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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball opened its 2024-25 season on Wednesday night with an 89-36 exhibition road loss to No. 13-ranked Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum.
Washburn guard Amaya Davison scored six points for the Ichabods in Wednesday's 89-36 exhibition loss to Kansas State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will play their final exhibition game of the season on Friday at Kansas (6:30 p.m. tipoff).
After the Wildcats scored the first six points of the game Payton Sterk opened up the scoring for Washburn with a 3-pointer at the 8:48 mark of the first quarter.
Kansas State pushed the lead to double digits with hot shooting from deep early on.
The Ichabods held KSU scoreless over the final two and a half minutes of the quarter, going on a 4-0 run to close the quarter with three points by Brooke Gomez.
The Wildcats opened the second quarter with a quick run that made the WU deficit 24 points.
Amaya Davison was able to score six points in a row for Washburn, first with a 3-pointer, followed by a steal and fast break old-fashioned 3-point play. Turnovers kept Washburn from cutting into the lead further with 17 giveaways in the first half as Kansas State went into the break leading 40-19.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After falling to Missouri Western in a hard-fought five-set loss in their first meeting of the season, the Washburn Ichabods rolled to a 3-0 sweep over the No. 23-ranked Griffons Wednesday night in Lee Arena.
The entire Washburn volleyball team celebrates Wednesday's 3-0 MIAA sweep over Missouri Western after recording the final point. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn avenged an earlier loss for the second straight night, with the Ichabods sweeping Northwest Missouri on Tuesday.
"Obviously you feel good about that and as a coach you're happy,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "We're hot right now. We feel good about ourselves, they like each other, everybody's on the same page, the focus is there and the intensity level is really what's there more than anything else.
"In basketball they call it 50-50 balls. Well we have 50-50 balls in volleyball and it's called transition and if you can win the transition balls that's what wins matches and that's what I thought we did tonight.''
With Wednesday's win the Ichabods improved to 18-4 overall and 9-3 in the MIAA while surpassing their win total from the 2023 campaign.
The Ichabods led from start to finish in the opening set for a 25-21 victory before rallying from seven points down to take a 25-23 second-set win and closing out the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set.
Jalyn Stevenson and Alex Dvorak each had four kills for the Ichabods in the first set and battled back from a 16-9 deficit to take a 22-19 lead in the second set on a kill from Emery Keebaugh and closed out the win with a block.
Washburn closed out the match in a third set that saw the Ichabods break a 9-9 tie before using a 10-4 run to pull away from Missouri Western (18-5, 8-3).
The Griffons came back with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the score at 19-19 but Missouri Western's ensuing service ace was wiped off the board due to a successful WU challenge and the Ichabods outscored Missouri Western 5-1 to end the match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After placing fourth in Class 5A in both 2021 and 2022, Seaman's volleyball team broke through last fall to claim the school's first state title.
Now the Vikings' focus is on winning a second straight crown Friday and Saturday at the Tony's Pizza Events in Saturday, earning the top 5A seed with a glossy 37-2 record.
Seaman volleyball celebrates its Class 5A sub-state championship last Saturday at Seaman. [Photo by Charles Spurlock/Special to TSN]
After rolling through last Saturday's home sub-state with straight-set wins over Topeka West (25-10, 25-11) and Maize South (25-15, 25-20), the Vikings will open this year's state title bid with Friday pool play.
Seaman will open its day with a 4:30 p.m. Pool I match against United Kansas Conference foe De Soto, the No. 8 seed at 17-19, followed by a 6:30 match against No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (30-5) and an 8:30 match against No. 4 seed Blue Valley Southwest (32-5).
The top two finishers in both pools will advance to Saturday's 1 p.m. semifinals, followed by the championship and third-place matches.
Maggie Moulden, one of six seniors on the Seaman roster, said she feels like the Vikings are up to the challenge of repeating.
“(We're) definitely wanting to go back and win state again,'' Moulden said. "We know we’re going to see very good competition, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Senior Kinley Wilhelm agreed.
“We just have a connection like no other and this is our fourth straight trip as seniors and I think it is a great opportunity to have one last ride together,'' she said. "I’m super-excited with how we played (in sub-state) and hoping we can transfer that to the tournament (this weekend).”
On the other side of the 5A bracket are No. 2 seed Great Bend (35-2), No. 3 Andover (31-4), No. 6 St. James Academy (28-6) and No. 7 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (30-7).
CLASS 5A VOLLEYBALL
At Tony's Pizza Events Center, Salina
FRIDAY'S POOL PLAY
Pool I
3:30 p.m. -- Blue Valley Southwest (4: 32-5) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (5: 30-5).
4:30 -- Seaman (1: 37-2) vs. De Soto (8: 17-19).
5:30 -- Blue Valley Southwest vs. De Soto.
6:30 -- Seaman vs. St. Thomas Aquinas.
7:30 -- St. Thomas Aquinas vs. De Soto.
8:30 -- Seaman vs. Blue Valley Southwest.
Pool II
3:30 p.m. -- Andover (3: 31-4) vs. St. James Academy (6: 28-6).
4:30 -- Great Bend (2: 35-2) vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (7: 30-7).
5:30 -- Andover vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
6:30 -- Great Bend vs. St. James Academy.
7:30 -- St. James Academy vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
8:30 -- Great Bend vs. Blue Valley Southwest.
SATURDAY
1 p.m -- Semifinals.
(Championship and third-place matches 25 minutes after conclusion of last semifinal).
Eight-time champ Rural No. 4 seed in Class 6A
Washburn Rural has flown under the radar a little bit this fall, earning the No. 5 ranking in Class 6A through the regular season, but Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues are back in their familiar spot as a state contender, earning the No. 4 state seed with a 30-6 record entering Friday and Saturdays state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina.
Washburn Rural celebrates a kill from senior Layla Collins (3) in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state volleyball tournament at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Junior Blues dominated last Saturday's sub-state at Rural, taking a 25-11, 25-8 semifinal win over Liberal before earning its state berth with a 25-14, 25-19 win over Lawrence Free State in the championship match.
Rural, which has won eight state titles under Bordewick, most recently in 2022, will open this season's state bid with three Friday pool matches, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The Junior Blues will open the state tourney with an 8:30 match against No. 5 seed Wichita North (30-8), followed by a 10:30 match against No. 8 Manhattan (20-15) and closing out pool play against top seed Blue Valley West (33-4) at 1:30 p.m.
Bordewick, No. 2 on the all-time Kansas wins list, said seeds don't matter a lot at state and that his team will approach things the way it always has.
"We've been the low seed, we've been middle, we've been the top seed and everybody's got an even record,'' Bordewick said. "We're just going to play as hard as we possibly can.
"The pressure's what you make of it and we're just going to go in and just see what we can do.''
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The 2024 All Shawnee County girls golf team -- From left: Addyson Baer, Hayden; Izzy Glotzbach, Hayden; Lauren Borjon, Hayden; Taylor Zordel, Silver Lake; Lauren Cox, Washburn Rural; Reece Randall, Washburn Rural. Not pictured: Natalie Peterson, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six state medalists, including three first-team repeat picks, headline the 2024 All-Shawnee County girls golf team.
Hayden juniors Lauren Borjon and Izzy Glotzbach are both first-team repeaters after helping lead the Wildcats to their second straight Class 4A state team championship while Silver Lake Taylor Zordel is a three-time all-county selection after earning her fourth straight state medal and leading the Eagles to first and second-place team finishes as a junior and senior.
Washburn Rural senior Natalie Peterson won the individual title in the city tournament and helped the Junior Blues post a third-place team finish in the Class 6A state tournament. [Washburn Rural golf]
Hayden, which won the 2024 4A crown by 15 strokes, also put senior state medalist Addyson Baer on the seven-member first team while city champion Washburn Rural, which finished third in Class 6A, is represented by seniors Reece Randall and Natalie Peterson and junior Lauren Cox. Randall and Peterson moved up to the All-Shawnee County first team this fall after being second-team picks in 2023.
Borjon placed third, Glotzbach 12th and Baer tied for 16th in 4A while Zordel finished fourth in 3A-1A as both a junior and a senior.
Randall tied for 10th and Peterson tied for 12th in 6A while Cox narrowly missed a state medal, tying for 22nd place.
Named to this year's second team were Washburn Rural senior Colbey Stead and sophomore Kailyn Petersen, Seaman senior Jaycee Zimmerman and Makenna Stuke, Topeka West senior Alex Baxter, Silver Lake junior Kailyn Hanni and Hayden >>Brooke Johnson.
All-Shawnee County first-team capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 season with an 84-53 exhibition loss at No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
Tyson Ruud scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his Washburn debut Tuesday night at Kansas. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn, ranked No. 10 in the initial NABC Preseason Coaches Poll, will open its regular season on Nov. 8, facing Sioux Falls at 3 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
Washburn fell behind 11-2 four-plus minutes into the first half and the Jayhawks pushed their lead to 16 (38-22) at the halftime break after hitting 15 of 28 shots from 3-point range and holding the Ichabods to 9 of 31 shooting from the field in the opening stanza.
The Jayhawks pushed their lead to 63-28 with 13:28 to play in the second half.
Washburn improved its shooting in the second half to 40 percent, hitting 12 of 30 shots to finish 21 of 61 (34 percent) overall while going 6 of 20 from 3-point range.
Washburn Rural product Jack Bachelor led the Ichabods with 13 points, adding five rebounds and five assists with no turnovers in 31 minutes of play.
Redshirt freshman Tyson Ruud scored 10 points and added seven rebounds off the bench in his Washburn debut.
David Coit led four Jayhawks in double figures with 19 points, hitting 5 of 10 3-point attempts.
The Ichabods were outrebounded 42 to 32 and each team had 16 turnovers.
