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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball will begin its 56th season at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with an exhibition game at Kansas State.
Washburn's Yibari Nwidadah returns for her junior season after averaging 12.4 points and 9.1 rebounds last season. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is coming off a 13-16 season in 2023-24, finishing 10th in the MIAA with an 8-14 record in the conference and advancing to the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
Kansas State was picked to finish No. 1 in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll and is ranked No. 13 by the Associated Press. The Wildcats are coming off a 26-8 season with a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Ichabods were picked to finish ninth in the MIAA Preseason Media Poll for the 2024-2025 season and were tabbed 10th by the coaches.
Washburn returns eight letter-winners from last season's roster while adding seven new faces, with five incoming freshmen and two junior transfers rounding out the 15-player roster.
The five freshmen are flanked by four sophomores and a junior class that is six players deep. It is the first roster without a senior going back to the 1980's.
Among the returning group the Ichabods will have 70.7 percent of last season's rebounding returning along with 61.6 percent of the scoring.
A season ago Washburn averaged 67.6 points per game while shooting 39.6 percent from the floor, 29.9 from 3-point range and 69.7 from the free throw line. They averaged 39.1 rebounds to go along with 11.2 assists and allowed an average of 65.1 points per game.
Wednesday's matchup against Kansas State is the first for WU since a 68-39 exhibition loss on Oct. 31, 2021.
Yibari Nwidadah leads the group of eight Washburn returners, earning All-MIAA honorable mention as a sophomore. The Olathe native was second on the team with a 12.4 scoring average while shooting a team-high 54.8 percent from the field. She also led the Ichabods with a 9.1 rebounding average, second best in the MIAA. Nwidadah was fifth in the conference with 11 double-doubles.
Aniah Wayne was the third leading scorer for the Ichabods a season ago during her first year in Topeka. As a sophomore she averaged 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds and made a team-high 45 3-pointers.
Gabi Giovannetti shot a team-high 37.0 percent from behind the 3-point arc a season ago while contributing 6.5 points on 38.0 percent shooting along with 2.1 rebounds and and 1.0 assists. She connected on 30 3-pointers in her sophomore season and had two games with more than 20 points.
Payton Sterk joins Washburn after transferring from Cal State East Bay. The 5-foot-10 guard will be a junior after averaging 18.5 points on 37.6 percent shooting with 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals a game. She started all 28 games for the Pioneers playing 37.1 minutes per game and made a team-high 83 3-pointers. Sterk is a Colorado Springs, Colo. native.
Kansas State is ranked No. 13 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/WBCA Coaches presason polls. It is the fourth time in program history that K-State is ranked preseason.
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Using a strong passing attack and a couple of well-placed free kicks, the Topeka West boys soccer team rolled past Goddard 7-0 in the first round of the KSHSAA soccer regionals on Monday night at Hummer Sports Park.
Junior Giancarlo Valenzuela (10) scored a pair of goals in Monday's 7-0 Topeka West Class 5A regional win over Goddard. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Valentin Del Real (3) scored two goals and had an assist in Monday's Topeka West 7-0 win over Goddard in a Class 5A regional opener. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The host Chargers (13-3-1) dominated possession early, but were unable to break the Lion (7-10-0) defense.
Topeka West produced its first serious chance in the 14th minute, with an open shot from freshman Valentin Del Real that forced Goddard goalkeeper Matthew Macy to make an impressive diving save.
About 30 seconds later, the Chargers would break the scoreless deadlock after a pass from D’Ante Smith Dilone’ found Giancarlo Valenzuela for the opening goal of the contest.
After taking the early lead, the goals came quickly for Topeka West.
After his earlier near-miss, Del Real drove through the Lion defense and finished with a goal, giving the Chargers a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute.
A few minutes later, Makaly Martinez was fouled on the left wing, giving Topeka West a free kick in a dangerous position. Martinez took the kick himself, putting the ball out of the reach of Macy in the top right corner to extend the Charger lead to 3-0.
Topeka West would add another goal just before halftime, after Diego Gonzalez-Talavera’s pass found Del Real in the 38th minute for the freshman’s second goal of the opening frame.
The Chargers started the second half quickly, with Gonzalez-Talavera joining the scoring frenzy with an unassisted goal just 30 seconds into the half.
Despite being down 5-0, Goddard continued to play hard, occasionally putting pressure on the Topeka West defense.
In the 44th minute, Goddard’s Kyler Mashaney found himself past the Charger back line, drawing goalkeeper Gage Kindred-Noragon out from the goal. Kindred-Noragon attempted to clear the ball, but it found the feet of Dylan Loerke, whose shot attempt at the wide-open net went wide right.
After the defensive scare, the Charger offense went back to work, with junior Morris Blick extending the lead to 6-0 in the 53rd minute after Del Real threaded a pass through the center of the Goddard defense.
In the 68th minute, Topeka West once again showed off its ability to produce chances from free kicks, with Valenzuela bending a shot into the top left corner of the goal for the Chargers’ final tally.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After five straight matches away from home, Washburn University volleyball is back in Lee Arena for a pair of mid-week MIAA matches, taking on Northwest Missouri on Tuesday before finishing out the week on Wednesday against No. 23-ranked Missouri Western, with both matches starting at 6 p.m.
After a five-match road trip, Washburn volleyball begins a four-match homestand Tuesday against Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Wednesday's match will be the 2024 Pink Out Game and all fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match. The first 100 fans attending will receive a t-shirt and a volleyball signed by the team will be auctioned off. All proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society.
The Ichabods are 16-4 on the year overall and 7-3 inside the MIAA.
WU is coming off a 3-2 road win over Emporia State, winning the first two sets against the Hornets and holding on with a 15-6 fifth set to sweep the regular season series with the Hornets.
Jalyn Stevenson is the team leader with 223 kills while hitting .203 across her 20 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 230 and in aces with 26. The senior is 14th in the MIAA in kills and has seven double-doubles on the year and 12 matches with 10-plus kills.
Stevenson ranks 18th in program history with 1,214 career kills. She will move into 17th with seven more kills. She is also eighth on the program charts in aces and 20th in digs. She needs two aces to move up to 7th.
Alex Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 97 blocks on the year while starting every match. She sits third on the team in kills with 154 and is second with a .369 hitting percentage. The junior is second in the MIAA in blocks per set and third in total blocks. She is also third in the conference in hitting percentage.
Shawnee Heights product Taylor Rottinghaus has a team-high 360 digs across 20 matches and has chipped in 70 assists and served 21 aces. The sophomore eighth in the MIAA in digs per set while also ranking eighth among conference players in total digs. She has at least 10 digs in every match.
Corinna McMullen paces Washburn with 464 assists and is also third on the team with 166 digs while serving a team-high 28 aces. The junior is 10th in the MIAA in assists per set and total assists while ranking fourth in aces. She has seven double-doubles on the year and four matches with at least 30 assists.
McMullen is 12th in program history in total assists with 1,894. She is 16th in program history in service aces with 110. She needs three more to move up to 15th.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After battling Blue Valley North to an 80-minute scoreless tie in its regular-season finale, Washburn Rural scored early and often in Monday's Class 6A regional opener, with the No. 3 West seed rolling to an 8-0 win over No. 14 Maize at McElroy Field.
Junior Drew Moore scored a pair of goals in Monday's 8-0 Washburn Rural regional soccer win over Maize. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Draden Chooncharoen (middle) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the first goal in Monday's 8-0 regional win over Maize. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
"Sometimes you kind of forget that these kids sit in school for seven hours a day and then go to practice,'' Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "It's a long season and I think getting through the regular season, now we have a little renewed energy and we had one of our best practices Saturday morning.
"I think now that was just kind of the renewed focus of, 'Now we're here, now we're in the playoffs.' We know where we are in the bracket, we know who's up next, so I think there was excitement to play tonight.''
The Junior Blues advanced to Thursday's 6 p.m. regional final, where 12-2-3 Rural will host the winner of Tuesday's game between Derby and Lawrence Free State.
Washburn Rural needed only 2 minutes, 34 seconds to score the only goal it would need Monday night, with junior Draden Chooncharoen scoring off an assist from junor Dylan Willingham.
Less than two minutes later it was Willingham that found the back of the net and the Junior Blues were off and running.
Juniors Higgins Hawks and Brandon Hamilton scored to make it a 4-0 game by the 19:13 mark of the opening half and junior Drew Moore added a pair of goals in a span of less than a minute late in the half to give the Junior Blues a commanding 6-0 advantage.
Brandon Hamilton (14), who scored a first-half goal, advances the ball in Monday's 8-0 Washburn Rural regional win over Maize. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Junior Liam Morrison (4) is congratulated after scoring a second-half goal in Monday's 6-0 Washburn Rural regional victory over Maize. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Junior Liam Morrison scored 4:33 into the second half to give Rural a 7-0 lead and the Junior Blues ended the game by way of the eight-goal spread rule on a penalty kick from senior Ryder Nikkel with 11:48 remaining.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University Ichabods will open the 120th season of men's basketball at 7 p.m. Tuesday with an exhibition game against No. 1-ranked Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.
Senior Andrew Orr is a top returner for Washburn men's basketball after earning second-team All-MIAA honors last season. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn junior Sam Ungashick earned All-MIAA honorable mention last season in his first year at WU. [File photo/TSN]
The meeting will be the first between the two schools since the Ichabods fell 89-54 in an exhibition game on Dec. 3, 2020.
Washburn finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-11 record while advancing to the MIAA Tournament semifinals while Kansas is coming off a 23-11 campaign where it advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 33rd time in the last 34 years, a run that started in 1990.
For the second straight season and fifth time in poll history, Kansas men's basketball enters the season ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press.
Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard spent seven years on Bill Self's staff at KU after graduating in 2003. He was the director of basketball operations for his final two seasons on staff, and prior to that, served as the administrative assistant/video coordinator for four years and a volunteer student assistant for one year.
Washburn has recorded 30 20-win seasons and four under Ichabod head coach Ballard in his seven seasons, receiving four NCAA postseason berths.
The Ichabods return four players who started at least half of last season's 30 games and eight players return who saw action last year.
Washburn returns two All-MIAA performers in senior Andrew Orr (13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds per game), who was a second-team All-MIAA pick last season and Sam Ungashick, who received honorable mention after averaging 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Other returning starters include Brady Christiansen (7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds) and Michael Keegan (7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds).
Washburn Rural product Jack Bachelor started 11 games and averaged 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists as a freshman.
