ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Griffon Volleyball hosts Northwest Missouri State as the Battle for Highway 71 heats up once again on the first annual Gold Rush Night on Tuesday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
The Griffons (7-14, 4-9 MIAA) are coming off of a 3-1 win vs. Missouri Southern on Sunday night.
Danielle Moje led MWSU with 14 kills, while
Nessa Johnson finished with 37 assists and
Lia Graham had 23 digs. It was Moje's fourth-straight match with double-digit kills.
The win avenges a loss from last month when the Griffons lost in Joplin, 3-2. The Griffons are now 3-4 at home on the season. A win could be enough to get the Griffons in the top eight of the MIAA. The conference tournament, hosted in St. Joseph at Civic Arena, consists of the top eight from the conference.
Currently, the Griffons are in a tie for ninth with Missouri Southern and one game back of Fort Hays State. However, the Griffons do hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers.
GOLD RUSH
The Griffons are hosting the first annual Gold Rush Night on Tuesday. Fans are encouraged to wear gold, and the first 400 students at the game will receive a free T-shirt. First serve is slated for 6 p.m.
SCOUTING NORTHWEST
The Bearcats (16-5, 10-3 MIAA) come to St. Joseph ranked No. 13 in the country. Last weekend saw NWMSU beat No. 10 Washburn and Emporia State both by a score of 3-1.
The Bearcats are 6-4 in games against ranked opponents but are 6-5 on the road compared to 5-0 at home and 5-0 in neutral-site games. They have won their last four games, with two of them over ranked opponents. Their last loss was on the road at No. 24 Central Oklahoma in 3-0 final on Oct. 7.
Northwest Missouri State is led by Payton Kirchhoefer, who has 3.37 kills per set, good enough for fourth in the conference. Jaden Ferguson sits eight in the conference with 3.04 kills per set. Alyssa Rezac has amassed 777 assists so far, placing her in fourth as well.
The all-time matchup favors the Griffons, who are 66-33 against the Bearcats. Northwest Missouri is 11-27 in Looney but have won the last eight meetings, consisting of four games in Maryville, three in St. Joseph and one at a neutral site in Kansas City. The Bearcats swept the Griffons earlier this year at Bearcat Arena when Northwest was ranked No. 12. on Sept. 9.
GAME NOTES
- The Griffons sit fifth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage and third in the conference in opponent blocks.
- The Griffons have 1,353 digs on the season, putting them in fourth in the conference.
- Moje leads the Griffons with 211 kills, followed by Katherine White with 128.
- Johnson had 598 assists, putting her in eighth in the conference.
- Moje is averaging 3.25 points per set, putting her in 14th in the conference
ON THIS DATE IN GRIFFON VOLLEYBALL HISTORY: OCT. 18
Eight years ago on Oct. 18, the 2014 Griffons found themselves in the verge of winning three in a row but had to topple No. 5 Washburn in Topeka, Kansas, to do so. It took five sets and two outstanding performances from Erica Rottinghaus and Jessie Thorup, but the Griffons defeated the Ichabods to earn MWSU's first-ever win over a top-five team in program history. Rottinghaus finished with 22 kills, tying her with 10 others for the 11th-most kills by a Griffon in five sets.
Thorup finished with 20 kills. Amanda Boender's 12 blocks within five sets put her second all-time in Griffon history. Her 10 assist blocks in a single match also tied her for fourth. Jordan Chohon found 60 assists, which is tied for 10th most all-time in a Griffon match, as she tied her own mark from a day prior against Emporia State.
