Fort Hays State University used a balanced offensive attack and stifling defense to defeat Newman University, 3-0 on Sunday evening in Hays, Kan.

FHSU (5-1, 1-0 MIAA) pushed its win streak to five games with a 14-shot effort against NU (0-4-1).

Diego Cabral scored for the second game in a row, hitting a game-winner in Friday and Sunday’s contests. Ricardo Yeverino and Austin Clifton had FHSU’s other goals for the night.

Jason Babyak continued his impressive play in goal for the Tigers, earning his fifth win (and fourth shutout) of the 2013 season.

FHSU’s defense also played exceptionally strong in the match, limiting the Jets to just five total shots; one in the first half.

The Tigers had nine shots in the first half, and while four were on goal, Cabral’s was the lone attack to find the net.  At the start of the 41st minute, Cabral drew a foul from NU just outside upper right corner of the goalie box, and took the free kick past a line of Jet defenders, into the upper left corner of the goal.

In the second half, FHSU would add two more goals, in a span of just under three minutes.  At 56:58, Yeverino took a pass from David Lucio in the goalie box and scored, while Clifton notched his second goal of the season in the 60th minute.  Cabral’s corner kick from the right side found Drew Wilson on the left side of the net, and Wilson’s pass to Clifton set up a goal from the middle of the box.

FHSU will hit the road next week to begin a four-game road trip of conference matches, starting in Tahlequah, Okla., on Thursday, Sept. 26 for a 7 p.m. matchup against Northeastern State.

— FHSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State scored on five of their first six possessions, racing out to a 42-7 halftime lead and beat the Fort Hays State Tigers 49-14 in front of 3,523 at Lewis Field Saturday night. It’s the Bearcats have now won 10-straight over the Tigers and improve to 3-0 and 2-0 in the MIAA. FHSU drops to 0-3 overall and in the MIAA.

Chris Brown Postgame Press Conference

Shane Smith / Andre Smith Postgame Interviews

Game Highlights

After forcing Northwest to punt on their first possession, Northwest scored on their next five possessions. Running back Billy Creason scored three rushing touchdowns and quarterback Trevor Adams threw one touchdown pass and backup Brady Bolles threw two.

The Tigers scored on a four yard touchdown run from quarterback Treveon Albert to make the score 21-7. Edward Smith added a 10 yard run at 8:34 of the third quarter.

Albert completed 14 of 22 passes for 158 yards with no interceptions. Running back Andre Smith rushed for 107 yards on 16 carries as the Tigers tallied a season-high 365 yards of total offense.

Fort Hays State University dropped its eighth straight game of the season on Saturday, falling 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 26-24) to Pittsburg State at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

FHSU (0-8, 0-3 MIAA) led in every set, but couldn’t put PSU (4-7, 1-2 MIAA) away in the match.

Makenzie Weinman dug out 16 attacks from PSU, while Jenna Ulrich had four blocks for the FHSU defense.  On offense, Mallory Flagor led the team with eight kills, making it 16 kills for the outside hitter in two nights.  Ulrich, who hit .278, and Madison Schwartz (.333 hitting percentage), had seven kills for the Tigers.

Down 9-6 in the first set, FHSU would eventually rally to within one (12-12), and then tie the match at 15-all.  From there, the teams traded points until 21-21, when two kills PSU kills and two FHSU errors would give the Gorillas’ the set, 25-22.

In the second frame, the Tigers jumped out to four point lead (5-1), and remained in control until they led, 10-6.  PSU, though, would run off four straight to tie the match.  With the score at 13-13, PSU used four FHSU errors on a 5-0 run to jump ahead, 18-13.  FHSU would score just twice more in the set, and fall, 25-13.

After intermission, FHSU again showed life on offense, as kills by Schwartz, Rebekah Spainhour and Taylor Mares would propel the team into a 11-6 lead.  They then held a three-point advantage, 13-10, before four unanswered points by PSU had FHSU trailing, 14-13. Sara Hewwon’s kill set up a set point for the Tigers (24-23), but FHSU couldn’t get the decisive point, and in a Win-by-Two situation, the Gorillas would close out the match, 26-24.

The Tigers travel to St. Joseph, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against Missouri Western.

— FHSU Sports Information —

The Tiger women’s soccer team continued its recent road woes, dropping a 2-1 contest at Southwest Baptist on Saturday morning. The Tigers drop to 2-5 while SBU now sits at 4-1-1.

Hailey Davey had FHSU’s lone goal, breaking away in the sixth minute and scoring just 5:42 into the game.

SBU, though, would answer back with two first half goals of its own.  Jayme Braun took a shot across the box just before the 20 minute mark, and Kate Jamison would score soon after, using a corner kick from Brittany Marino to help the Bearcats take the lead.

The teams would both pick up their offensive production in the second frame, as FHSU took six shots and SBU managed 11 – but neither squad would find the net.

FHSU returns to familiar territory next week for a two-game home stand, beginning with Bethany College on Sept. 24.  The Tigers will then face Missouri Southern in a conference matchup on Sept. 27.  Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.

— FHSU Sports Information —

Diego Cabral’s late heroics helped push Fort Hays State University’s win streak to four with a 2-1 double overtime victory over Southern Nazarene on Friday night in Hays, Kan.

With less than two minutes to go in the final extra period, Cabral retrieved a deflected shot off the crossbar and nailed the game-winner into the lower right of the net for the Tigers.

FHSU (4-1, 1-0 MIAA) took 27 shots in the match, while SNU (1-4, 0-1 MIAA) managed nine against the Tiger defense.

Austin Clifton had FHSU’s other goal in the contest, which was assisted by Cabral.

Jaosn Babyak improved to 4-0 in goal for the Tigers, as he saved two shots in the game.

The first half saw the Tigers offense put five shots on goal, including a header by Perry Dicker at 40:27 that just missed sneaking by SNU’s Tyler Wythe.

Out of intermission, FHSU fired another three shots in the first 10 minutes, as it continued to pressure the Crimson Storm defense.

In the 74th minute, the Tigers finally broke through as Clifton took Cabral’s pass across the net, into the lower corner for the score.

SNU, though, fired back in the final minute, as Javier Caballeros took a shot that hit the cross bar, and Blake Rodgers headed the deflection into the net, tying it at 1-1 and sending the match to overtime.

Needing an answer, FHSU would rise to the challenge in the second overtime, using the extra time for Cabral’s magic.

The Tigers will host Newman University on Sunday at 6 p.m., at the FHSU Soccer Stadium.

— FHSU Sports Information —

Fort Hays State could not stop Central Oklahoma from extending its season-opening win streak to 10 matches in a 3-1 loss at Gross Memorial Coliseum on Friday evening (Sept. 20). Central Oklahoma is now 10-0, 2-0 in the MIAA, while Fort Hays State dropped to 0-7 overall, 0-2 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State trailed by at least seven in all three of the sets it lost, finding it too hard to recover from large deficits. In the first set, FHSU trailed by nine before rallying back to lose by three. They used the late momentum to take the second set 25-20.

The third set was tight up until a 14-14 tie, then UCO went on a 6-0 run to take control. The Tigers were also even with the Bronchos at 8-8 in the fourth set and allowed another 6-0 run to give UCO control.

Taylor Mares led Fort Hays State with 12 kills and hit .300 in the match on 30 swings, making just three errors. Jenna Ulrich added eight kills and six blocks, while Mallory Flagor added eight kills and four blocks. Libby Ary led the way in assists with 22 and Makenzie Wienman recorded 25 digs.

UCO had three players reach double figures in kills, Juliette Smith and Allison Barr each with 13 and Barbara Jackson with 12. Taylyn Schwartz had 47 assists for UCO and Tate Hardaker added 24 digs.

Fort Hays State looks to snap its early season winning drought when it hosts Pittsburg State on Saturday at 2 pm.

— FHSU Sports Information —

The Tiger tennis team shutout Kansas Wesleyan in the home opener on Wednesday at the FHSU Tennis Courts in Hays. The Tigers rolled to a 9-0 win by not dropping a set.

Only six matches were contested on the day. Kansas Wesleyan conceded the No. 3 doubles and No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches to Fort Hays State.

The Tigers blitzed through doubles play as Camille Caron-Bedard and Brittney Ricci teamed at the No. 1 position to blank Zuaznabar and Rodriguez, 8-0. Michelle Miller and McKenzie Haynes had little trouble with Eastwood and Cook at No. 2, winning 8-2.

The Tigers allowed two or less points in three of the four singles matches. Caron-Bedard won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 over Eastwood. Ricci won at No. 2 6-0, 6-1 over Zuaznabar. At No. 4, Reinette Strydom defeated Cook 6-1, 6-1. Michelle Miller battled through a tough first set at No. 3, then rolled in the second set with a 6-4, 6-0 result over Rodriguez.

The Tigers evened their overall record on the season at 2-2 with the win. The team returns to action on September 26 against Hastings College.

Ricci and Caron-Bedard will represent FHSU at the ITA Fall Regional, hosted by Southwest Baptist, in Springfield, Mo. this coming weekend. Both players are scheduled to participate in singles and doubles play.

— FHSU Sports Information — 

Chris Brown Weekly Press Conference Segment 1

Chris Brown Weekly Press Conference Segment 2

The early season struggles continued for Fort Hays State University volleyball on Tuesday night, as the Tigers dropped a 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-16) contest to No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney on the road.

FHSU (0-6, 0-1 MIAA) had 18 attack errors and a .067 hitting percentage in the match, dooming them against a Lopers’ (9-1, 1-0 MIAA) team that hit .351.

While the attack errors played a part in the match, FHSU struggled to combat a forceful offensive showing from UNK, particularly by Ashley Leitner (11 kills, .611 hitting percentage).

Jenna Ulrich hit .417 with six kills and two blocks for the Tigers, followed closely in kills by Madison Schwartz’s five. Libby Ary’s 12 assists led the team, while Kelsey Broadwell added 10 of her own.

Defensively, Schwartz and Flagor teamed with Ulrich on separate block assists, and Weinman’s 10 digs were a team-high.

In the first set, with the score tied 9-9, UNK used a kill by Ellie Pesavento to take a one-point lead, and would not relinquish it the remainder of the game, though a Spainhour kill would put the Tigers back in the mix, down 11-10.  From there, however, UNK would use two separate 3-0 and 4-0 runs to pull ahead, 20-14.  Still, the Tigers would not go away, clawing their way back to a four-point deficit, 22-18.  The Lopers, though, took advantage of an FHSU service error and two kills by Leitner to close out the set.

FHSU took a 1-0 lead in the second set, but would not score again until a UNK service error stopped a nine-point rally for the Lopers at 9-2.  At that point, UNK rattled off another six unanswered points to put the score at 15-3, and FHSU would be outscored 10-5 over the remainder of the set, dropping behind two games with a 25-8 defeat.

After intermission, UNK jumped out to a 4-0 lead, though FHSU would pull within two on two different occasions:  7-5 and 8-6.  That, however, would be the closest the Tigers would come in the set, as the Lopers started a 9-1 run, including separate streaks of five and four unanswered points.  With the score sitting at 17-8, UNK scored another quick four points, only to be answered by a 5-0 run by the Tigers that included a kill by Haley Corkill.  FHSU, though, could not pull off the comeback, and lost the set, 25-16.

The Tigers will play their home opener on Friday, Sept. 20, in a 6 p.m. game with Central Oklahoma.  The home stand continues on Saturday, when Pittsburg State travels to Gross Memorial Coliseum for a 2 p.m. matchup.

— FHSU Sports Information — 

The Fort Hays State women’s golf team finished 10th at the Northeastern State Classic in Catoosa, Okla. at Cherokee Hills Golf Course. The Tigers shot a two-round total of 730 at the par-70 venue.

Samantha Hobson led Fort Hays State with back-to-back rounds of 87. Her 174 tied for 34th. Natalie Bethel tied for 38th with rounds of 87 and 89. Megan DeWerff, who led the Tigers on day one with an 86, shot 99 on the second day. Quillen Eichhorn backed up a first day 99 with a 96. Kaycee Beilman also played, shooting rounds of 99 and 105.

Arkansas Tech won the 11-team tournament with a 609. Megan Jeffery of Arkansas Tech, who finished in a three-way tie for first with a 146 total, won the individual playoff.

Fort Hays State returns to action in two weeks at the Nebraska-Kearney Invitational.

— FHSU Sports Information —