By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Playing behind veteran Washburn University setters Corinna McMullen and Sydney Conner the past two seasons, Shannon Frakes saw spot action, but had to wait her turn to crack the Ichabod lineup.
Junior first-year starter Shannon Frakes has been named the MIAA Setter of the Week the past two weeks for No. 4-ranked Washburn volleyball. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
And after getting that chance, the 6-foot junior is off to a monster start, helping lead the No. 4-ranked Ichabods to a perfect 8-0 start entering Friday and Saturday's Ichabod Classic in Lee Arena.
"It's just really fun to compete, and just playing some good teams'' said Frakes, a former Spring Hill standout. "And as the competition ramps up it's just exciting, and this is a really fun team.''
Frakes, who played for former WU standout Erica (Cowhick) Book at Spring Hill, has been named the MIAA Setter of the Week the past two weeks to begin the 2026 season.
Frakes helped Washburn go 4-0 in last weekend's Sioux Falls Classic, leading the team and the MIAA with 158 total assists (12.15 per set) as the Ichabods hit over .250 as a team in three of the four matches.
Frakes also registered 38 total digs (2.92 per set) on the defensive end to post a pair of double-doubles, while also serving four aces, slashing 11 kills and making four blocks.
In a three-set sweep over Upper Iowa, Frakes dished out 38 assists while making 11 digs.
On the season Frakes leads Washburn with 320 assists (11.85 per set) and she is second on the team in digs with 90 (3.33 per set) while also recording 26 kills, 11 blocks and serving eight aces.
Frakes has three matches with 40-plus assists and has recorded a team-high five double-doubles. She leads the nation in assists per set while ranking 15th in the MIAA in digs per set.
"I think my teammates have really showed that they have confidence in me, which helps give me confidence and I think we just lean on each other a lot,'' Frakes said.
Frakes played in 20 matches and 30 sets off the bench last season after playing in 15 matches and 25 sets as a freshman before moving into a major role for Chris Herron's Ichabods this fall.
"Shannon was good enough to start for us before this year,'' Herron said. "But I tell this to my teams every year, 'You might be the best athlete, you might be the best whatever, but something about the fit with the team isn't quite right.' And I think the biggest thing with Rinni and Syd were they just had the trust of the team. They had been the setters since they were freshmen, so the team just trusted in them and were comfortable with them.
"It wasn't that they were uncomfortable with Shannon, it's just that they were more comfortable with those two.''
But Herron knew that Frakes was the Ichabods' setter of the future and has not been surprised by her fast start.
"As soon as the season was over last year I told her, 'This is your team now, this is your team,' and she's just run with it,'' Herron said. "She's playing at an All-America level right this second.''
Now the key for Frakes and the Ichabod is to continue to be at their best in this weekend's Ichabod Classic, Washburn's second home tournament in three weeks.
"We just need to remain consistent as a team and especially as the competition gets harder just kind of level out and play at a high level at all times,'' Frakes said.
The Ichabods will play two matches on each day of the tournament, starting with Missouri-St. Louis at 11:30 a.m. and University of Arkansas at Monticello at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Day 2 for Washburn begins against Southwestern Oklahoma State at 10 a.m. on Saturday before the Ichabods close out the weekend against Drury at 3 p.m.
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