EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State could not get much going offensively as it fell 3-0 to Central Oklahoma in the MIAA Tournament Quaterfinals on Friday night (Nov. 8). The Tigers wrap their season at 10-6-2, while the Bronchos advance to the semifinal round at 13-4-2.

The Bronchos outshot the Tigers 12-1 in the first half. Cailey Perkins was responsible for the only Tiger shot in the first 45 minutes. In the 28th minute, UCO’s Kelsie Eason was fouled in the box, prompting an early penalty kick opportunity. Eason stepped up and knocked in her 16th goal of the season. Just five minutes later, Eason extended the lead for the Bronchos. Taryn Kedzoir dribbled down the left side of the field and crossed in a ball into the box. Eason was able to head the crossing pass through Megan Kneefel for her second of the game and 17th of the year.

The Tigers were able to test UCO’s goalkeeper Kaitlyn Asher with four shots in the second half, but none found the back of the net. Central Oklahoma tripled their lead with a goal in the 66th minute. Meridith WIlson crossed the ball from the right side of the field, landing behind the Tiger backline at the feet of Haley Post. Post volleyed the deep cross over Kneefel and the Bronchos pulled further away, 3-0.

Central Oklahoma attacked Kneefel all night with 20 shots at the senior goalkeeper. Kneefel made 11 saves out of 14 shots on goal, closing the year with an individual record of 9-5-2. Haley Post led the way for the Bronchos with seven shots, all on goal.

Fort Hays State finished with five shots on the night, including two on goal. Jenna Prince led the Tigers with two shots and one on goal.

The Tigers had a strong defensive season, allowing less than a goal per match (0.92) to their opponents. Fort Hays State shutout opponents in nine of 18 matches in 2019.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Fort Hays State picked up a win in its season opener on Friday night (Nov. 8) by a score of 88-78 over Arkansas Tech. The Tigers controlled the game for nearly 33 minutes until having to hold off a late push by the Wonder Boys.

The Tigers used strong defense in the first half to build a strong halftime lead of 13 points, 44-31. FHSU built a big lead early with an 18-0 run that spanned over seven minutes from the 15:33 to 8:07 marks, going up 27-8 early. FHSU held Arkansas Tech in single digits for the first 12 minutes until a bucket at the 7:55 mark snapped the big run. Arkansas Tech cut the lead back to 10 before FHSU eventually took the 13-point lead into halftime. FHSU shot 47 percent in the opening half, while holding ATU to 29 percent.

The Tigers stormed out of the gates in the second half with a 10-0 run to push their lead to 23, 54-31, when Arkansas Tech missed its first two shot attempts and turned the ball over twice. The lead hovered around 20 points for a while until the Tigers took their biggest lead of 25 points at the 12:52 mark, 61-36. The lead remained at 20 or more until an ATU bucket at 8:00 cut the lead to 19.

FHSU pushed the lead to at least 20 twice more until Arkansas Tech sped up the pace of play and started to make a run late. A 14-5 run by Arkansas Tech whittled the FHSU lead down to 11 by the 4:00 mark. FHSU pushed its lead back to 14, but ATU kept chipping away and cut the lead under 10 points with 2:02 to play. The Tigers saw their lead eventually trimmed to six with 21 seconds to play, but a pair of Aaron Nicholson free throws pushed the lead back to eight and put the game out of reach. Nicholson was big for the Tigers at the charity stripe down the stretch, where he went 6-of-6 over the final three minutes of the game.

Nyjee Wright led the Tigers with a career-high 22 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field. He was also solid at the free-throw line with a 4-of-4 effort. He hit a pair of big shots late while the Wonder Boys were making their burst at the Tigers, hitting a floater in the lane after the lead dropped to nine and then a 3-point field goal with a minute remaining after the lead fell to eight.

Nicholson was the second-leading scorer for the Tigers with 16 points, while Devin Davis had 12. Gilbert Peters had a strong collegiate debut with 14 points, going 6-of-11 from the field. Davis and Peters led the way for FHSU in the first half, each with 10 points.

Dillon Gooding led the Arkansas Tech scoring effort with 22 points, hitting nine field goals, four of which were of the 3-point variety. Ramses Sandifer and R.J. Glasper each had 15 points.

FHSU finished the game at 43.7 percent from the field, while holding ATU on its home floor to 39.7 percent. FHSU won the battle on the glass 47-37, and the turnover column 18-12. The Tigers had 18 offensive rebounds, which allowed them to generate 19 second-chance points.

The Tigers now turn their focus to a matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday at 3 pm. The game will be available on radio in the Hays area on KFIX, 96.9 FM, while live stats and video will be available once again.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team raced out to a 17-point second quarter lead then had to hold on as Minnesota Duluth pulled within four late in the Tigers 59-51 win in the season opener for both in the opening game of the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic at the St. Joseph Civic Arena.

The Tigers saw their 15-point halftime lead trimmed to 11 after three quarters. The Bulldogs used an 8-0 run over the third and fourth quarters to pull within eight early in the fourth.

Taylor Rolfs hit a left corner three to push the lead to nine with 1:35 to play but UMD scored five quick points to get within four with under a minute play.

After missing their first six free throws in the final period, FHSU made their final four to seal the win.

The Tigers won despite turning the ball over 20 times. The Bulldogs had 19 turnovers. A year ago UMD committed the fewest turnovers in Division II and the Tigers had their third fewest.

Lanie Page scored 14 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead the Tigers. Belle Barbiere scored nine while grabbing a career-best 14 rebounds. Rolfs and Whitney Randall both added eight points.

Brooke Olson led UMD, who lost in the first round of the NCAA II Central Regional in Hays a year ago, with 14 points. Payton Kahl added 11.

The Tigers play Concordia-St, Paul Saturday at 2 p.m. in St. Joseph. The game can be heard on Kay (94.3-fm, 1400-AM).

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Fort Hays State volleyball team played a decisive fifth set for the third time in the last two weeks Thursday, but the Tigers were unable to take advantage of the opportunity against Missouri Western. FHSU saved a pair of match points to tie things up at 14 in the final frame, but the Griffons later scored back-to-back points to win the final set, 17-15, and the match, 3-2 (25-17, 8-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-17).

The Tigers are now 6-20 overall and 3-15 in conference play, while the Griffons are now 15-11 on the year and 9-8 in league action.

After the teams went back and forth early in the first set, the Tigers used a 14-5 run to pull away late and win the set, 25-17. FHSU posted an efficient .250 attack percentage, totaling 15 kills and just five attack errors.

The momentum of the first-set win did not last long, as Missouri Western scored 19 of the first 20 points in the second set to take a commanding lead. The Tigers scored five straight points later in the set, but it was too little, too late for FHSU.

Missouri Western continued the hot streak early in the third set, jumping out to a 13-6 lead. FHSU bounced back to score the next six points, closing within one. The Griffons managed to respond just before the Tigers tied things up, scoring the next three points to pad the lead to four. The Tigers closed within three on five more occasions but could never get any closer.

The Tigers recorded their best offensive performance of the night to tie things up in the fourth set, posting a swing rate of .350 (18-4-40). The teams traded points until the midway point when FHSU tallied four points in a row, turning a 13-13 tie into a 17-13 lead. That advantage was all the Tigers would need to hold on and force a decisive fifth set.

Missouri Western came out firing in the fifth set, doubling up the Tigers midway through the frame, 10-5. Two Tiger kills and two attack errors helped FHSU close within one, 10-9. The Griffons regained control to soon reach match point at 14-12, but the Tigers fought off both match point opportunities to stay alive. The teams traded the next two points before MWSU closed the match with back to back points, winning the fifth set 17-15.

Delaney Humm led the Tigers with 17 kills and added a season-high 21 digs while Tatum Bartels recorded 14 kills to just four errors on 31 swings. Mykah Eshbaugh added a season-high nine kills on just 21 swings. Katie Darnell led the team with 25 assists and Abbie Hayes paced the Tigers with 24 digs.

The Tigers will return to Hays to wrap up the regular season one week from Friday on Nov. 15. FHSU will host Pittsburg State at noon before taking on Missouri Southern at noon on Saturday (Nov. 16).

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State men’s soccer, most recently ranked No. 9 within NCAA Super Region 3, have clinched the regular season Great American Conference title in their inaugural season with a 6-1 victory over Southern Nazarene on senior night.

FHSU now boasts three consecutive regular season conference championships-collecting two straight (2017 and 2018) in the MIAA and now their first in the GAC.

Improving to 11-5-1 on the season, the Tigers have defeated the Crimson Storm twice in 2019 pushing the all-time series between the two programs to 9-1 in favor of the Black and Gold.

Fittingly, two seniors began the scoring in the first half for Fort Hays State. Forward Santiago Agudelo found the back of the net off of a throw-in by Nathan De La Hoya. Using his body to shield his defender, Agudelo slipped the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Bence Mocsari for his 10th goal of the season.

The Tigers remained in control throughout the match, registering 14 shots on goal of 21 total attempts.

Agudelo followed up 13 minutes later, finishing another goal scoring opportunity. A pass from. Arsenio Chamorro sent De La Hoya free sprinting down the left-hand side of the field. The junior, with just one defender to beat, played a grounded cross to Agudelo, who was unmarked. He dribbled the ball around the goalkeeper and clocked in his 11th goal of the season.

In the 38th minute, Sergio Villalba continued the senior night theme as he ran onto a ball played across the 18-yard box and finished it for the third goal of the evening.

Villalba snagged his second goal of the match in the 42nd minute, beating a diving Mocsari to the left of the goal.

Agudelo took under five minutes in the second half to get his name back on the scoresheet. A ball was played through the middle of the field and found it’s way to the left wing. De La Hoya played a pass that slipped Agudelo through on goal as he completed his hat trick by beating Mocsari to the near post.

Southern Nazarene’s Josh Gray was able to put a tally on the board in the 69th minute on an assist from Alexandre Silva. However, Moises Peralta restrengthened the goal margin with 12 minutes left in the match.

On an assist from Antonio De La Torre and Franklin Solorio, Peralta chested the ball down in the box and blasted a shot into the top right hand corner of the goal.

Defensively, the FHSU’s Cullen Fisch faced just seven shots and notched a save in his sixth victory this season.

For their final match of the 2019 campaign, FHSU will travel to Shawnee, Okla. and faces off against Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday (Nov. 9). The Bison are 5-10-1 on the season following their latest victory over Southern Nazarene on Friday, Nov. 1.

Overall, the Tigers own the series against the Bison, claiming a 4-0 record between the two sides.