Fort Hays State scored two first half goals en route to a 2-0 win over visiting Washburn in non-conference action on Saturday night (Oct. 29) at the FHSU Soccer Stadium in Hays. The win was the home finale for the Tigers in their inaugural season. With the victory, the Tigers upped their record to 6-11-1 on the season.

Fort Hays took the lead less than two minutes into the contest, scoring at 1:56 when Rachel Wiesen received a beautiful pass from Joanne Glynn and sent the shot to the left side of the Washburn goalkeeper.

The Tigers doubled their lead to 2-0 when Joanne Glynn scored her team-high ninth goal of the season. Jamie Babyak sent in a free kick from about midfield that Margaret Meier knocked over to Glynn who scored on the right side of the box.

The second half went scoreless for both teams. In the full 90 minutes, the Tigers outshot the Lady Blues 15-7. FHSU totaled 10 first half shots and five more in the second half. Washburn finished with six in the first and just one in the second 45 minutes.

Kelsey Grey made three saves in the shutout, her fourth of the season and second in the last two games. Her record is 6-11-1 on the season.

The win ends the season for the Tigers as FHSU missed the MIAA Tournament by one point, finishing seventh in the standings. Only the top six teams make the tournament. Emporia State passed the Tigers today by beating Missouri Western and grabbing the final tournament spot.

The Tigers finished their inaugural season with a 6-11-1 record overall and 2-6 in the MIAA.

– FHSU Sports Information –

The Washburn Ichabods jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Tigers touched the ball and go on for a 45-20 win on homecoming in Topeka.

The Tigers answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Chase Leake and a one-yard touchdown run from Anthony Sheppard to pull within 16-14, but the Ichabods answered with a 42-yard touchdown pass to DeJuan Beard to lead 23-14 at the half.

The Tigers failed to score on their first two possessions of the third quarter, turning it over on downs and missing a 27-yard field goal. Washburn responded with two long scoring drives to go up 38-14.

Anthony Sheppard’s 14-yard run made it 38-20 before the Ichabods tack on a late score the final margin.

Washburn finishes with 620 yards of total offense, 354 through the air and 266 on the ground. The Tigers had 330, 148 on the ground and 182 though the air.

Anthony Sheppard completed 18-of-26 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for 64 yards and a two touchdowns. Andre Smith added 78 yards rushing. Chase Leake had five catches for 51 yards and Alex Whitehill a team-high 14 tackles.

The loss drops the Tigers to 3-6 and 2-5 in the MIAA. The Ichabods are 8-1 and 6-1 in the conference.

Coaches Interview:
coachint10-29

Player Interviews:
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Game Highlights:
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The Fort Hays State volleyball team travelled to Kirksville, Mo. on Saturday evening (Oct. 29) to face Truman. After dropping the first set, the Tigers took the second and third sets and came close to getting the victory in the fifth set before a Bulldog rally put the match away.

Truman won the first set 25-21 after hitting an impressive .367 for the set and just committing four hitting errors. Fort Hays State won the second set 27-25 and the third 29-27 to take the lead of the match. Truman quickly answered by downing the Tigers 25-11 in the fourth to set up the decisive set.

In the fifth set, Fort Hays State jumped out to a 7-3 advantage after a kill by Megan Glandon, who had a season-high 14 kills in the match. Also putting up a season high in kills was Yadira Jacquez, who led the team with 18 on 67 attempts. Truman quickly rallied from the deficit by scoring four straight points to tie the score at 7-7 and force FHSU to call a timeout. The teams then traded points until the match was tied at 13-13. A hitting error by Glandon, which was disputed by head coach Kurt Kohler, gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead and led Kohler to call another timeout, but it was not enough to stop the momentum as Truman got an assist block from Emily Briseno and Heather Hargadine to take the set 15-13.

Jacquez and Glandon led the Tigers in kills, and were joined in double figures by Madison Schwartz, who chipped in 10. Fort Hays State stayed in the match despite being outhit by the Bulldogs as well as having fewer kills, blocks and digs. Truman hit significantly better than the Tigers, hitting at .268 compared to .170 for FHSU. Five Tigers reached double figures in digs, led by Tracie Hileman with 22. Jenna Ulrich had another big night at the net, recording six blocks (four solo, two assist) while Kylee Hoagland had five (two solo, three assist).

Truman got a big night from Megan Sharpe and Molly Sinclair, who each had 19 kills. Sharpe hit .516 for the match and had seven blocks, while Sinclair added 14 digs for a double-double. Abby Moser had 27 digs to lead the Bulldogs, who improved to 17-11 on the season and 6-6 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State drops to 15-13 with the loss and 3-10 in MIAA play coming into the final two weeks of the season. The Tigers host their final two home matches of the season next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 4-5) against Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist.

– FHSU Sports Information –

Fort Hays State wrestling enters the 2011-12 season ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II wrestling, according to the preseason poll released by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association today. Mitchell Means ranks No. 2 in the individual rankings for the 149-pound class.
 
Last year’s runner-up St. Cloud State, coming off their best-ever finish, was voted first in the poll, followed by Newberry and Upper Iowa in second and third, respectively. Nebraska-Kearney and Grand Canyon rounded out the top five.
 
FHSU, which finished last season ranked 22, earned 44 points in the poll, behind No. 15 Maryville, which is led by former Nebraska-Omaha head coach Mike Denney in the programs’ first season. The Tigers rank ahead of Limestone, North Carolina-Pembroke, San Francisco State and Shippensburg.

Mitchell Means, an All-American a season ago, ranked second in the 149-pound individual rankings. Nate Herda of Augustana ranks ahead of Means, while Tommy Abbott of Minnesota State, Josh Hensley of Adams Stateand Ethan Swope of Gannon rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively in the 149-pound class.
 
The Black and Gold Scrimmage is Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. with the regular season starting at the Central Missouri Open on Nov. 13 in Warrenburg, Mo.
 
 
Rank                     School (State)                                                          Points                              Last Year’s Finish
  1.                           St. Cloud State (Minn.)                                               153                                                 2nd
  2.                           Newberry (S.C.)                                                           150                                                 6th
  3.                           Upper Iowa                                                                     144                                                 4th
  4.                           Nebraska-Kearney                                                       132                                                 8th
  5.                           Grand Canyon (Ariz.)                                                 130                                                 7th
  6.                           Augustana (S.D.)                                                         124                                                 3rd
  7.                           Central Oklahoma                                                       107                                                 13th
  8.                           Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)                                      94                                                  T-10th
  9.                           Wisconsin-Parkside                                                      90                                                   9th
10.                           Ashland (Ohio)                                                             74                                                   20th
11.                           Mercyhurst (Pa.)                                                         70                                                    25th
12.                           Minnesota State                                                           69                                                    T-10th
13.                           Adams State (Colo.)                                                    63                                                     21st
14.                           Findlay (Ohio)                                                              53                                                     14th
15.                           Maryville (Mo.)                                                            47                                                     NR
16.                           Fort Hays State (Kan.)                                               44                                                     T-22nd
17.                           Limestone (S.C.)                                                           31                                                      27th
18.                           North Carolina-Pembroke                                         28                                                     T-17th
19.                           San Francisco State (Calif.)                                      23                                                     T-17th
20.                           Shippensburg (Pa.)                                                     15                                                      T-22nd
 
Others receiving votes: Central Missouri, Colorado School of Mines, East Stroudsburg (Pa.), Gannon (Pa.), King (Tenn.), Kutztown (Pa.), Mary (N.D.), Northern State (S.D.), Western State (Colo.).
 
149 Pounds
1.  Nate Herda, Augustana (S.D.)
2.  Mitchell Means, Fort Hays State (Kan.)
3.  Tommy Abbott, Minnesota State
4.  Josh Hensley, Adams State (Colo.)
5.  Ethan Swope, Gannon (Pa.)
6.  Deral Brown, Newberry (S.C.)
7.  Nathan Link, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
8.  Ryan Maus, Truman State (Mo.)

– FHSU Sports Information –

The MIAA is holding MIAA Men’s Basketball Media Day Wednesday. Here is FHSU head coach Mark Johnson’s teleconference. The Tigers are picked to finish third in both the coaches and media preseason poll.

Mark Johnson Teleconference
Mark Johnson Media Day

Fort Hays State football coach Chris Brown and selected players met with the media following practice Tuesday to talk about the Tigers 38-21 win at Central Oklahoma and to look ahead to their showdown at No. 12 Washburn this Saturday. Kickoff is at 1pm with the Fort Hays Auto Sales Pregame Show at noon on Tiger Radio Mix-103.

Chris Brown Part 1
Chris Brown Presser1

Chris Brown Part 2
Chris Brown Presser2

Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith Presser

Anthony Sheppard
Anthony Sheppard Presser

Sherod Murdock
Sherod Murdock Presser

Zach Nash
Zach Nash Presser

The Fort Hays State volleyball team travelled to Goodwell, Okla. on Tuesday night (Oct. 25) to face Panhandle State. The Tigers defeated the Lady Aggies in straight sets (25-12, 25-22, 25-19) for the third time this season.
 
Madison Schwartz led the Tigers with 12 kills while Jenna Ulrich had 10. Schwartz, Ulrich and Yadira Jacquez all hit over .390 as the team hit .253 for the match. Jacquez and Tracie Hileman each had 10 digs in the win while Kayla Zoglman had 16 assists.
 
Fort Hays State improves to 14-12 on the season and they will return to MIAA action this weekend with matches at Northwest Missouri State and Truman.

– FHSU Sports Information –

Cindy Benitez has been named the MIAA Soccer Student-Athlete of the Week as selected by a conference SID panel. She is the first women’s soccer player to earn the honor this season.
 
Benitez, a junior from Garden City, Kan., scored two goals and two assists, including the game winning goal, in a 4-0 win over Missouri Western on Saturday. The junior forward played a part in each of the Tiger goals. The six points came in just 55 minutes of action as Benitez played in a reserve role for the first time this season after making starts in her other 13 game appearances. Benitez scored her first goal on a strike just inside the box and added her second on a free kick from 18-yards away. After the strong performance, Benitez now leads the Tigers in points and assists with 18 points and six assists on the season. She adds six goals, which ranks her second on the team.  
 
This is the first MIAA weekly honor earned by Benitez in her career and also the first for the Tigers in their inaugural season of women’s soccer.

Listen to Fort Hays State head women’s basketball coach Tony Hobson during MIAA Virtual Media Day. The Lady Tigers are picked eighth in the media poll and ninth in the coaches rankings.

Tony Hobson Part 1
Tony Hobson Media Day1

Tony Hobson Part 2
Tony Hobson Media Day2

The visiting Buffaloes of West Texas A&M scored midway through the second overtime, downing Fort Hays State, 2-1, on Sunday at the FHSU Soccer Stadium in Hays. The loss snapped the Tigers’ 10-game unbeaten streak and dropped their record to 9-3-2 on the season.

The Tigers took the lead early, scoring in the fourth minute when goalkeeper Kent Freund sent a ball deep and bounced once to forward Ricardo Yeverino, who hit the ball past the goalkeeper for the Tiger 1-0 lead.

The visiting Buffoloes knocked in the equalizer in the 60th minute on a header off a corner kick to tie the game at 1-1. Rodrigo Morin scored the goal for the visitor Buffs.

After 90 minutes of regulation, the game remained tied at 1-1 and went into overtime. The first 10 minute overtime went scoreless before West Texas scored midway through the second overtime to give the Buffaloes the 2-1 win. Thomas Gallene knocked in a rebound for the game winning goal.

Besides the Yeverino goal, the Tigers had a hard time generating any offense, totaling five shots in 105 minutes of action. West Texas totaled 25 shots in the game, including 10 on goal.

Kent Freund made the start in goal for the Tigers, dropping his first game of the season as his record is now 2-1. Freund made eight saves in 105 minutes.

The Tigers travel to Eastern New Mexico on Friday (Oct. 28) for a 5 p.m. game in Portales, N.M.

– FHSU Sports Information –