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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High junior tennis standout Madeline Deters and Washburn Rural junior soccer standout Dylan Willingham have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Deters and Willingham over the past week:
Topeka High junior Madeline Deters has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after winning the No. 1 singles title in the Topeka High Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
MADELINE DETERS, Topeka High
A junior tennis standout, Deters won the No. 1 singles championship in last Wednesday's Topeka High Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center.
Deters posted a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament, capped by a 6-3, 6-1 win over Olathe East's Mia Huttenmueller in the title match.
A former Class 6A state qualifier, Deters improved to 14-2 on the season.
Washburn Rural junior soccer standout Dylan Willingham (right) is the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week. [File photo/TSN]
DYLAN WILLINGHAM, Washburn Rural
Willingham, a junior soccer standout, registered three goals and two assists on the week as Washburn Rural improved to 6-1-0 on the season with a pair of Centennial League wins.
Willingham had a goal in last Tuesday's 8-0 win over Junction City and he followed that up with two goals and two assists in last Thursday's 7-0 romp past Hayden.
Willingham was also a Class 6A state tennis medalist in doubles last spring.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES
Washburn Rural junior quarterback John Hoytal and the Junior Blues will try to snap a two-game losing streak in Friday's non-league home game against Blue Valley Northwest. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST (3-0) at WASHBURN RURAL (1-2)
Washburn Rural, which has dropped two straight road games, faces another tough non-league test Friday night against undefeated Blye Valley Northwest. The Junior Blues are coming off a 49-20 loss at Platte County, Mo. while the Huskies took a 27-24 decision over St. James Academy. Northwest senior quarterbacks Ford Bevins and Nathan Baxter have combined to go 25 of 38 passing for 428 yards and six touchdowns while junior L.J. Bowen has carried the ball 53 times for 329 yards and two TDs. Senior Trevor Garlington has 11 pass receptions for 257 yards and two TDs. Washburn Rural got defensive touchdowns from juniors Jordy Heim and Elijah Gaines against Platte County and a 76-yard TD pass from junior John Hoytal to senior Blake Recinos, but the Junior Blues couldn't keep pace with the undefeated Pirates.
Senior Jamon Wilson has helped lead Highland Park to a perfect 3-0 record to open the 2024 season. [File photo/TSN]
KC-HARMON (1-2, 0-2 Meadowlark) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (3-0, 3-0 Meadowlark)
At Hummer Sports Park
Two streaks will be on the line for Highland Park in Friday's Meadowlark Conference game against Harmon. The Scots will be looking for their fourth straight win while also trying to extend their shutout streak after outscoring their first three conference opponents by a 126-0 margin. Highland Park is coming off a 32-0 win over KC-Schlagle while Harmon dropped a 45-0 decision to KC-Washington last Friday. Harmon senior quarterback Mikey Hammer has completed 13 of 39 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown while sophomore Adrian Fernandez has carred the ball 25 times for 167 yards and two TDs. Highland Park junior quarterback Dontrail Fox has completed 17 of 38 passes for 276 yards and five TDs while senior Jamon Wilson has carried the ball 22 times for 275 yards and compiled 605 all-purpose yards and scored seven total TDs. Sophomore G'Honi Montgomery has 247 rushing yards and a TD on 35 attempts.
Topeka High junior quarterback Zane Smith has helped the Trojans get off to a 3-0 start this fall. [File photo/TSN]
TOPEKA HIGH (3-0, 0-0 Centennial) at EMPORIA (0-3, 0-0 Centennial)
At Welch Stadium
Topeka High and Emporia will open Centennial League play Friday night. Topeka High improved to a perfect 3-0 on the season in last Friday's weather-shortened 26-0 non-league road win over Wichita Southeast, the Trojans' third straight win over members of the Wichita City League. Topeka High led 13-0 when the game was delayed for approximately an hour due to lightning and added to its advantage with a 45-yard TD pass from junior Zane Smith to senior Saron Carter and led 26-0 at the half when the game was called due to the inclement weather. Carter led the Trojans' attack with three TDs on the night. Emporia is coming off a 30-20 non-league loss to Coffeyville and the Spartans have been outscored 126-45 on the year. Topeka High has outscored its first three foes by a 105-33 margin.
Shawnee Heights junior David Wakes has rushed for 275 yards and two touchdowns this fall. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
LEAVENWORTH (1-2, 1-2 UKC) at Shawnee Heights (1-2, 1-1 UKC)
Shawnee Heights is coming off a tough 42-35 home United Kansas Conference loss to Basehor-Linwood last Friday while Leavenworth picked up its first win of the season, a 51-6 UKC romp past KC-Turner. Shawnee Heights junior quarterback Aiden Scott has completed 61 of 105 passes for 918 yards and eight touchdowns while junior AJ Gallegos has caught 20 passes for 249 yards and three TDs and Tyren Parker has 15 catches for 265 yards and three TDs. Junior David Wakes has 275 rushing yards and two TDs on 52 carries while junior Royce Daniels leads the Shawnee Heights defense with 36 tackles, including 17 solo stops.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University soccer team is very proud of its home record in the Davy Phillips era.
Washburn University soccer will be back at Yager Stadium Friday and Sunday to open MIAA play. [File photo/TSN]
And after dropping its first two matches at Yager Stadium to open the 2024 season, Phillips' Ichabods have extra motivation entering the start of MIAA play this weekend with home contests against Central Oklahoma and Newman.
"That's something we're usually really good at typically,'' Phillips said of WU's home mark. "Our home record is pretty favorable and our girls love playing at home, playing in front of the student body, the town, the alumni and I think we're eager to get back home.
"We were on the road eight out of 11 days and that's a long time, so we're anxious to play at home again.''
Washburn will be looking to defend its 2023 MIAA regular-season championship after finishing 9-1-1 in conference play last season.
The 3-2-1 Ichabods, who have posted three wins and a tie over their past four games, will host Central Oklahoma on Friday at 6 p.m. and Newman on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Washburn went 1-0-1 last week in two neutral contests in Kearney, Neb., defeating Black Hills State 6-0 and playing Western Colorado to an 0-0 draw.
And while Phillips is happy overall with the Ichabods' play so far, he also realizes that last season's national runnerup finish means that the bar is set extremely high this fall.
"There's a lot of good things happening but there's a sense of frustration that we're not hitting our standards and expectations still,'' Phillips said. "And that's in large part due to the fact that we are playing the way we want to play and we're making teams uncomfortable and we're dictating the game. Now it's just execution and a little bit of a mentality thing.
"We're doing a lot of good things but that last little bit may be the most important bit, and that's the mentality of being on a mission to go and get this job done versus going and playing really well.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 24-ranked Washburn University volleyball has put together an impressive 9-1 start to the 2024 season.
But Chris Herron and his Ichabods know that bigger challenges are ahead, beginning with the start of MIAA play this weekend.
No. 24-ranked Washburn volleyball is 9-1 entering MIAA play this weekend. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"We talked about this the very first day,'' Herron said. "Preseason practice is what it is -- two-a-days -- and then the next step is the tournaments, the non-com, and then the next step is a big step into conference play and then the huge step is in regionals.
"We're into that conference step now and it's different because the crowds are going to be bigger, they're going to be louder, they're going to be obnoxious and everybody wants to get a piece of you so you have to have big boy pants.''
The Ichabods will visit Northwest Missouri State on Friday before finishing off the week at Missouri Western on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts.
"It's like any coach, you always want one more because you're so selfish but you have to be pretty happy with 9-1,'' Herron said.
"Six of the seven slots that we have are pretty much cemented and kind of clear who we're playing. We have one spot that we're just a little bit fuzzy on because it's a battle between two or three kids but we just need one of those kids to just kind of distance themself from the others but it's good to have the depth we have.''
The Ichabods picked up three sweeps last weekend and are 9-1 despite not playing a home match to date.
Last weekend Washburn swept both Missouri S&T and Harding on Day 1 of the PSU Regional Challenge and on Saturday, the Ichabods swept Henderson State to finish out the tournament.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2024 college volleyball season couldn't have gotten off to a much better start for Washburn University sophomore libero Taylor Rottinghaus.
Taylor Rottinghaus
Rottinghaus has helped lead the No. 24-ranked Ichabods to a 9-1 non-conference record and the former three-sport Shawnee Heights standout picked up an added bonus earlier this week when she was named the MIAA Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week by the conference.
Rottinghaus became the first Ichabod to earn weekly conference recognition this season and earned the honor for the first time in her career.
"It's awesome, it's exciting,'' Rottinghaus said. "I was very surprised, actually. I didn't know that they were already starting up with the awards for the MIAA, so getting that award was just surreal because we haven't even started conference play yet.''
Washburn sophomore Taylor Rottinghaus was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Ichabods post three straight 3-0 sweeps last week. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Rottinghaus helped the Ichabods to a 3-0 week at the PSU Regional Challenge with 3-0 sweeps over Missouri S&T, Harding and Henderson State. Rottinghaus recorded 59 digs across WU's three matches (6.56 per set) while adding seven assists and serving four service aces on the weekend.
In the win over Harding, Rottinghaus recorded 29 digs over the three sets, tying for the eighth most digs in a three-set match in program history.
"I was extremely proud of getting that award because I've been working my butt off with my team -- like everybody has been -- but just to get recognized even though I don't get to score the points, I just get to help my team score the points, that was awesome,'' she said.
Veteran Washburn coach Chris Herron said that every honor that comes Rottinghaus' way is well-deserved.
"She's athletic, she's fearless,'' Herron said. "She's hard on herself and that's the only part that I don't like. She's harder on herself than I am ever hard on her. That can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing, so we just try to make sure that she's in a good space in her head because her athleticism takes over everything else.''
