FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State Softball coach Adrian Mohr announced the addition of six newcomers for the 2016 season. The Tigers add four transfers and two freshmen to a roster that returns 10 players in 2016. Joining the team are Chermayne Yago, Claudia Vazquez, Ashley Beavers, Carrie Clarke, Hannah Hearld, and Madeline LaPolla.

Yago transfers to FHSU from Otero (Colo.) Junior College, where she played two seasons. She was a big threat on the basepaths with 83 stolen bases over two seasons. She set a new single-season record for stolen bases at Otero as a freshman in 2014 with 54. The outfielder tallied one more run scored than her stolen base total in two years with 84 and had a big freshman year at the plate that saw her hit .383. Yago is a native of Kapolei, Hawaii, which is located on the island of Oahu.

Vazquez transfers to FHSU from Phoenix (Ariz.) College, where she played two seasons. As a sophomore in 2015 she batted .319 with 30 runs scored, 12 RBI, and 16 stolen bases as an outfielder, helping her team to a record of 53-12 and a conference championship. Vazquez is a native of Gilbert, Ariz.

Beavers transfers to FHSU from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, where she played two seasons. As an outfielder, she batted .308 with 20 runs scored, 12 RBI, and six stolen bases in 2015 as a sophomore. She had a tremendous year at the plate as a freshman in 2014, hitting .394 with 20 RBI and 16 runs scored. Beavers is a native of Longmont, Colo.

Clarke is transferring to FHSU from Black Hills State University in South Dakota. She saw time in the pitching circle last year, logging 39 innings with 18 strikeouts, and had limited appearances as a hitter at the plate.The Erie, Colo., native adds depth to the roster as a utility player and pitcher.

Hearld is a hometown product from Hays High School. She was one of the top players in Kansas Class 5A, but was only able to compete during her freshman and junior seasons due to injuries sustained as a sophomore and senior. She was the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a junior and earned all-state honors in her prep career. She finished with a career batting average of .570 and posted a record of 29-4 with a 1.97 ERA and 255 strikeouts in her career as a pitcher.

LaPolla, a native of Parker, Colo., attended Chaparral High School. As a senior she earned all-state honorable mention honors and an all-league first team selection, while batting .490 with 26 runs scored and 17 RBI. She finished with a career batting average of .410 in high school and has the ability to play the infield, outfield, and catch.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State Volleyball was voted eighth in the 2015 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Thursday morning (Aug. 13). Eighth is where the Tigers finished last year in the standings, a season in which they saw great improvement in MIAA play.

In 2014, the Tigers saw their win percentage in MIAA play make a jump of .130 from the previous year and they finished three spots higher in the MIAA standings. The Tigers won seven MIAA matches in 2014, tying the most they have ever won in the conference since joining in 2006. However, with the improvement, the Tigers still finished at 13-18 overall with 15 of the losses occurring in MIAA play. Outside of the very tough MIAA schedule, the Tigers finished 6-3 against non-conference competition.

There is no doubt that the Tigers play in the toughest region in the country in NCAA Division II. The MIAA and the NSIC are two of the most powerful conferences in the nation in volleyball, and unfortunately the conferences play in the same region. Thus, only eight teams are selected into the Central Regional of the 64-team NCAA Tournament each year. To paint a picture of how good this region has been, it has had a team in the national title match eight straight years. Concordia-St. Paul won the national title an unprecedented seven times in a row from 2007 to 2013, but they were finally knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Central Regional by Southwest Minnesota State last year. Southwest Minnesota went on to play in the national title match, but fell to Tampa.

Some may say Concordia-St. Paul has just been that good, but take a look at the final national rankings at the end of the 2014 season. The Central Region finished with five of the top six teams in the nation – Southwest Minnesota State at No. 2, Minnesota-Duluth at No. 3, Concordia-St. Paul at No. 4, Nebraska-Kearney at No. 5, and Wayne State (Neb.) at No. 6. Four of those teams went home in the NCAA Tournament before the Elite Eight, as only one can advance from the regional. The 2013 season was just as brutal as six of the top 10 teams in the final poll were from the Central Region – Concordia-St. Paul at No. 1 (earning their seventh-straight national title), Minnesota-Duluth at No. 4, Central Missouri at No. 6, Southwest Minnesota State at No. 7, Nebraska-Kearney at No. 8, and Washburn at No. 10.

With the great balance of the conference and region in volleyball, the Tigers have continued a quest to compete and finish among the top teams in the MIAA. The road block has been MIAA play. The Tigers have finished well above .500 in non-conference play each of the last four years, going 12-3 in 2011, 16-4 in 2012, 11-6 in 2013, and 6-3 last year. A 22-game conference schedule in 2014 kept the Tigers from playing very many non-conference matches.

The MIAA schedule consists of just 18 games this year with the return of the MIAA Tournament at the end of the season. There was no conference tournament in 2014, so the three MIAA teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament were at-large selections. Two teams from the MIAA with great resumes were left home. That included Central Oklahoma, which finished third in the conference and had an overall record of 26-5, and Missouri Western, which finished fifth in the conference and had an overall record of 22-8. Both teams finished 10 or more games over .500 in conference play, but still could not make the cut for the eight-team regional.

The Tigers have four players returning from last year’s squad with Mallory Flagor as the lone senior. She was one of the conference’s top hitters in 2014, garnering an All-MIAA Second Team selection with 348 kills for the season. The Tigers have strength at middle hitter with the return of Rebekah Spainhour and Callie Christensen. Spainhour finished with 234 kills in her sophomore campaign and Christensen had 133 as a true freshman. The duo combined for 179 blocks, nearly tying each other for the team lead (Spainhour with 90, Christensen with 89). The fourth returner is  Crystal Whitten, who redshirted last year after transferring from Pittsburg State, where she was one of the team’s top offensive threats at outside hitter. The Tigers have 13 newcomers that will compete to fill in the rotation, especially the void at the setter and libero positions.

FHSU opens up the 2015 season in Marquette, Mich. on the first weekend of September with four non-conference matches against NCAA Division II opponents.

Below is the 2015 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll…

2015 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Central Missouri (9)         119
2. Washburn (2)             108
3. Nebraska-Kearney (1)       98
4. Central Oklahoma           95
5. Missouri Western           84
6. Northwest Missouri           66
7. Emporia State               64
8. Fort Hays State               46
9. Pittsburg State               39
10. Southwest Baptist           27
11. Missouri Southern           25
12. Lindenwood               21

The Fort Hays State football team has 16 seniors on the roster, one of the biggest classes since Chris Brown took over as head coach prior to the 2011 season. The most veteran player of that group is offensive lineman Matt Erbert. The Ellis native missed the entire 2013 season after suffering a knee injury and had to sit out of practices this spring due to the NCAA semester rule. Now in his sixth year, Erbert and the rest of the senior class is ready to prove last year’s seven-win season was no fluke.

Erbert leads an offensive line that returns all five starters from last season.

Last season the Fort Hays State defense led the way in helping the program to their first seven-win season in 18 years. The Tigers were fourth in the MIAA, allowing 21 points per game. This season the offense, which returns nine starters, is hoping to lead the charge.

Wide receiver Bilal Salat is one of the returning starters. The Tampa, Fla. junior started in 10 of the Tigers 11 games last season and had four receptions for 69 yards. Salat has had a good start to fall camp and is looking to have a bigger impact in 2015.

Listen below as he talks about camp and the upcoming season.

 

Around 100 players greeted head coach Chris Brown and his staff as the Fort Hays State football team held their first practice of the 2015 season Monday morning at Lewis Field. The Tigers are limited to just one practice per day in just helmets. The team will add shoulder pads on Wednesday with their first full pad practice scheduled for Friday.

 

With over 60 players staying in Hays for summer workouts, Brown was happy with his team’s first workout.|

“It was good to seed guys flying around to the ball” Brown said. “You see a lot of guys out there that are pretty talented. They are pretty good athletes. They’ve just got to continue to get better”.

The Tigers open their 2015 season at Central Oklahoma on Thursday, September 3rd.