Press Release

Oct. 25, 2010

This Week in Bearcat Athletics

Volleyball goes out of conference and then hosts two MIAA matches this weekend, soccer will play its home finale on Saturday morning and football hosts Fort Hays State this Homecoming week in Bearcat Athletics.

The Northwest Missouri State volleyball team (11-10, 7-6 MIAA) will travel to Kansas City on Tuesday night to face Rockhurst (19-7) in a non-conference tilt. The Bearcats will then return home for homecoming weekend as they host Pittsburg State (9-14, 3-9 MIAA) Friday night at 7 p.m. and Southwest Baptist (8-16, 3-9 MIAA) at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday from Bearcat Arena. Northwest defeated Pitt. State in five sets earlier this season and then beat Southwest Baptist 3-1 the following day.

Northwest is coming off a 2-1 week in which they upset second-ranked Washburn in five sets. The Bearcats then swept Fort Hays State for their third-straight victory, before ending the week falling to No. 12 Emporia State on Saturday. The Bearcats are currently ranked sixth by the NCAA in the South Central Region.

Northwest soccer (2-9-4, 2-8-3 MIAA) will travel to Southwest Baptist (6-6-2, 5-5-2 MIAA) on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Bearcats will then host Nebraska-Omaha (7-7-1, 7-5-1 MIAA) Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in Northwest's home finale of 2010.

The Bearcats are coming off a loss at Washburn on Saturday and a 3-3 tie to Emporia State Thursday afternoon in Maryville. Anna Calgaard scored her first collegiate goal and had two assists to Amanda Bundrant in the Bearcats draw with the Hornets.

The fourth-ranked Bearcat football team (6-1, 6-0 MIAA) will play its homecoming game Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Fort Hays State (3-5, 1-5 MIAA). Northwest is coming off a thrilling 41-40 victory at Washburn on Saturday. The Ichabods' two-point conversion attempt with 56 seconds left failed and helped give Northwest the win. Blake Bolles passed for 333 yards and three TDs in the win over Washburn. Josh Baker caught nine passes for a season-high 107 yards and a score.

Last season against Fort Hays State, the Bearcats won 66-40 in Hays, Kan. Northwest racked-up 636 yards of total offense against the Tigers in the win. Bolles tied a career-high with 5 touchdown tosses last season, four of which went to Jake Soy, which was also a career-high for Soy.

The Bearcat cross country teams will be off this week as they prepare for the MIAA Championships next Saturday hosted by Fort Hays State. Northwest competed at the Graceland Yellowjacket Classic this past weekend in Lamoni, Iowa. The women placed second out of 16 teams, while the Northwest men finished sixth out of 18.

Schedule of Events: