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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman continued its fantastic fall in the United Kansas Conference Tuesday night at Piper, with the Vikings clinching the league volleyball championship with wins over Piper and Lansing.
Seaman's volleyball team clinched the United Kansas Conference title Tuesday night with wins over Piper and Lansing. [Submitted photo]
The Vikings opened the night with a 25-20, 25-22 win over Piper and then knocked off defending Class 5A state champion Lansing, 25-22, 25-23.
With Tuesday's wins, first-year UKC member Seaman won its third league championship of the fall season and its second of the day.
The Vikings won the UKC girls golf championship by 51 strokes last week and won the league girls tennis title earlier Tuesday at Kossover Tennis Center by a 75-64 margin over De Soto.
Seaman's volleyball team is now 20-4 on the season and has won 14 straight matches.
The Vikings will compete in a triangular at Bishop Miege on Thursday (5 p.m. start).
West soccer posts second straight win
After beating Leavenworth 1-0 last Thursday to snap a winless streak that dated back to 2020, Topeka West's boys soccer team made it two United Kansas Conference wins in a row with a 2-1 win over Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
Topeka West got on the scoreboard in the first half on a Basehor-Linwood own goal, with Giancarlo Valenzuela the closest Charger player pressuring the ball.
Jaden Patterson scored an insurance goal for Topeka West in the second half off an assist from Lenny Njoroge.
Basehor-Linwood scored its lone goal on a shot from Tim Sedlock with 50 seconds remaining.
With Tuesday's victory, West is now 2-3-1 in the United Kansas Conference and 2-9-1 overall.
The Chargers will play Shawnee Heights in a 6:15 p.m. UKC contest Thursday night at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 12-ranked Washburn volleyball team won its second five-set marathon of the season against No. 5-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday evening to hand the Lopers their second loss of the year.
No. 12-ranked Washburn volleyball outlasted No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney in five sets on the road Tuesday night, improving to 14-3 on the season. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods posted a 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 19-25 and 15-12 victory to improve their record to 14-3 (6-3 MIAA) and Washburn has now won four in a row over Nebraska-Kearney, marking the first time that has happened in program history.
Washburn jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage in the opening set and held a 9-7 lead before Nebraska-Kearney put together a 6-1 run to go up, 13-10.
The Ichabods fought back and tied the set at 15 and 16, but another 6-1 run created some breathing room for the Lopers.
Trailing 22-17, Halle Meister knocked down a kill to spark a 5-1 scoring stretch to pull WU within one. Nebraska-Kearney held on, though, winning the next 2 points to take the 25-22 win.
2
The Lopers (17-2, 7-2 MIAA) were up 4-3 in the second set when the Ichabods went on a 5-1 run to go in front, 8-5.
During that stint, Jalyn Stevenson registered three kills. Washburn held on to the lead for the remainder of the set and closed out the frame with 4 unanswered points to take the 6-point win and even the match at 1-1. Stevenson knocked down a team-high six kills with zero errors in the set.
After dropping the first 2 points in the third set, Washburn came storming back and scored 10 of the next 12 to lead, 10-4.
A 9-3 run chiseled Washburn's lead down to 19-18, forcing an Ichabod timeout.
Washburn returned to the court after the timeout and won the next 3 points before Nebraska-Kearney responded with back-to-back points.
The Lopers initially pulled within one at 22-21 after a kill, but the call was challenged by Washburn and overturned to an attacking error ruling to put the Ichabods up, 23-20. Nebraska-Kearney couldn't get any closer as Washburn went up 2-1 in the match with a 25-21 decision in the third.
Errors piled up for Washburn in the fourth set as the Ichabods hit a dismal .073 and Nebraska-Kearney never trailed in the game. The Ichabods used a late 4-0 rally to cut the deficit to three at 22-19, but the Lopers won the last 3 points to force the decisive fifth set.
The fifth set was a back-and-forth battle with six lead changes and 10 tie scores.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Topeka High’s 2-1 non-conference soccer win over Shawnee Heights Tuesday night at the Bettis Family Sports Complex may have been the most impressive win of the season for the Trojans.
Topeka High's CJ Brown (6) jumps on Alexis Salas after Salas scored the game-winning goal in the Trojans' 2-1 win over Shawnee Heights off an assist from Chris Gomez (left). [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High's Jaime Alvarado scored his team's first goal in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Shawnee Height. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With the win over Shawnee Heights, Topeka High has won six out of its last eight games. The two losses during the hot streak were both overtime games.
“The guys are buying into what we are trying to do here,” Topeka High coach Derek Snook said. “Our kids are doing a great job into tuning out all of the outside noise that can affect most teams. All of the negative stuff from the outside world doesn’t matter when everyone is buying in with each other.”
Coming into the contest on Tuesday, Shawnee Heights was one of the hottest teams in the state. The Thunderbirds had won six straight games before the loss to the Trojans.
“We didn’t finish the way we wanted to today,” Shawnee Heights coach Nic Simons said. “In tight games you need to take advantage of the opportunities that you have and limit the opportunities that we give up. I don’t think we played well enough on either side of the ball tonight.”
Shawnee Heights' Jordan Garvin (right) is congratulated after scoring an early goal in the T-Birds' 2-1 losss to Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights looked explosive offensively early. Star midfielder Jordan Garvin booted in a goal from the middle of the goalbox above the goalkeeper's head for a goal with 24:16 remaining in the first half to give the T-Birds a 1-0 lead.
“I thought we looked great for the first 20 minutes of the first half,” Simons said. “Our shots on goal were good and the effort was good early.”
Physically dominating defensive play from the Trojans and the Thunderbirds kept the contest scoreless for another 10 minutes.
With 14:04 left in the half, Topeka High was able to get some good separation away from the Thunderbirds in the alley on the way to the box. Chris Gomez would set up Jamie Alvarado perfectly for the game-tying goal.
Topeka High would waste no time at all capitalizing on its momentum. One minute and 18 seconds later, Topeka High would score again.
Gomez would tap the ball high towards the head of Alexis Salas and Salas would knock in the goal with the top of his head to give Topeka High the 2-1 lead before the halftime break.
“We were on our heels a bit after giving up that goal to (Garvin) earlier,” Snook said. “Those two goals were key for us. They bought into the fact from that point on that we were going to have to defend our goal for the rest of the game. That’s difficult when you play a good team like Shawnee Heights. We were able to get it done tonight.”
The second half displayed some incredible defense from both schools.
Jose Guajardo-Arizpe, Jack Martin, Jack Phillips, Jesus Carillo-Cardona and Ryan Bell kept the high-flying Topeka High offense shut down in the second half. Despite all of the opportunities that the Trojans had, the Thunderbird defenders gave the offense a chance.
Those chances that the Thunderbird defenders provided were short-lived by Topeka High’s “brick wall” backline. Diego Carlos, Lawrence Rizo, Thomas Schmidt, Victor Mesta and others played at an extremely high level in the 40-minute half.
With 3:23 left in the game, High goalie Billy Lutz and forward Logan Murray sacrificed their bodies to prevent Shawnee Heights from tying the game. Shawnee Heights' Garvin found a wide-open lane near the goal. Murray went for the slide tackle on the ball and Lutz dove in front of the ball face first to keep the Thunderbirds away.
The collision looked tough but luckily both Murray and Lutz were both okay after the collision. That dangerous sacrifice saved Topeka High’s lead and it led to the Trojan victory.
“You have to be a little crazy to be a goalkeeper,” Snook said. “Sometimes you have to put yourself in harm's way. Billy did a great job coming out and getting the ball. The best part of that was Logan backtracking from his midfield position after they beat our defense and helped knock that ball out of there.”
TOPEKA HIGH 2, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 1
Topeka High (7-4-0) 2 0 – 2
Shawnee Heights (6-4-1) 1 0 – 1
Goals: Topeka High – Alvarado, Salas. Shawnee Heights – Garvin.
Assists: Topeka High – Gomez (2).
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake football quarterback Tanner Martin and Seaman tennis standouts Katie Krumins and Molly Gorman have been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week for last week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Martin, Gorman and Krumins last week:
Seaman freshman Molly Gorman and junior Katie Krumins won the doubles championship in the United Kansas Conference tennis tournament, helping the Vikings win the league team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
MOLLY GORMAN and KATIE KRUMINS, Seaman
Gorman, a freshman, and Krumins, a junior, teamed up to win the doubles championship in Tuesday's United Kansas Conference tennis tournament at Kossover Tennis Center, capped by an 8-2 decision over Seaman teammates Kate Eckert and Ella Foxhoven in the championship match.
Gorman and Krumins went a perfect 5-0 on the day, helping the Vikings win the team championship by a 75-64 margin over De Soto in Seaman's first year in the UKC.
Silver Lake junior quarterback Tanner Martin threw for a TD and the game-winning 2-point coversion in overtime to give the Eagles a 22-21 win over Rossville last Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
TANNER MARTIN, Silver Lake
A 6-foot, 178-pound junior quarterback, Martin completed 18 of 35 pass attempts for 276 yards and three touchdowns in Silver Lake's 22-21 home overtime win over Rossville last Friday night in the Eagles' Class 2A district opener.
Martin threw for a 10-yard TD and a 2-point conversion to senior Troy Heiman in overtime to give Silver Lake the victory, with the Eagles improving to 3-2 on the season.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After coming up a point shy in its bid for the city girls tennis championship, Seaman never let Tuesday's United Kansas Conference meet get close, with the Vikings rolling to the team championship in their first year in the league by a 75-64 margin over De Soto at Kossover Tennis Center.
Seaman girls tennis poses with the UKC trophy after rolling to the singles, doubles and team championships Tuesday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman got UKC titles from senior Lauren Sweeney in singles and from junior Katie Krumins and freshman Molly Gorman in doubles while Kate Eckert and Ella Foxhoven added a runner-up finish in doubles and Nina Del-Zio finished third in singles.
Sweeney capped off her championship run with an 8-2 win over De Soto's Emma Hellerich in the singles final while Krumins and Gorman topped their Seaman teammates Eckert and Foxhoven in the doubles championship, 8-2. Del-Zio earned a third-place singles finish with an 8-0 win over Shawnee Heights' Annika Scheller.
Seaman senior Lauren Sweeney won the UKC singles championship Tuesday, helping lead the Vikings to the team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman doubles players Katie Krumins and Molly Gorman won the UKC doubles title Tuesday as the Vikings swept the singles, doubles and team championships. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I was worried because De Soto was hanging aound and they were in all the semifinals,'' Seaman coach Jamie Robinson said. "So even though it looks like on paper that we dominated, it was a little decey there. If we had dropped another semifinal match it could have got interesting quick.''
But it didn't happen, with Seaman doing everything it needed to do to put the title away by a convincing margin.
Now the Vikings will try to use Tuesday's title as a building block for Saturday's Class 5A regional at Emporia.
"It's definitely cool,'' said Sweeney, a state doubles champion as a junior. "This should give us a confidence boost for sure.''
