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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn University volleyball coach Chris Herron is confident his Ichabods can beat any team in the MIAA Tournament.
Washburn's volleyball team will take a 21-7 record into Thursday's MIAA Tournament quarterfinal against Central Oklahoma. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But Herron also knows the Ichabods, who have been up and down as of late, are going to need to be at their very best if they're going to be able to make a run at the title.
No. 20-ranked Washburn (21-7 overall, 12-6 MIAA) is the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seed and No. 21-ranked Central Oklahoma (24-6, 14-6) in a quarterfinal match at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
The Ichabods went 1-1 last week, beating Central Missouri before losing to Missouri Western.
"We have a Jekyll and Hyde deal going on right now with this team,'' Herron said. "We just don't know what's going to happen, what's going to show up. We played lights out against Central Missouri, a nationally-ranked team, and the next day you almost limp into the match against Missouri Western.
"So what we can expect right now, we don't know. We can beat any team in this conference, but we can also lose to any team in this conference and that just comes from a lot of reasons and we're going to leave it at that. I could expand on that and I'm not going to.''
Thursday's match will be the third meeting between the Ichabods and the Bronchos this fall, with the Ichabods looking for their first win after the Bronchos took the first two matchups.
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eaBy RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: The college fall letter of intent signing period gets under way this week and TopSports.news will post signing updates as they are received. Email any signing information and signing day pictures to Rick Peterson at
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Topeka High multi-sport standout Adisyn Caryl has signed a softball letter of intent with Illinois.
Topeka High multi-sport standout Adisyn Caryl has signed a softball letter of intent with Illinois. [Submitted photo]
Caryl has helped the Trojans win back-to-back Class 6A state softball championships and has also made multiple state appearances in tennis and basketball.
Caryl earned All-Shawnee County, All-Centennial League and All-Class 6A first-team honors last spring for the Trojans.
Adisyn Caryl will join older sister Zoe at Illinois.
Rural's Beck, Rohn sign soccer letters with Washburn -- Washburn Rural senior goalkeeper Hailey Beck and senior forward/midfielder Mackinly Rohn have signed letters of intent with Washburn University's soccer program.
Washburn Rural standout goalkeeper Hailey Beck has signed a soccer letter of intent with Washburn University. [Submitted photo]
Washburn Rural forward/midfielder Mackinly Rohn has signed with Washburn's soccer program. [File photo/TSN]
Beck and Rohn helped the Junior Blues post a second-place finish in the 6A state tournament last spring and a third-place state finish in 2021.
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[Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Washburn University had four players earn All-MIAA volleyball honors on Wednesday afternoon, led by first-team picks Halle Meister and Jalyn Stevenson.
Kealy Kiviniemi earned second-team recognition while Corinna McMullenn received honorable mention.
Senior middle blocker Meister has turned in a career year en route to her first all-conference award.
In her 27 starts and 103 sets played, Meister has totaled 237 kills and currently leads the MIAA with a .363 attacking percentage. She has hit above .400 in 13 matches and has hit above .500 in nine of those.
Defensively, Meister leads Washburn with 82 total blocks and has made 11 solo blocks.
Stevenson, a sophomore outside hitter, earns her second-consecutive All-MIAA award after receiving honorable mention as a freshman.
This season Stevenson leads the Ichabods with 320 kills (sixth in the MIAA) for a 3.11 kills per set average (seventh in the MIAA). She has recorded 16 double-figure kill matches and knocked down a career-best 24 kills against No. 24 Central Missouri on Nov. 4.
Behind the service line, Stevenson is second on the team in aces with 34. She has notched 11 double-doubles this fall as she's also helped the team defensively and is third on the squad in digs, totaling 315 for a 3.06 digs per set average.
There have now been 25 different Washburn volleyball players to earn All-MIAA first team honors for a total of 44 first-team awards since Chris Herron took over the program in 2002.
After seeing limited action in the two non-conference tournaments to start the year, freshman right side hitter Kiviniemi has made the most of her time since conference play began.
Kiviniemi has appeared in all 28 matches with 14 starts, playing in 92 of the 106 sets and is up to 207 kills, ranking third on the team.
Kiviniemi holds a .276 attacking percentage and has also made 52 blocks at the net. In the five-set victory at Pittsburg State on Oct. 1, she was crucial in helping the Ichabods win as she led the team with 20 kills and hit .500 for the match. She has recorded six or more kills in 15 of the last 16 matches with five matches with double-digit kill totals.
McMullen, also a true freshman, has handled the majority of the setting duties for the Ichabods and averages 6.52 assists per set and totaled 691 assists on the year.
McMullen has started 27 of the 28 matches and is the only Ichabod to have played in every set. McMullen has had 15 matches with 25+ assists including six matches with over 30 assists.
She has served up 27 aces and leads the team with 12 double-doubles as she also averages 2.33 digs per set. In the four-set win over Missouri Western on Oct. 7, she recorded a season-high 39 assists and scooped up 17 digs.
Washburn will play next in the MIAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed, taking on No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma in the quarterfinal match at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
Former Silver Lake star Marissa Bates, a libero/defensive specialist for Pittsburg State earned second-team All-MIAA honors.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: The college fall letter of intent signing period gets under way this week and TopSports.news will post signing updates as they are received. Email any signing information and signing day pictures to Rick Peterson at
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Shawnee Heights senior volleyball standouts Emily Loy and Taylor Rottinghaus are scheduled to sign college letters of intent at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Heights cafeteria.
Emily Loy
Taylor Rottinghaus
Rottinghaus will sign with Washburn University while Loy is also headed to the MIAA, signing with Missouri Western.
Loy was an All-Shawnee County first-team pick as a junior and received All-United Kansas Conference second-team honors this past season.
Loy registered 285 kills and 35 total blocks as a senior while also contributing 225 digs, 31 assists and 19 aces on 97.1-percent serve efficiency.
Rottinghaus was named to the All-UKC first team and was named the conference defensive player of the year as a senior.
Rottinghaus recorded 376 digs and 75 assists while registering 22 service aces on 94.5-percent serve efficiency.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OK, so taking a full season off from your primary sport to try something completely new might not always be the way to go.
But that unlikely path has paid big dividends for both Hayden junior football standout Finn Dunshee and the 9-1 Wildcats this fall.
Hayden junior Finn Dunshee has made a successful transition from football to rugby back to football for the 9-1 Wildcats [File photo/TSN]
After playing football and running track at Hayden as a freshman, Dunshee spent his sophomore school year at St. Martin's Academy in Fort Scott.
"My uncle (Daniel Kerr) has this really cool boarding school and I went down there and visited and I just really liked the experience of the brotherhood that they had down there,'' Dunshee said. "And my mom wanted me to give it a try so I decided midway through my freshman year, I think after semester, that I was going to go down there the next year.''
While at St. Martin's, Dunshee discovered the sport of rugby.
"They just have rugby and every boy played it,'' Dunshee said. "It's a small school, like 60 kids. I had never played and it was such a fun experience and we were a pretty good team. We took second in the state last year and I played a pretty big role on that team. It was just a great experience.''
