By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Halfway through her Washburn University volleyball career, junior libero/defensive specialist Taylor Rottinghaus already ranks among the Ichabod career, single season and single match dig leaders.
Junior Taylor Rottinghaus has earned back-to-back All-MIAA second-team honors for Washburn volleyball. [File photo/TSN]
But there's only one stat that really matters to the former Shawnee Heights star and that's the Ichabods' team win total.
"When it comes to statistics, during preseason and getting the season started I pay a little mind to it, but at the same time I'm just out there playing my game with the girls,'' said Rottinghaus, a two-time All-MIAA second-team pick.
"And if I have a bad day I have a bad day, if I have a good day I have a good day. At the end of the day I know what I'm capable of and what our team can accomplish.''
Rottinghaus played in all 29 matches and 112 sets for the 21-8 Ichabods last season, leading the team with 569 digs (5.08 per set) while adding 84 assists and 29 aces.
Rottinghaus had 14 matches with at least 20 digs, including a career-high 40 digs against Nebraska-Kearney in five sets and also had 31 digs in three sets against the Lopers.
Junior Taylor Rottinghaus led 21-8 Washburn volleyball with 569 digs last fall. [File photo/TSN]
Entering the 2025 season Rottinghaus ranks No. 4 all-time at Washburn in career digs per set (4.87), No. 9 in single-season digs per set (5.08) and tied for No. 4 in a five-set single match (40).
Rottinghaus ranks No. 27 all-time with 1,013 career digs and is on pace to crack the top 10 by the end of her junior campaign.
Taylor's older sister, Faith, is Washburn's career digs leader with 2,676 and the five-time All-American is ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in all digs categories.
"As I'm getting older, more and more people are starting to ask me like, 'Oh, you're coming for her records,' and everything like that,'' Taylor Rottinghaus said. "A little family competition never hurts anybody. She was a great player and I think I'm a great player, so it just kind of motivates me to be like her.''
Taylor never got the opportunity to play alongside Faith, but said she picked up valuable lessons from watching her older sister.
"One thing I learned from her is just how to be yourself out on the court,'' Taylor said. "Even when you have five other girls around you and 1,000 eyes on you, the pressure is all within your head. And if you have so much confidence, like she did out there, then nothing else matters.''
Rottinghaus helped Washburn reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament last fall, and with a strong nucleus returning from that team, the Ichabods are expecting another big year in 2025.
"I am so incredibly excited for this team for many different reasons,'' Rottinghaus said. "One, our team chemistry is better than I think it's ever been, at least during my time here. And two, the girls love each other, but we all know that we need to work hard for one another, and if we're doing something wrong then somebody will hold us accountable.
"We're all here for the same reasons and the same goals and at the end of the day everybody out there is one big happy family.''
