NORTHWEST NOTES: Bearcats affected by Irma

JON DYKSTRA/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State freshman forward Madie Krueger takes a shot against Rockhurst last Wednesday at Bearcat Pitch. The Bearcats fell 3-1 in the non-conference tilt.

The Bearcat football team had a stressful weekend despite having Saturday off following a Thursday night victory at Washburn.

With 13 Florida natives on the team, attentions turned to the Southeast where Hurricane Irma was bearing down on Florida.

Star receiver junior Shawn Bane, Jr., was among the players that coach Rich Wright kept in contact with over the weekend to make sure his family was doing fine.

“Shawn is probably one of the most visible guys on our football team, but I recruit the West Florida area and we had several guys that were impacted by the hurricane,” Wright said. “Just like anything else, you see things on the news and there is a lot of worry and concern for parents. I made sure I went around and talked to every one of our Florida kids.”

As the storm changed and shifted so did the Northwest players that were most affected by it.

“Thankfully for Shawn and his family … once it hit Naples (Florida), it made a right turn and went up through Orlando and that area. It impacted our Apopka, (Florida) kids a little more with Jordan (Thompson) and P.J. (Blaine),” Wright said. “When you are away from your family, it can be a little stressful, but that is what we preach to our kids: Family. We kept communication open. We wanted to know what we could do for them and we wanted them to know that they had us.”

SOCCER

The Bearcat soccer team (1-1) will get its first taste of MIAA action this weekend when it travels to Missouri Western on Friday then plays host to Central Missouri on Sunday.

Neither game will count toward the conference standings, but Northwest coach Tracy Hoza is excited to measure her team against the league foes.

The Griffons are 4-0 this season and have 18 goals in the four contests while allowing just three.

“They have scored a lot of goals,” Hoza said. “I think we are very similar. They have started well and scored big. We haven’t had that yet, but we hope to have it. … We are excited for the matchup to see how both styles compete.”

Central Missouri is also 4-0 this season. Hoza says the conference’s strength is as good as she’s seen it.

“The level of soccer is very good and the level of coaching is very good,” Hoza said. “So many games are streamed live now that we can see and it is just great to see. The conference is doing well against the Northern Sun and against the GAC.”

TENNIS

The Northwest tennis teams will have the chance to play at home – which is a rare event during the fall season – on Friday and Saturday.

The Bearcats will host Missouri Western, Southwest Baptist and Washburn.

“We have some great teams coming in,” Bearcat coach Mark Rosewell said. “We haven’t hosted a fall tournament in a long time. We used to host the ITA for like 20 years, then the tournament got too big for us and they had to go somewhere else with more courts. With our new courts ready, we are excited about playing on that.”

Rosewell hopes to see plenty of fans out at the courts this weekend.

“Where the courts are, everybody walks by there,” Rosewell said. “We will have lots of students walk by and stop. It is always good to have a home crowd no matter what you are doing. The weather is supposed to be outstanding. We are really excited and there is going to be some outstanding tennis going on. There are some good teams coming in and it is going to be good stuff.”

Action will start at 9:30 a.m., on Friday and 9 a.m., on Saturday.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Bearcat cross country teams will have a big early season test this week when they travel to Evansville, Indiana, for the NCAA Preview meet.

The event gives the Bearcat runners a chance to get on the course that the NCAA National Championship will be hosted at in November.

“The competition should be great and our kids are ready for that,” Bearcat coach Scott Lorek said. “This is a new meet on our schedule this year, but it is something I think our program is ready for. … We are excited for it.”

The Bearcat men will carry the most expectations into the meet.

“This is something I think we’ve graduated up to,” Lorek said. “I think they can handle this sort of thing.

“Our top people on the boys’ side are very solid with Brandon Phipps and Brayden Clews-Proctor. Those guys are two of the best, I think, nationally, honestly.”

The Bearcat women are a young team this year, but Lorek thinks the meet will help them too.

“They need this meet as well,” Lorek said. “Our roster has so many new people on the women’s side that we are still finding our way with ‘who is going to be our top-five?’ but the talent is there.”

VOLLEYBALL

The Northwest volleyball team went 3-1 last weekend to improve its record to 4-4 on the season.

They shifted from a two setter lineup to just one primary setter. That means a heavier workload for senior Sarah Dannettell who finished the weekend with 113 assists in the four matches after recording 93 last weekend while sharing the court with sophomore setter Jordyn Musselman.

“I think the lineup gave us some comfort and from that comfort, we were able to work together better,” Woerth said. “It allows us to have more depth.”

Musselman had 59 assists last weekend, but didn’t play this week.

The tough opening schedule gives Woerth the opportunity to test her different lineups against top competition.

“I wanted to know what parts we have and I wanted to be able to mess around and get different people in there to see what is going to work,” Woerth said.