KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State middle hitter Rebekah Spainhour and setter Hannah Wagy were named the MIAA Volleyball Athletes of the Week on Monday. Spainhour was named the Hitter of the Week, while Wagy earned Specialist of the Week honors.

Spainhour  helped the Tigers to a 2-1 record last week (2-0 in MIAA play), beating No. 6 Central Missouri for just the second time in program history on Friday then Lindenwood on Saturday. The senior let the team with a .405 attack percentage for the week, picking up 35 kills to just five errors. Spainhour led the team with 14 total blocks, five of which were solo swats. The middle hitter is the only student-athlete in the MIAA ranked in the top four in both attack percentage and blocks per set. For the season, she is hitting .360, averaging 3.27 kills and 1.03 blocks per set.

Wagy orchestrated the Tiger offense in going 2-0 in MIAA play, while producing a double-double of 39 assists and 10 digs in the upset of No. 6 ranked Central Missouri. The setter tossed up an average of 11.1 assists per set over three matches, adding 11 kills, 25 digs and five blocks (one solo). The senior continues to lead the conference in both total assists and assists per set. This is the second time this year Wagy has earned the Specialist of the Week honor.

FHSU Sports Information
WACO, Texas – Fort Hays State remains among the teams receiving votes in the AFCA Division II Top 25 Poll, released on Monday (Oct. 3). The Tigers are now the fourth-highest receiving votes team, gaining seven votes in the poll this week.

The MIAA boasts two top 25 teams and three among the receiving votes section. Northwest Missouri State continues its reign as the No. 1 team in the nation, while Emporia State moved up five spots to No. 18. Pittsburg State is the highest receiving votes team from the MIAA, with the Tigers right behind. FHSU travels to Pittsburg State this week. Central Missouri fell from the top 25 and sits behind the Tigers in the receiving votes section.

Fort Hays State looks for its second straight win in Pittsburg. The Tigers shocked a then No. 8 ranked Gorilla team in Pittsburg by a score of 7-6. The last time FHSU won consecutive games in Pittsburg was in 1970 and 1972. The Gorillas won last year’s meeting in Hays by a score of 31-24.

Below is the AFCA Division II Top 25 Poll for October 3, 2016.

Rank School (1st votes) Record Pts. Prev.
1. Northwest Missouri St. (30) 5-0 750 1
2. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 5-0 717 2
3. Shepherd (W.Va.) 4-0 684 4
4. Texas A&M-Commerce 4-0 655 6
5. Henderson St. (Ark.) 5-0 623 7
6. Indiana (Pa.) 4-0 574 8
7. Midwestern St. (Texas) 4-0 564 10
8. Tuskegee (Ala.) 5-0 528 11
9. Sioux Falls (S.D.) 5-0 474 12
10. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 5-0 436 14
11. North Alabama 3-1 421 18
12. West Georgia 4-1 387 3
13. Colorado Mesa 5-0 380 17
14. Ferris St. (Mich.) 4-1 352 13
15. California (Pa.) 4-0 315 24
16. Harding (Ark.) 5-0 312 20
17. Ashland (Ohio) 4-1 305 5
18. Emporia St. (Kan.) 4-1 208 23
19. Slippery Rock (Pa.) 4-1 185 9
20. Southwest Baptist (Mo.) 5-0 148 NR
21. LIU-Post (N.Y.) 5-0 134 NR
22. Assumption (Mass.) 4-1 94 15
23. Florida Tech 4-1 90 16
24. North Carolina-Pembroke 4-1 81 21
25t. Bemidji St. (Minn.) 4-1 73 NR
25t. Valdosta St. (Ga.) 3-1 73 NR

Others Receiving Votes: Wayne St. (Mich.), 64; Minnesota-Duluth, 55; Pittsburg St. (Kan.), 39; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 8; Central Missouri, 5; Notre Dame (Ohio), 5; Bloomsburg (Pa.), 4; Newberry (S.C.), 4; Southern Arkansas, 2; Colorado School of Mines, 1.

FHSU Sports Information
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Fort Hays State fell by a score of 1-0 on Sunday (Oct. 2) at No. 2 ranked Central Missouri. The Tigers held the Jennies scoreless for the first 71 minutes of the game, but UCM finally broke through late to run its win streak to nine matches. UCM is now 9-0, while FHSU moved to 6-3-1 overall.

The Tigers fought hard to keep the Jennies off the board, but the process became even more difficult after Regan Lawler was issued a red card in the 59th minute. FHSU had to play with just 10 the remainder of the match and held the Jennies scoreless for about 12 minutes with the disadvantage. However, Jada Scott broke the scoreless tie in the 72nd minute for UCM.

The Jennies have yet to allow a goal this year, posting shutouts in all nine of their matches so far. This was the fourth 1-0 win for UCM this year. Ana Dilkes moved to 9-0 on the season in goal.

Abbie Flax fought off seven shots for the Tigers despite surrendering one goal. The Jennies were able to get off 15 shots total, compared to just five for FHSU. Only two of FHSU’s shots were on goal. Flax moved to 5-3-1 on the season.

The Tigers return home for their next two matches, facing Northwest Missouri State on Friday (Oct. 7) at 8 pm and then Missouri Western on Sunday (Oct. 9) at 11 am.

FHSU Sports Information
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Fort Hays State improved to 6-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA with a dominating 4-1 win at Northeastern State on Sunday (Oct. 2). The 17th-ranked Tigers scored three first half goals and added another after the break, giving them 13 goals over the last three matches (average of 4.33). FHSU extended its win streak to four matches.

The Tigers did not take long to get on the board as Derick Gonzalez scored his team-leading fifth goal in at the 1:30 mark. The RiverHawks responded with a goal to level the score 1-1 at 11:36, but the Tigers took the lead back for good at the 27:21 mark when Maurizio Costa scored his third goal of the season off a pass from Drew Wilson. Arsenio Chamorro added a penalty kick goal in the 38th minute to push the lead to 3-1 by halftime. Michael Cole capped the scoring for FHSU in the 56th minute with his second goal of the season.

The Tigers outshot the RiverHawks 20-6 for the match. The Tigers put 13 of their shots on goal, forcing NSU to make nine saves between goalkeepers Ryan Davis and Jackson Biles. Davis allowed all four goals before being lifted in the 57th minute. Michael Yantz made four saves for FHSU, running his record to 4-2-1 overall.

The Tigers finally return home after five straight road matches. They host Upper Iowa on Friday (Oct. 7) at 5:30 pm, then host Lindenwood on Sunday (Oct. 9) at 2 pm in another pair of MIAA matches.

HAYS, Kan. – A homecoming weekend full of Fort Hays State victories continued Saturday evening with a dominating performance from the Tiger volleyball team. FHSU cruised to a three-set victory over Lindenwood (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) to pick up its second-straight conference victory. The Tigers improved to 15-3 on the season and 3-2 in MIAA play, while the Lady Lions move to 5-9 overall and 1-3 in the league.

With the victory, Fort Hays State leveled the all-time series with Lindenwood at four wins apiece.

The Tigers hit an effective .269 for the match, picking up 45 kills and making just 13 attack errors. Nine FHSU blocks aided in limiting the Lady Lions to a .165 attack percentage.

The Lady Lions scored three quick points to take an early lead in the first set, but the Tigers stormed back to take the lead for good at 7-6 after a strong kill from Sydney Dixon on a pass from Chandler Hillman. A solo block from Rebekah Spainhour gave the Tigers a five-point lead, 18-13, and forced Lindenwood to use a timeout. The Lady Lions closed within two after breaking the huddle, but an authoritative kill from Crystal Whitten stole the momentum right back for the Tigers. Back-to-back kills from Megan Anderson gave FHSU its largest lead of the set at 23-17. After the Lady Lions held off one set point, Dixon sealed the victory with a dig and kill on a pass from Hannah Wagy.

The second set opened as a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than two until a Lindenwood attack error gave the home team a 12-9 advantage. Spainhour followed with consecutive kills, sparking a five-point Tiger run to extend a six-point lead. The visitors would not go down quietly a second time, storming back with a 7-0 run to take the lead by one. The Tigers regrouped to take the set by scoring 10 of the final 13 points in the frame. Whitten handed FHSU a set point opportunity with a kill before grabbing the victory with a booming swing of her left arm.

Lindenwood came out of the intermission rejuvenated, leading for much of the third set. Consecutive attack errors by the Lady Lions gave FHSU its first lead of the set, 16-14, forcing a timeout by the visitors. LU tied the score on two more occasions, but a four-point Tiger run highlighted by two Whitten kills put the finish line in sight for Kurt Kohler’s squad. With the Tigers holding a 22-20 lead, a kill from Whitten returned serve to the home team. Callie Christensen and Anderson teamed up for back-to-back blocks to bring the evening to a close, clinching the 25-20 set victory.

Whitten recorded match-highs in both kills (17) and digs (20), picking up her 10th double-double this season. Spainhour continued her impressive senior season, posting 13 kills to just two errors for a .367 hitting percentage while leaping for five blocks (two solo). Wagy tossed up an assist on 38 of the 45 kills in the match, adding two kills, eight digs and one block assist. Libero Kailey Klibbe totaled 14 digs and two assists while Hillman contributed 11 digs off the bench. Christensen made four blocks on the night (one solo) with Anderson chipping in three blocks and six kills.

The Tigers will return to action for a rematch with No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. FHSU took a set against the nationally-ranked Lopers earlier this season in Kearney, Neb., but the home team fought back to take a 3-1 victory. UNK remains unbeaten in 2016, entering Tuesday’s contest with a 19-0 record.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State scored on four straight possessions in the first half, building a 24-6 halftime lead and beat the Lindenwood Lions 37-6 in front of 4,226 at Lewis Field Saturday afternoon. It’s the third straight win for the Tigers as they start 4-1 for the second straight year.

Chris Brown Postgame Press Conference

Rashad Dunnigan Postgame Interview

Charles Tigner Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

Charles Tigner rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown and hauled in three passes for 96 yards and a score to lead the Tiger offense that racked up a season high 477 yards.

Quarterback Jacob Mezera had his best game of the season, completing 27 of 35 passes for 292 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Tiger defense was solid for a second straight week, holding the Lions to 277 yards with seven sacks and an interception.

Lindenwood’s only score came on an 80-yard pass to DeSean Warren in the first quarter. The Lions (1-4) were held to four total yards in the second quarter and switched to freshman quarterback Alex Faddoul in the second half.