HAYS – The Hays High boys soccer team ended their three match losing streak with a 7-2 home win over Buhler Thursday afternoon. Ethan Nunnery scored three goals for his second straight hat trick. Nunnery also had an assist. Jacob Maska scored twice while Micheal Reyes and Zach Wagner had one goal each. Zach Wagner had 4 assists and Trey McCrea had one assist.
Conner Staab had five saves in goal.
“It was truly a team effort as the boys made great passes, nice runs and our defense tightened up” said head coach Jim Maska.
The Indians improve to 4-5 on the season. They try for their first Western Athletic Conference win Saturday when they travel to Garden City for a 1 p.m. game.
LARNED – Both the TMP-Marian boys and girls cross country teams placed two in the top 10 at Thursday’s Larned Invitational. The Monarch girls won the team title with 37 points, eight better than second place Kiowa County. The boys finished third with 47 points, five behind second place St. John and eight back of Larned.
Julia Werth paced the Monarch girls with a second place finish (23:32.5) with Emily Schippers finishing eighth (24:31.9).
Mark Loftus was fifth for the boys (18:33.1) with Trevor Pfeifer coming in eighth (18:46.1).
CLEVELAND (AP) – Corey Kluber allowed two runs and struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings, and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Wednesday night, eliminating the reigning World Series champions from the AL Central race.
The Indians, who led Detroit by seven games in the division going into Wednesday, reduced their magic number for clinching the Central to five.
Carlos Santana was 4 for 5 with an RBI single in the eighth. Jose Ramirez drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth with his third double of the game.
Kluber (18-9) matched his career high in wins and is 10-1 in his last 14 starts, strengthening his case to win his second AL Cy Young Award in three years.
Cody Allen allowed Salvador Perez’s leadoff homer in the ninth, but recorded his 28th save in 31 opportunities. Catcher Roberto Perez threw out pinch-runner Terrance Gore trying to steal second for the first out and Allen retired the final two batters.
Ian Kennedy (11-10) allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings and lost for the first time since July 25th.
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State cruised past Kansas Wesleyan in non-conference action Wednesday in Hays by a score of 8-1. FHSU swept the doubles competition and took five out of six singles matches. The Tigers moved to 2-2 overall on the season.
The No. 1 doubles team of Lauren Lindell and Natalie Lubbers defeated Itzi Torres and Djurdjina Vrhovac 8-3, while the No. 2 team of Nicole Lubbers and Jessica Johnson cruised 8-2 over Heather Koester and Paityn Bower. The No. 3 doubles match was close throughout with Laura Jimenez-Lendinez and Alina Villalovos pulling out an 8-6 win over Brenda Sanchez and Chelsea Bearrick.
In singles competition, FHSU won the No. 2 through No. 6 matches with all but one resulting in straight sets. Lindell (No. 2) and Natalie Lubbers (No. 3) each earned 6-4, 6-3 wins over their opponents. At No. 4, Johnson won 6-1, 6-2, while at No. 5, Nicole Lubbers won 7-5, 6-1. Haley Weidemann dropped the first set at No. 6 by a count of 6-2, but bounced back for 6-2 second-set win, then a 10-6 triumph in the tiebreaking set. Jimenez-Lendinez was the only Tiger to fall, dropping a competitive 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) match to Itzi Torres.
The Tigers hit the road this weekend for a pair of matches in Nebraska. FHSU takes on Concordia University in Seward on Friday before taking on Midland University in Fremont on Saturday.
TOPEKA, Kan. – The TMP-Marian volleyball team moved up two spots to No. 3 in Class 3A in the latest Kansas Volleyball Association poll released Wednesday. The ranking does not take into account their three wins in the Smith Center quad on Tuesday.
La Crosse holds at No. 4 in 1A Division I and Wheatland-Grinnell takes over the top spot in 1A Division II.
Class 6A
1. Blue Valley West 18-0 (1)
2. Blue Valley North 10-1 (2)
3. Olathe Northwest 9-3 (4)
4. Shawnee Mission East 11-4 (3)
5. Shawnee Mission West 10-4 (5)
6. Lawrence-Free State 9-4 (7)
7. Blue Valley Northwest 9-4 (8)
8. Garden City 15-4 (9)
9. Manhattan 10-6 (10)
10. Olathe East 7-8 (6)
Class 5A
1. Shawnee Heights 13-1 (1)
2. St. Thomas Aquinas 14-4 (3)
3. Lansing 11-1 (4)
4. Newton 16-2 (6)
5. Maize 14-3 (5)
6. St. James Academy 6-5 (2)
7. Goddard-Eisenhower 12-1 (7)
8. Emporia 10-2 (8)
9. Blue Valley Southwest 11-3 (9)
10. Andover 11-5 (10)
Class 4A – Division 1
1. Abilene 13-3 (1)
2. DeSoto 17-5 (4)
3. McPherson 10-2 (3)
4. Rose Hill 13-4 (8)
5. Andale 10-2 (5)
6. Ulysses 10-1 (7)
7. El Dorado 12-4 (6)
8. Louisburg 13-7 (9)
9. Andover Central 5-6 (10)
10. Kansas City-Piper 7-4 (NR)
Class 4A – Division 2
1. Topeka-Hayden 15-3 (1)
2. Kingman 21-3 (2)
3. Girard 13-3 (7)
4. Rock Creek 12-3 (6)
5. Santa Fe Trail 6-3 (3)
6. Baxter Springs 12-6 (4)
7. Burlington 13-4 (9)
8. Frontenac 9-3 (5)
9. Concordia 6-4 (8)
10. Smoky Valley 9-6 (10)
Class 3A
1. Silver Lake 13-3 (2)
2. Cheney 12-2 (1)
3. Thomas More Prep-Marian 14-1 (5)
4. Hesston 11-3 (3)
5. Garden Plain 9-3 (4)
6. Wellsville 12-4 (7)
7. Beloit 14-2 (8)
8. Douglass 5-1 (6)
9. Marion 13-1 (9)
10. Sedgwick 13-3 (NR)
Class 2A
1. Central Plains 13-0 (1)
2. Heritage Christian 16-0 (2)
3. Kiowa County 13-1 (4)
4. Jefferson County North 15-2 (3)
5. Wabaunsee 14-2 (5)
6. Chase County 20-3 (10)
7. Oswego 14-2 (7)
8. Inman 14-2 (6)
9. Washington County 9-3 (NR)
10. Uniontown 11-3 (9)
KEARNEY, Neb. – After coming out of the gates strong, the Fort Hays State University volleyball team dropped its first match of the season Tuesday night at No. 3-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. The Tigers took the opening match 25-22 then dropped the next three 18-25, 16-25, 21-25. The Tigers are now 12-1 overall and 0-1 after falling in the inaugural MIAA contest for both squads. FHSU handed the Lopers (15-0, 1-0) just their second set loss of the season after capturing the opening frame.
Crystal Whitten (Courtesy FHSU Athletics)
With her third dig in the match, senior Crystal Whitten joined 1,000/1,000 club for her career. The outside hitter now has 1,194 kills and 1,009 digs in her three-and-a-half seasons of collegiate volleyball.
The loss was the 22nd-consecutive loss to the Lopers and the 27th-straight loss in Kearney for the Tigers.
The Tigers fell behind early in the match before a kill from Rebekah Spainhourhanded them a 12-11 lead. The sides continued to trade points before Fort Hays State took the lead for good at 18-17 with a kill by Whitten. Multiple kills from Megan Anderson extended the Tiger advantage before Hannah Wagy delivered the final kill of the set, handing the Tigers a thrilling 25-22 victory to open the contest.
Fort Hays State fell behind by four to open the second frame, prompting head coach Kurth Kohler to use an early timeout. Spainhour and Whitten tallied consecutive kills coming out of the timeout, but the rally was short lived. The Lopers scored seven of 10 points later in the set to take a commanding 20-13 lead, holding off a Tiger rally to take the set 25-18.
Nebraska-Kearney took four of the first five points coming out of the break to open the third set, never trailing in the set. The Tigers were unable to put together a rally, never scoring more than two-straight points with UNK winning the point 12 of the 16 times FHSU served. The Lopers won the set with a powerful serve from Lindsey Smith on set point.
Fort Hays State fought hard in the fourth game, battling back from a 4-1 deficit to take an 8-6 lead. Big blocks from Callie Christensen, Sydney Dixon and Anderson followed by consecutive kills from Spainhour prompted a UNK timeout. Spainhour added kills on three of the next five rallies to help the Tigers extend a four-point lead. The sides swapped points until a four-point rally by the Lopers leveled the score at 16, forcing Kohler to use a timeout. Another Spainhour kill ended the UNK run, but a block by the Lopers two points later handed them the lead for good. UNK took seven of the final 10 points of the match to win 25-21.
The Tigers hit .235 as a team, highlighted by a blazing .333 start in the first set. The Lopers, one of the best attacking teams in the nation, managed a .333 attack percentage for the match. The top two blocking teams in the conference certainly did not disappoint in that category, with 17.5 total blocks being recorded in the match (FHSU 8, UNK 9.5).
Spainhour paced the team with 18 kills, adding one solo block and the lone Tiger service ace. Whitten picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs. Christensen led the match with five total blocks, adding six kills and a .429 attack percentage. Anderson threw down 13 kills and reached for four blocks. Wagy contributed 52 assists, 10 digs and two kills while libero Ari Jacobsen saved 10 digs on the day.
The team will return to Gross Memorial Coliseum for its home opener on Friday(Sept. 23) against Emporia State. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
GREAT BEND – The Hays High boys soccer team lost a heart-breaker at Great Bend Tuesday, falling 6-5 to the Panthers. Ethan Nunnery scored three goals for the Indians while Zach Wagner had two.
The Indians fall to 3-5 on the year and 0-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. They are back at home Thursday against Buhler at 4 p.m.
CLEVELAND (AP) – Pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer singled in a run with two outs in the ninth inning, helping the Cleveland Indians move closer to an AL Central title with a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Guyer’s hit off Joakim Soria landed just fair in the right-field corner and scored Coco Crisp. Guyer was the third pinch-hitter of the inning used by manager Terry Francona.
Cleveland led Detroit by seven games in the division entering Tuesday.
Brian Flynn (1-2) walked Jose Ramirez to start the ninth, and then fumbled a bunt by Crisp, batting for Lonnie Chisenhall, down the first-base line for an error. A few batters later, Guyer delivered the winner.
Andrew Miller (9-1) struck out three during 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Royals, the reigning World Series champions, can be eliminated from contention in the division if they lose to Cleveland on Wednesday night.
SMITH CENTER – The TMP-Marian volleyball team moved to 17-1 Tuesday night with sweeps in all three of their matches at the Smith Center quad. The Monarchs beat the host Lady Red (25-7, 25-16), Hill City (25-13, 25-7) and Oakley (25-6, 25-16).
Kayla Vitztum led the Monarchs with 26 kills, Kendra Werth had 18 digs and Bailey Lacy four blocks. The Monarchs play at the Hoisington Invitational on Saturday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State women’s soccer enjoyed a week’s stay in the NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll but slipped into the receiving votes section of the latest edition released on Tuesday. The Tigers are receiving six votes in the poll.
The Tigers earned their first ever NSCAA Top 25 ranking last week at No. 16 after a blazing 4-0 start to the season, but fell from the top 25 due to a tie with Nebraska-Kearney and an overtime loss to Emporia State at home.
Fort Hays State will look to climb its way back into the top 25 when it heads to Washburn for non-conference play on Friday and the conference opener at Emporia State on Sunday.
The MIAA still boasts two top 25 teams this week as Central Missouri (5-0) climbed to No. 2 and Northeastern State (6-0) moved into a tie at No. 25. FHSU is the only MIAA school in the receiving votes section.
Below is the NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll for September 20, 2016.
Rank
School
Prev.
W-L-T
1
Grand Valley State University
2
5-0-1
2
University of Central Missouri
3
5-0-0
3
Colorado School Of Mines
5
6-0-0
4
East Stroudsburg University
4
6-0-0
5
Adelphi University
7
5-0-0
6
Rollins College
8
4-1-0
7
Western Washington University
17
5-0-1
8
University of North Georgia
12
3-0-1
9
Columbus State University
1
4-1-0
10
University Of Bridgeport
10
3-2-0
11
University of California-San Diego
6
4-2-0
12
West Chester University
23
6-0-0
13
Lee University
NR
4-1-1
13
Truman State University
25
5-0-1
15
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
20
3-1-0
16
Texas A&M University-Commerce
18
3-2-0
17
Minot State University
NR
3-1-0
18
Stonehill College
24
6-0-0
19
Edinboro University
11
5-1-0
20
Armstrong State University
22
4-1-0
21
Nova Southeastern University
RV
4-1-0
22
Sonoma State University
NR
4-1-1
23
Rockhurst University
NR
6-0-1
24
St. Edward’s University
NR
4-1-0
25
Northeastern State University
NR
6-0-0
25
Bellarmine University
9
4-1-1
Also receiving votes: Florida Tech (13), California State University Chico (10), Bemidji State University (7), Texas Woman’s University (7), Fort Hays State University (6), Carson-Newman University (4), Notre Dame College (4), Kutztown University (2), Limestone College (1), Saint Leo University (1), Central Washington University (1).
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State men’s soccer is No. 19 in the latest NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday. The Tigers slipped one spot from the No. 18 ranking they held last week after going 1-1 on a road trip to the west coast.
Fort Hays State suffered a 1-0 setback at Western Washington before knocking off Seattle Pacific 2-1 last week on a road trip to the state of Washington. Seattle Pacific was the No. 11 ranked team nationally in the NSCAA Preseason Top 25 Poll, but has since fell out of the rankings.
The Tigers have one match this week as they continue to tour far stretches of the United States. They head to North Dakota for a match with University of Mary on Sunday. FHSU currently holds a 3-2-1 overall record.
Fort Hays State and Lindenwood represent the MIAA in the Top 25 Poll this week. Lindenwood moved into the poll at No. 24 this week.
Below is the NSCAA Top 25 Poll for September 20, 2016.
Rank
School
Prev.
W-L-T
1
University Of Charleston
1
6-0-0
2
Lynn University
2
6-0-1
3
Rockhurst University
3
6-0-0
4
Southern New Hampshire University
4
4-0-0
5
St. Edward’s University
5
6-0-0
6
Simon Fraser University
6
5-0-0
7
Pfeiffer University
7
4-1-0
8
LIU Post
8
6-0-0
9
Wingate University
10
4-0-0
10
Regis University
12
5-0-0
11
Barry University
13
4-0-0
12
Tiffin University
19
6-0-0
13
California State University-Los Angeles
RV
3-0-3
14
Limestone College
14
5-0-0
15
University Of Tampa
21
4-0-0
16
Drury University
22
6-0-0
17
Adelphi University
20
4-1-0
18
Tusculum College
NR
5-0-0
19
Fort Hays State University
18
3-2-1
20
Millersville University
25
4-1-1
21
University of California-San Diego
NR
3-1-1
22
Rollins College
RV
3-1-0
23
Midwestern State University
17
4-1-1
24
Lindenwood University
RV
3-2-2
25
Gannon University
RV
3-1-1
Also receiving votes: Cal Poly Pomona (11), Carson-Newman University (5), Merrimack College (4), University Of Missouri-St. Louis (4), Florida Tech (3), West Chester University (3), Colorado School Of Mines (1).
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is a chameleon when it comes to his offenses, seemingly able to dissect his players in such a way that he can always rebuild them to play to their strengths.
Have a star running back in Darren Sproles? Give him the ball 40 times a game. A prolific passer in Jake Waters and a sure-handed wide receiver in Tyler Lockett? Air it out.
This year, the Wildcats have again focused on their ground game but in a good way.
In their season opener, the Wildcats ran for nearly 100 yards against an eighth-ranked Stanford team that was determined to stop their rushing attack. Charles Jones still averaged more than 5 yards per carry, and Justin Silman and Dalvin Warmack provided different looks when they were in the game.
Kansas State has another tune-up for Big 12 play Saturday night against Missouri State. The program from the Football Championship Subdivision has only allowed 103 yards rushing in a 2-0 start.
It should be another barometer of the Wildcats’ growing ground game.
Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference
September 20, 2016
Fort Hays State head football coach Chris Brown along with select players met with members of the media on Tuesday afternoon at Lewis Field.
The Tigers (2-1) are coming off a 34-20 home win over Central Oklahoma this past Saturday. Fort Hays State hits the road this Saturday afternoon to face Northeastern State (1-2) who’s coming off an overtime loss at Pittsburg State. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Doc Wadley Stadium.
Fort Hays State head football coach Chris Brown along with select players met with members of the media on Tuesday afternoon at Lewis Field.