breathing room for a 42-28 lead. His second fumble recovery was on Missouri Southern’s first drive of the fourth quarter at the FHSU 14-yard line, a drive that could have potentially tied the game with the score at 28-21 in favor of FHSU. His interception stopped Missouri Southern’s first drive of the second half at the FHSU 22-yard line.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

Nathan Lindsey had a career day on senior day, recovering two fumbles, intercepting a pass and returning a kickoff in Fort Hays State’s 49-41 win over Missouri Southern in front of 3,234 at Lewis Field. The victory improves the Tigers to 6-4, securing back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003 and 2004. The Lions drop their second straight and fall to 4-6.

Coach Chris Brown Postgame Interview

Ed Williams / Nathan Lindsey Postgame Interview

Quinten Darby’s one-yard touchdown run gave FHSU the lead following an Alex Schmidtberger interception on MSSU’s first possession. Ed Smith’s six-yard TD run put the Tigers up 14-7. Nathan Lindsey then returned a fumble 49 yards for a score following a Missouri Southern pass completion for a 21-7 halftime lead.

The Tigers went up 28-7, scoring on a Treveon Albert three-yard run on their first possession of the third quarter. Southern responded with two straight scores to pull withing 28-21. Following Nathan Lindsey’s second fumble recovery, Albert connected with Ed Williams on an 86-yard scoring strike to push the lead to two touchdowns.

Game Highlights

After Southern closed the gap to seven with 6:00 to play, Lindsey returned the kickoff 92 yards to push the margin back to two touchdowns. Kenneth Iheme scored on a one-yard run late. Southern got a touchdown on the final play for the final margin.

FHSU gained a season-high 419 yards including 234 on the ground. Ed Smith led the rushing attack with 100 yards. Treveon Albert added 82 and Kenneth Iheme 51.

Albert completed 8 of 11 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown and an interception.

Defensively, Justin McPhail recorded 16 tackles.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State Women’s Soccer saw its MIAA Tournament run come to an end on Friday (Nov. 8) at the hands of Southwest Baptist.  Seeded third in the tournament, the Tigers fell, 1-0, to the second-seeded Bearcats in the MIAA Semifinals.

The Tigers’ seven-match winning streak came to an end as well in the game, as FHSU (13-5-2) launched just four shots all night against a stout SBU defense.  The Tigers’ one shot on goal came from Kylee Loneker, who took aim midway through the first period from 25 yards out.

SBU grabbed the lead early, as Taylor Schmidt scored an unassisted goal just 7:04 into the match.  Schmidt’s goal originally looked to be a cross pass from the right corner of the box, but it snuck past Tigers’ goalkeeper Kristin Thompson into the upper left corner of the net.

That proved to be all the Bearcats needed as neither team scored the rest of the way, sealing the shutout.  It was just the third time FHSU has been held scoreless all season.

Loneker had two shots for FHSU, with Kelsey Steffens and Mallory Diederich splitting the other two team shots.

Thompson picked up a season-high 12 saves for the year, keeping the Tigers within striking distance while facing 33 total shots (13 on goal).

FHSU will now await the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m. to determine its NCAA Tournament status.  The Tigers were seventh in all three NCAA Central Region Rankings leading up to the final rankings (released Monday) this season.  Six teams advance to the NCAA Tournament.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State had two set-point opportunities in the fourth set to possibly force a final set, but Missouri Western held off FHSU both times and eventually won the set 29-27 and the match 3-1 on Friday (Nov. 7) in St. Joseph, Mo. The Tigers held an early 1-0 lead in the match before the Griffons took the next three sets. The Tigers moved to 13-15 overall, 7-12 in the MIAA with the loss.

Fort Hays State jumped out to an early 8-4 advantage in the first set, but the Griffons inched their way back, tying it up at 11-11. The rest of the set was a back-and-forth battle as neither team could gain more than two points of separation all the way to a 23-23 tie. The Tigers pulled out the final two points of the set on a kill by Callie Christensen and then an attack error by the Griffons, posting a 25-23 opening set win.

The Griffons bounced back to build an 8-4 lead in the second set, but the Tigers went on a six-point run to take a 10-8 lead. That was short lived as the Griffons scored three straight to take the lead back, and then the teams battled back and forth to a score of 16-16. A rash of three attack errors and a pair of kills by the Griffons pushed them to a five-point lead. FHSU had a late three-point run to cut the lead back to two at 23-21, but the Griffons closed the set with a pair of kills to tie the match.

The third set saw the Tigers take an early 7-4 advantage, but the Griffons eventually pulled even at 12-12. The teams engaged in another mid-set see-saw battle, eventually pushing the score to 20-20. The Griffons would take four of the next five points, three on kills by Erica Rottinghaus, and closed out the set by a score of 25-22.

The fourth set was tight throughout, as FHSU would find itself on the brink of forcing a fifth and deciding set. The teams traded points to a 7-7 tie, but the Tigers jumped into the lead with a four-point run to make it 11-7. The Tigers looked in good shape with a 17-12 lead, but they surrendered six straight points on four kills and two service aces to allow the Griffons to take an 18-17 lead. The teams battled back and forth once again to a tie at 23-23. The Griffons had match point at 24-23, but a kill by Rebekah Spainhour  forced the win-by-two situation. A block by Christensen and Sara Hewson had the Tigers at set point leading 25-24, but the Griffons came up with a block to tie the set again. FHSU forged back ahead 26-25 on kill by Taylor Mares, but the Griffons answered with a kill once more. A kill by Christensen killed the second match-point opportunity for MWSU to make it 27-27, but Jessie Thorup would put the match away for MWSU with consecutive kills, ending the set at 29-27.

Redshirt-freshman Kaitlin Bradley led a balanced attack by the Tigers with 13 kills, followed by Hewson and Spainhour each with 12. Hewson added 11 digs for a double-double. Reagan Vanderplas had 25 assists, while Kristin Conor added 20. Keanu Bradley led FHSU in digs with 16.

Rottinghaus led Missouri Western with 19 kills, followed by Thorup with 15. Rottinghaus also tied for a team-high 15 digs, recording a double-double. Jordan Chohon had 59 assists and 12 digs for a double-double.

The Tigers complete the weekend road trip by visiting Northwest Missouri State on Saturday at 2 pm.

FHSU Athletics

Second-seeded Fort Hays State saw its MIAA Tournament Championship hopes come to an end in the semifinals on Thursday (Nov. 6), dropping a 2-0 contest to third-seeded Lindenwood in Olathe, Kan.

The Tigers were active offensively, firing 12 shots throughout the contest, including seven in the first half, but couldn’t find the net and were shutout for just the fourth time this season. Defensively, FHSU limited LWU to one shot in the first half, and three shots on goal in the second.

Early on, the Tigers’ offense looked primed for a big game, firing five shots in the opening five minutes, including a header from David Lucio that nearly scored, only to be tipped past the crossbar by an extended LWU goalkeeper, Andrew Hamerlinck.  Soon after,Mauricio Castorino fired two shots from inside the box, but again Hamerlinck was there for both saves.

In the 23rd minute, LWU’s Alfredo Paez broke the scoreless tie with a header from inside the box, which skirted past Kent Freund for a goal.  Steven Hutchinson assisted on the score.

Michael Cole nearly tied it for FHSU at 58:35 after beating Hamerlinck to a ball near the top of the box, and while battling with a Lion defender, fired a shot that sailed just above the crossbar, keeping the deficit at one.

Soon after, though, LWU answered again.  On a breakaway, Freund played Paez’s shot well, but the deflected towards the top of the box was rebounded by Stefan Andric, who found an open net for the score.

Down 2-0, the Tigers couldn’t recover in the final 30 minutes of regulation, ending the postseason run early.

Castorino led the Tigers with three shots on the night. Lucio and Cole each had two shots.

In goal, Freund played all 90 minutes with two saves, both of which came in the second period.

FHSU will now await the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. to determine its NCAA Tournament status.

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State men’s soccer remains No. 2 in the last set of Central Region Rankings released by the NCAA on November 5. Following the MIAA Tournament this weekend in Olathe, Kan., two teams from the Central Region will be selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are looking for their third-consecutive trip to the tournament.

Depite going 0-1-1 in the final week of the regular season, the Tigers still have a firm grip on the No. 2 ranking in the region, behind Northeastern State. The RiverHawks sit atop the rankings with a record of 14-3-1, while the Tigers enter postseason play at 11-4-3. There is a two-game gap in the loss column between Fort Hays State and the No. 3 ranked team, Lindenwood, which sits at 9-6-3 overall. Fort Hays State and Lindenwood match-up in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament on Thursday (Nov. 6) at 4 pm. Fort Hays State went 2-0 against Lindenwood in the regular season with an 8-0 win at home and a 2-1 win in overtime on the road.

No automatic bid is given to the MIAA Tournament champion, so the Tigers look to solidify their spot in the national tournament this weekend in Olathe, Kan. The regional ranking formula is not released to the public, so how wide the gap between Fort Hays State and Lindenwood is unknown. Therefore the Tigers still need a win in the semifinal of the conference tournament to put any doubt out of mind.

The Central Region will serve as host for the Super Regional this year, which consists of the round of 16 and the national quarterfinals. Right now, Northeastern State is in the driver’s seat to host the Super Region for the second time in three years, which will begin two weeks from now. The two teams selected from the Central Region to compete in the NCAA Tournament go directly to the Round of 16 to play each other in essentially what is called the regional final, bypassing the first two rounds of the tournament which occur next week.

Below are the regional rankings for November 5.

CENTRAL Team Overall In-Region
1 Northeastern State 14-3-1 14-3-1
2 Fort Hays State 11-4-3 11-4-3
3 Lindenwood (Mo.) 9-6-3 9-6-3
4 Upper Iowa 8-5-2 8-5-1