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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Chris Herron's Washburn University volleyball team is off to an outstanding start to the 2025 season, winning 11 straight matches while dropping just three sets en route to earning a No. 7 national ranking from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
But Herron says the task for the Ichabods only gets tougher from here, with Washburn opening MIAA play with Friday and Saturday 6 p.m. home matches against Northwest Missouri State and No. 24 Missouri Western in Whiting Fieldhouse.
"There's 12 teams in this conference and 11 of them have winning records,'' Herron said. "Yikes! I'm looking forward to it though. It's fun.
"It makes you not sleep at night a little bit, but other than that, I'm excited about it.''
Washburn volleyball newcomer Autumn Gibbs (1) celebrates a point with her teammates during the recent Washburn Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
Junior defensive specialist/libero Autumn Gibbs, who transferred to WU after two seasons at Metropolitan State-Denver, said she feels like the closeknit Ichabods are up to the challenge moving forward.
"There's always room to grow,'' Gibbs said. "It's early in the season, but I think we've really done a great job and I think the reason we're so able to flow on the court is because we're able to flow off the court.
"We're a really close group and we love spending time together, so when it gets harder and the game's not going exactly our way, it's easy to rely on our teammates and I think that's going to be really powerful over the stretch of the season.''
While thrilled to be undefeated three weeks into the season, Herron knows there's still plenty of things for his team to work on.
"Our setting consistency was poor last weekend and we're still missing too many serves,'' Herron said. "And then always, always, always you want to be a better serve receive team so your offense can flow and all that stuff, but I think every coach in the United States is going to say that to you that knows about volleyball. You've got to serve it and you've got to pass it better every single time.
"But I think so far offensively we've been good, our blocking has been really solid. And when we have (Gibbs) and Taylor (Rottinghaus) in the game at the same time in the back row, balls don't find the floor very easily. They're really good defensively.''
Alex Dvorak leads the team with 37 blocks on the season while starting all 11 matches. Offensively she has made 71 kills along with hitting .473, second best on the team. She has recorded five or more blocks in four matches. The senior ranks fourth in the nation and first in the MIAA in hitting percentage among qualified hitters. She is also fifth in the MIAA in blocks per set.
Corinna McMullen has started all 11 matches this season to lead Washburn with 227 assists. She has also chipped in 10 service aces while ranking third on the team with 81 digs. The senior has delivered five matches of 20-plus assists and four double-doubles.
Rottinghaus, a junior libero, leads the Ichabods with 141 digs. She has chipped in 40 assists while serving nine aces. as well. Rottinghaus has a season-high of 28 digs this season, coming against Ouachita Baptist.
Gibbs has played in all 11 matches while making four starts. She is second on the team with 88 digs and has a .961 reception percentage. She has served 10 aces and dished 14 assists. She has three double-figure dig matches.
Bella Limback is slashing a team-high .611 with 73 kills while starting all 11 matches. She has also added 32 blocks, second most on the team and served five aces. She has hit over .500 in all but two matches this season with two double-digit kill efforts.
Brynne Topolski is second on the Ichabods with 85 kills while hitting .305. She has come off the bench in all 11 matches while making 21 blocks with 14 digs. She has three matches with double-digit kills.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four Shawnee County schools continue to earn Top 10 spots in the Kansas Volleyball Association's Week 2 state rankings released Wednesday, led by Class 4A Hayden and 3A Silver Lake, who are ranked No. 1 for the third straight week.
Hayden is a perfect 14-0 on the season while Silver Lake is 20-1.
Undefeated Hayden is top-ranked in Class 4A by the KVA for the third straight week. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake volleyball continues to be No. 1-ranked in Class 3A after winning the Rossville tournament last Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville (13-5) is ranked fourth in 2A while Washburn Rural (5-2) is No. 6-ranked in 6A.
Current classifications for the rankings are based on enrollments from the 2024-25 school year.
The rankings will be adjusted next week when the updated KSHSAA classifications are released.
Kansas Volleyball Association State Rankings
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
THURSDAY'S GAMES
Josiah Wilkie, Topeka West
LANSING (1-2, 1-1 UKC) vs. TOPEKA WEST (0-3, 0-3 UKC)
At Hummer Sports Park
Topeka West is coming off a 61-0 United Kansas Conference loss to Seaman while Lansing dropped a 40-15 non-league loss to Tonganoxie last week. Junior running back Damon Webb, senior wide receiver Gad Munganga and sophomore quarterback Josiah Wilkie are top players for Topeka West. Lansing junior quarterback Caden Garcia has completed 28 of 60 passes for 403 yards and 3 TDs while junior running back Jaxon Pollard has rushed for 362 yards and 8 TDs 59 attempts.
Kellan Roth, Washburn Rural
WASHBURN RURAL (2-1) at BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST (2-1)
Both Washburn Rural and Blue Valley Northwest suffered their first losses of the season last week, with Rural dropping a 60-28 non-league decision to Missouri state champion Platte County and Blue Valley Northwest falling to St. James Academy, 21-7. Northwest junior quarterback Aidan Ihm has completed 46 of 70 passes for 604 yards and 7 touchdowns while senior running back LJ Bowens has carried the ball 40 times for 268 yards and 3 TDs. Senior quarterback John Hoytal and senior wide receiver Kellan Roth are both off to hot starts this fall for Washburn Rural.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Kade Mitchell, Hayden
WAMEGO (2-1) at HAYDEN (3-0)
Hayden will get the opportunity to avenge one of its two losses in the 2024 season Friday night against the visiting Red Raiders. Wamego is coming off a 34-8 win over Marysville last Friday while Hayden rolled to a 46-7 road win over Kansas-City Bishop Ward and has now outscored its three opponents by a 123-13 margin. Wamego junior quarterback Logan Fulton has completed 32 of 53 passes for 562 yards and 4 TDs. Seniors Connor Hanika and Kade Mitchell and junior Mason Becker have been key offensive threats for the Wildcats.
Ricardo Dowd, Topeka High
EMPORIA (2-1, 0-0 Centennial) vs. TOPEKA HIGH (2-1, 0-0 Centennial)
At Hummer Sports Park
Both Emporia and Topeka High will be opening Centennial League play Friday night. The Spartans have won their last two games by a 102-6 margin, including a 50-0 non-league romp past Coffeyville last week. The Trojans were shut out 6-0 by Wichita Southeast last Thursday. Topeka High will be looking for a big night from senior quarterback Zane Smith, while sophomore running back Ricardo Dowd has also been an offensive threat for the Trojans.
Cale Ketter, Seaman
KANSAS CITY-TURNER (0-3, 0-3 UKC) at SEAMAN (1-2, 1-1 UKC)
Seaman rolled to a 61-0 United Kansas Conference win over Topeka West last Friday while Turner dropped a 56-0 conference decision to Leavenworth. Seaman junior quarterback Cale Ketter has completed 53 of 81 pass attempts for 628 yards and 7 touchdowns, including five against West. Junior running back Quentin Moravec has carried the ball 58 times for 426 yards and 6 TDs while junior Josh Brown has 16 pass receptions for 207 yards and 4 TDs.
Aiden Scott, Shawnee Heights
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (1-2, 1-1 UKC) at LEAVENWORTH (2-1, 2-1)
Shawnee Heights dropped a 35-22 United Kansas Conference decision to Basehor-Linwood last Friday while Leavenworth rolled to a 56-0 UKC win over KC-Turner. T-Bird senior quarterback Aiden Scott has completed 69 of 116 passes for 921 yards and 9 touchdowns. Senior David Wakes has 217 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 56 attempts while senior AJ Gallegos has caught 19 passes for 234 yards and senior Tyren Parker has 10 catches for 245 yards and 2 touchdows.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
A 1-1 Centennial League soccer tie with Junction City was a disappointment to the Topeka High Trojans Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
Senior Noah Storrer (6) scored Topeka High's lone goal in Tuesday's 1-1 Centennial League tie with Junction City. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High jumped on top at the 25:30 mark of the first period when Trojan senior Noah Storrer received a centering pass from Neri Diaz-Mayorga and crossed up the goalkeeper with a shot that ricocheted off the left post and in.
Senior Neri Diaz-Mayorga (29) had the assist on Topeka High's lone goal in Tuesday's 1-1 Centennial League tie with Junction City. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High clung to the 1-0 advantage for more than 55 minutes of game action. But the Trojans let the lead slip away with just 10:00 remaining in regulation. Junction City’s Biel Fenor received a long cross in front of the Trojan goal and blasted a shot that was deflected off a Topeka High defender into the net.
“An own-goal took the win away from us, and that hurt,” said Topeka High coach Derek Snook. “We were just trying to clear it, and it didn’t happen.”
With the lead snatched away, Topeka High battled the Blue Jays through two scoreless extra periods. Adding to the bad taste in the Trojans’ mouths was a penalty kick in the first extra period that slammed off the crossbar.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Seaman hit the pitch on a wet and rainy Tuesday night against United Kansas Conference foe Piper and the Vikings captured its third win of the campaign, 3-1.
Cody Quy (1) scored Seaman's first goal in Tuesday's 3-1 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
Rylan Harris () scored Seaman's go-ahead goal in Tuesday's 3-1 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
The Pirates would get started quickly as Chri Htoo scored from just outside the top of the box at the 3:04 mark of the match.
Coach Ty Hurla talked about how he didn't have to say much to his players about going down early, they knew the task at hand.
“When they scored that first goal, it was more so on them (players) because it was so early. It’s one of those things where you can’t let that get into your head, keep up the energy, bring our efforts up… when it’s that early it’s on them, you have to figure that out yourself,’ Hurla said.
After that, both teams had great opportunities to score but both goalkeepers made saves to keep the score 1-nil headed into halftime.
The Vikings came out a different group in the second half, attacking Piper early and often and it paid off. Seaman forward Cody Quy evened the score with 33:35 left in the match off a free kick just outside the right side of the box.
Senior forward Rylan Harris didn’t let that tie stand for too long, taking it long down the left side of the Piper bench and hitting the back of the net just about two minutes later with 31:47 left in the match.
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