MARYVILLE, Mo. — Northwest Missouri State roared back from a disappointing outing in a record-setting way.

The Bearcats (4-1, 3-0 MIAA) allowed only 92 yards in total offense to Truman State in Saturday’s 70-0 rout of the Bulldogs. That defensive performance shattered a record of 118 yards allowed against Missouri Southern in 2002.

Along the way, the Bearcats sacked Truman’s quarterback eight times — the most in coach Mel Tjeerdsma’s 16-year tenure — boosting their total of a Division II-best 24 sacks.

It was a pleasant surprise for Tjeerdsma after a less-than-stellar showing in a victory against Nebraska-Omaha the week before.

“We weren’t very happy with the way we played against UNO, and everyone accepted the challenge to be ready to play (against Truman),” Tjeerdsma said. “Unfortunately for Truman, our third- and fourth-string guys also were ready to play.”

The starters ended their day early, with the Bearcats up 42-0 by halftime. Tjeerdsma said the decision at halftime was that the offensive starters would sit out the entire second half.

The defensive starters were going to get one series in the second half, but after Tyler Shaw ran back the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, they were finished, too.

“There comes a point where you’ve got to think about not just your team but the other team,” Tjeerdsma said.

The upside is that Northwest’s starters will be well-rested. The downside could be that those same starters could be not quite as sharp as they might be, had they gotten more playing time last Saturday.

“Some of our defensive guys didn’t get many snaps,” Tjeerdsma admitted. “Some of our starters only got 12 to 14 snaps. Some may say you’ve got to play them more, but we’ll be all right.”

Top ’Cat for tourney

Erin Luchtel has found herself on top of the Bearcat women’s golf heap in time for Northwest’s home tournament.

Luchtel has qualified for the team’s No. 1 spot for the Bearcat Classic, a two-day tournament that gets under way at 10 a.m. Thursday at Mozingo Golf Course. Friday’s round begins at 9 a.m.

The junior from Lee’s Summit North has been with the team from its inception as a varsity sport three seasons ago.

“She’s come a long way since she was a freshman, when she was playing the No. 4 and 5 spots,” coach Pat McLaughlin said. “Last year she worked her way up to the No. 3 spot, and this year she’s played in the 1 or 2 spot the entire season.”

After their own tournament concludes on Friday, the team will leave Saturday morning for a practice round in Omaha in preparation for the Omaha Invitational, which will be held Sunday and Monday.

Digging Paige

With 25 digs on Friday against nationally ranked Pittsburg State and 16 more against Southwest Baptist on Saturday, libero Paige Spangenberg continued her long quest for the top spot in Northwest’s volleyball record books.

Spangenberg started the season in sixth place on the Northwest charts in career digs, but she recently pushed her way to No. 2 on the list and now sits at 1,547.

“She’s a little ways away from first and Jill Quast at 1,924, but she’s got another whole year left in her career to achieve and climb up those charts and the record books,” coach Anna Tool said.

Quast set the record over a career that spanned 1997 to 2000.

Attack mode

After a disappointing week against two MIAA opponents, Tool is ready to put her volleyball team in attack mode. The Bearcats lost 3-0 at Pittsburg State and 3-1 against Southwest Baptist, when Northwest got “knocked off kilter” in the second game and never recovered, Tool said.

“Sometimes when you have a loss like it was against Southwest Baptist, it’s an even bigger kind of a kick in the pants to get things moving,” Tool said.

Tool wants the offensive fire to be on display when the Bearcats open play at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the Washburn Invitational against Tarleton State.

“Yes, we’re scouting our opponents; yes, we’re aware of their strengths and weaknesses. But we’re really kind of focusing on ourselves,” Tool said. “We want an aggressive, offensive mentality and just have an all-out, no-holds-barred atmosphere out there.”

Ticket tango

Northwest has already sold its first allotment of 500 tickets for Saturday’s football game against Missouri Western and began selling a second allotment of 700 additional tickets at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The geographic rivalry has taken on additional luster with both teams ranked nationally. This is just the second time in the series in which both teams have been nationally ranked at the time of their meeting.

Northwest is No. 6 and Western No. 12. The previous time both entered the game nationally ranked was in 2006, when the second-ranked Bearcats beat the No. 16-ranked Griffons 24-21 in Maryville.

A large crowd is expected for the game, which is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Spratt Stadium in St. Joseph.