Fort Hays State men’s basketball coach Mark Johnson announced the signing of Grant Holmes from Concordia, Kan. Holmes is currently at senior at Concordia High School.

Holmes enters his senior season the third-leading scorer in Concordia High School history with 1,000 career points and 327 rebounds. He has been an All-NCKL First Team selection for three years and among the top two in the league in scoring all three years. He averaged 15.7 points per game as a junior in 2012-13. He also earned all-state honors in all three seasons for Kansas Class 4A, including a second-team selection last year. Holmes has been a member of the highly successful Kansas City Run GMC (formerly KC Pump N Run) AAU program for the last three years. He is the son of Derek and Tracey Holmes.

— FHSU Sports Information —

Fort Hays State fell 3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-22) on Wednesday evening to Emporia State inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. Despite taking the first set, FHSU struggled in the second set and let late leads slip away in the third and fourth. FHSU dropped to 13-18 (3-12 MIAA) on the season while ESU improved to 17-10 (8-7 MIAA).

Jenna Ulrich’s first block assist of the match gave her the school’s career total blocks record for the NCAA era. Ulrich recorded four blocks in the match and now sits at 435 for her career, passing the old mark of 431 set by Jennifer Brandes, who just was inducted into the Tiger Sports Hall of Fame earlier this month.

FHSU led the entire first set, using consecutive kills by Taylor Mares to jump ahead, stretching the lead to as many as three (9-6) early in the set.  Up 16-12 (which tied the largest lead of the set), the Tigers allowed the Hornets close within one, 18-17, before calling timeout. Late in the set, two straight kills by Mallory Flagor and a Hornet setting error gave the Tigers game one, 25-21.

FHSU’s strong effort continued early in the second set, as the team led by as many as three on three occasions before ESU rallied to tie it, 12-12.  After battling back and forth to 15-all, the Hornets grabbed control with a 10-2 run and took the set, 25-17.

Out of intermission, ESU led 5-1 before a Tiger rally tied it at 9-9 on Flagor’s 10th kill of the evening. The teams traded points until 14-14, when a quick two-point burst, highlighted by a powerful Camille Hubert kill, gave a small advantage to FHSU.  Up 19-16, FHSU controlled the match until 23-21, as two ESU points forced a FHSU timeout.  The Tigers could not stop the run and dropped the set, 26-24.

FHSU stalled to start the fourth set, falling behind 14-8 before roaring back with a 7-0 run. Later in the set, down 21-19, FHSU again fought off elimination with a three-point rally to take a one-point lead, 22-21.  That was short lived as ESU regained control and took the match, 25-22.

Hubert led the Tigers with 13 kills and added 10 digs for a double-double. Sara Hewson also had a double-double of 12 kills and a team-leading 25 digs. Mares reached double figures in kills as well with 12. Libby Ary recorded a double-double of 28 assists and 13 digs.

Carly Spicer was the only Hornet to reach double figures in kills with 12. Sydney Hartman paced ESU in assists with 24 and libero Kelly Holden had a team-high 19 digs.

The Tigers close out the home portion of their 2013 schedule on Friday (Nov. 15) for a senior night matchup against Oklahoma-Panhandle State. FHSU will honor Hubert, Samantha, Madison Schwartz, Ulrich and Makenzie Weinman prior to the game.

— FHSU Sports Information —

Sophomore Chelsea Mason scored 32 points in her Fort Hays State debut, leading the Tigers to a 94-55 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State Wednesday night in Alva. Mason hit 12 of 20 from the floor including 5 of 9 from three-point range.

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

Kate Edwards scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds while freshman Jill Faxon added 10 points in her debut as FHSU wins for the first time in six tries in Alva. Kate Lehmen picked up two early fouls and only scored nine points in 18 minutes.

Game Highlights


Fort Hays State led never trailed in the game, leading by nine at the half but put together runs of 8-0, 13-0 and 10-0 in the second half, outscoring Northwestern Oklahoma State 52-22 in the second frame.

FHSU shoots 45-percent (33-73) from the floor and were 10-for-28 from beyond the arc. They connected on 18 of their 22 free throw attempts.

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Chris Brown Part 1

Chris Brown Part 2

Tanner Hageman

Stephen Marcotte

Treveon Albert

After earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament, the Fort Hays State University men’s soccer team re-entered the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire Division II Men’s Soccer poll at No. 20, announced Tuesday.

The Tigers had dropped out of the poll but still received votes the week prior, but used a runner-up position in the MIAA Championship to move back into the rankings.

FHSU, ranked second in the Central Region, awaits a matchup with No. 1 (overall and in the region) Lindenwood in the NCAA Tournament on either Nov. 21 or 22 at a site to be determined.

MIAA foe Northeastern State remained in the poll at No. 24.

The complete NSCAA/Continental Tires Poll is below…

Also receiving votes: St. Edward’s, Carson-Newman, Lynn, West Chester, Chico State

Fort Hays State men’s soccer received its second consecutive berth into the NCAA Tournament in just the third year of existence for the program as the No. 2 seed in the Central Regional. The Tigers will play Lindenwood, the No. 1 seed, on either Nov. 21 or 22.

The exact location of FHSU’s matchup will be determined by Sunday, Nov. 17 based on the outcome of the other Super Region 3 matchups.

Both Fort Hays State and Lindenwood are already in the round of 16 teams as the Central Region receives only two selections to the tournament. The teams will meet in what is virtually a regional final, before meeting the team that comes out to the Elite Eight from the Midwest Regional.

Fort Hays State enters the tournament at 12-4-3 overall, and is 1-0-1 against Lindenwood this season.  The Tigers dropped a 4-3 contest to the Lions in St. Charles, Mo., on Oct. 3, and tied LU in the MIAA Tournament final on Saturday (Nov. 9), though finished second by falling on penalty kicks (6-5). Lindenwood is the only team in NCAA Division II without a loss yet.

— FHSU Sports Information —

Fort Hays State sophomore guard Craig Nicholson was named the MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week on Monday (Nov. 11) for his performance in Fort Hays State’s two season opening wins this past weekend (Nov. 9-10) in Minnesota.

Nicholson had a huge opening weekend, averaging a double-double in points (24.5) and assists (10.0). In the season opener at Southwest Minnesota State, Nicholson scored a career-high 29 points and dished out 11 assists (one shy of his career high), helping the Tigers to an 89-72 win. He went 14-of-15 at the free-throw line in that game, making his first 12 attempts. Nine of his 11 assists in the game were on 3-point field goals, helping the Tigers shoot 72.2 percent beyond the arc as a team (13-of-18). He was just two rebounds shy of a triple-double, recording a team-high eight.

Nicholson capped the weekend with 20 points and nine assists in the 97-90 overtime win over Upper Iowa. He did the majority of his damage at the free-throw line, where he went 12-of-14 and was perfect beyond the 3-point line (2-of-2).

He finished the weekend a perfect 3-of-3 beyond the 3-point line and shot 89.7 percent at the free-throw line (26-of-29). He also averaged 5.0 rebounds for the week.

— FHSU Sports Information —

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