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.