By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University junior outside hitter Brynne Topolski broke a record she wasn't even aware of Saturday in Lee Arena, leading the No. 15-ranked Ichabods to a 3-0 MIAA volleyball sweep over Northeastern State, 25-21, 25-12, 25-18.
Junior Brynne Topolski (3) recorded 17 kills on 21 attempts Saturday to set a Washburn school record for hitting percentage in the Ichabods' MIAA sweep over Northeastern State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topolski, a Lincoln, Neb. native, registered 17 kills on 21 attempts for an .810 hitting percentage, a Washburn school record and the highest in Division II in a single match since the 2023-24 season.
Washburn junior outside hitter Brynne Topolski (3) celebrates one of her 17 kills in Saturday's MIAA sweep over Northeastern State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topolski admitted that she didn't know about the record she set.
"No, I didn't know,'' Topolski said. "We just kind of go out there and play.
"It was a really good day. I'm pretty excited and I'm ready for next week, too.''
Veteran Washburn coach Chris Herron was certainly aware of the performance Topolski was turning in.
"Topolski was a freak,'' Herron said. "Holy cow, was that fun to watch, and she was that way yesterday, too.
"I told her, 'Don't wake up from this dream, stay in it.' ''
After being swept by Nebraska-Kearney last week, Washburn posted a second straight sweep on Saturday in the first meeting between the Ichabods and RiverHawks in program history.
Washburn, 14-3 overall, 3-1 MIAA, battled through a tight first set to win 25-21 before dominating the final two sets to secure a third sweep in conference play.
"We've worked really hard in practice and one of our goals has been to pick up our energy and just be better about bringing more energy on the court, on the sideline and just boosting each other up and I think we did really well at that,'' Topolski said.
The RiverHawks (1-13, 0-4) jumped in front early leading 10-8 after a three-point burst.
The visitors stayed in control late into the set until the Ichabods rattled off three points in a row to build a 21-19 lead after Topolski landed a kill.
Washburn ended the first set on a 4-1 run as Topolski delivered the final blow in the opening set that saw the Ichabods hit .452 as a team.
The momentum carried over into the second set, with Washburn leading 5-0 after Morgan Sears took a pass from Lauren Tyler to the floor for a kill.
Later on back-to-back kills by Hayden Meats capped off a 6-1 burst and made the score 13-4. The Ichabods pushed the lead to double-digits late in the set and went on to win 25-12.
Northeastern State fought back early in the third set, building a 5-1 lead.
Shortly after that an 8-0 run for Washburn that began with a Topolski kill flipped the set and put the home squad up 10-6.
The lead grew to six points in the middle of the set after a 3-0 run that was capped off by an ace from Tyler. Emery Keebaugh delivered the final two points of the set and match, both on kills, to finish the seven-point win.
Washburn hit .396 as a team in the match with 45 kills while holding the RiverHawks to just 29 kills and a .067 hitting percentage. The Ichabods led 44-28 in assists as well as 47-36 in digs and 6-1 in blocks.
Washburn senior setter Lauren Tyler recorded 36 assists in Saturday's 3-0 sweep over Northeastern State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Meats added 10 kills along with nine digs while Tyler dished out 36 assists with seven digs. Taylor Rottinghaus scooped up a team-high 12 digs.
Lanie Brown and Simeon Paradiso led Northeastern State with six kills each.
The Ichabods will head on the road to face Pittsburg State at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2.
