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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The NCAA Volleyball Tournament begins for No. 7-ranked Washburn volleyball at 11 a.m. Thursday in Kearney, Neb., with the Ichabods facing off with No. 4-ranked Wayne State in a Central Region quarterfinal.

No. 7-ranked Washburn volleyball will open its NCAA Tournament bid at 11 a.m. Thursday against No. 4 Wayne State. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn is making its 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the Central Region and will face the No. 3 seeded Wildcats.

Wayne State College enters the tournament with a 27-4 record on the year after going 19-1 in the NSIC regular season. The Wildcats fell 3-1 to No. 11 St. Cloud State last time out in the semifinal round of the NSIC Tournament on Nov. 21.

The Ichabods head into the national tournament with a 26-4 record overall after posting a 13-3 mark inside the MIAA. Washburn dropped a 3-0 decision to Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA Tournament championship on Nov. 22.

Washburn remains No. 7 in the most recent AVCA poll released on Nov. 24. The Ichabods received 886 total points in the poll.

MIAA Player of the Year Austin Broadie leads Washburn with 326 kills (3.23 per set) while hitting .312, third best on the team. She has started all 30 matches and also has racked up 67 blocks with 64 digs. The senior has 16 double-digit kill matches and ranks fifth in the MIAA. She is fifth among conference players in points per set and kills per set.

Bella Limback is slashing a team-high .457 with 202 kills (2.04 per set) while starting all 30 matches. She has also added 115 blocks (1.16 per set), also a team high, and served 13 aces. She has hit over .400 in 20 matches this season with four double-digit kill efforts. She is second in the nation and MIAA in hitting percentage. She is also is fifth in the MIAA in blocks per set and 31st in the nation.

Corinna McMullen has started all 30 matches this season and leads Washburn with 631 assists (6.36 per set). She has also chipped in 30 service aces, tied for the most on the team, while ranking second on the team with 265 digs (2.65 per set). The senior has delivered 17 matches of 20-plus assists with 12 double-doubles. She ranks eighth in the conference in assists per set.

Taylor Rottinghaus leads the Ichabods with 430 digs (4.26 per set). She has chipped in 112 assists while serving 30 aces as well, tied for the most on the team. The junior has five matches making at least 20 digs. She ranks seventh in the MIAA in digs per set and in total digs.

Delaney Miller leads Wayne State with 387 kills (3.83 kills per set) while hitting .292. She has played in 30 matches making 14 starts and is adding 50 digs with 22 blocks.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

 Washburn University women's basketball begins MIAA action at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Lee Arena, hosting Nebraska-Kearney.

 

Senior Payton Sterk (20) is averaging a team-high 14.3 points with 16- 3-pointers for Washburn, which opens MIAA play at home Thursday against Nebraska-Kearney. [File photo/TSN]

 

Senior Yibari Nwidadah is averaging 12.2 points and a team-high 6.7  rebounds for Washburn, which opens MIAA play at home Thursday against Nebraska-Kearney. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn is 4-2 on the season after being 2-4 at this point a year ago, but Ichabod coach Lora Westling knows there's still plenty of room for improvement for her team.

 

"Honesty, I just feel like we're making it a little harder than it needs to be right now,'' Westling said. "But that's part of the process, defining roles and having a little more consistency.

 

"I was proud of how we responded on Saturday (after a Friday loss) but we've got to figure out how to come out on top in those close games that we've lost.'' 

 

Washburn senior Yibari Nwidadah agreed.

 

"I think in our two losses there were definitely controllables, so we know what we need to work on to continue to be successful and continue on an upward trajectory,'' Nwidadah said. 

 

Nebraska-Kearney is 4-4 on the year and 0-0 in the MIAA after defeating Wayne State 69-59 last Saturday.

 

Senior Payton Sterk leads the Ichabods with a 14.3 scoring average while starting every game and playing a team-high 29.0 minutes per game. Sterk is averaging 2.2 steals and has made 16 3-pointers, which both also lead the team. She has scored 14-plus points in four games this season. Sterk ranks third in the MIAA and 34th nationally in 3-pointers, fifth in the MIAA in three-point percentage and fourth in steals.

Nwidadah averages 12.2 points in just 22.8 minutes per game and leads the team with 6.7 rebounds a game while also shooting 53.4 percent from the floor. She is first in the MIAA in field goal percentage. 

Senior Gabi Giovannetti averages 10.7 points and is shooting a team-high 44.4 percent from deep with 12 3-pointers, second most on the team. She also averages 4.5 rebounds and is second in the MIAA and 38th nationally in 3-point percentage and eighth in the conference in triples per game. 

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No. 2-ranked Washburn men's basketball to put 8-0 record on the line in MIAA opener

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The ultimate goal for Washburn University basketball this season is to make another run at an NCAA Division II championship after reaching the national semifinals a year ago.

But the immediate goal for Brett Ballard's Ichabods is to successfully defend their MIAA regular-season title, a quest that begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Lee Arena against Nebraska-Kearney.

Brett Ballard's 8-0 Washburn Ichabods will open MIAA play Thursday at home against Nebraska-Kearney. [File photo/TSN] 

"I told our guys I don't know that the people outside of our circle appreciate it as much as we do, but winning the conference is a big, big deal for us,'' Ballard said. "It was a huge deal last year and we're going to fight like heck to do it again this year.

"If you can win this conference, that's a memory these guys will have forever, so a new season kind of starts (Thursday) and we need to try to take care of business at home.''

Washburn is 8-0 after topping the 100-point mark for the second game in a row in a 115-30 win over Ottawa last Saturday in Lee Arena, setting several school records in the process.

The Lopers enter the game with a 4-3 overall mark and have won their last three games in a row, including a 62-59 win over Wayne State (Neb.) last time out last Saturday in Kearney.

The Ichabods are 22-13 all-time in MIAA openers winning, last season's conference opener over the Lopers 87-52 in Kearney.

The Ichabods lead the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D-II ranks at plus-35.4 points per game and third in field goal percentage at 55.1 percent.

 

Washburn is also ninth in assists per game (21.3), 10th in assist/turnover ration (1.84), seventh in effective field goal percentage (.619) and sixth in rebound margin (plus-15.3).

 

Washburn is also seventh in scoring defense (59.3 points per game), sixth in fastbreak points (23.4), eighth in defensive field goal percentage (35.7) and seventh in turnover margin (plus-7.6).

 

The Ichabods have not been out-rebounded in a game this season.

Washburn went over the 100-point mark for the 84th time in program history in its 115-30 win over Ottawa last time out.

Jack Bachelor is 11th in the nation in 3-pointers made with 22 and Dillon Claussen is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage at 71.4, leading the MIAA.

 

Bachelor and Claussen have scored in double figures in all eight games this season.

 

Jeremiah Jones is eighth in the nation in total steals with 21 and is ranked 16th in steals per game at 3.00 per contest.

The Ichabods have five Nebraska natives on their roster this season in Brady Christiansen (Lincoln), Claussen (Omaha), Marcus Glock (Wahoo), Kade Cook (Gretna) and Tayvin Zephier-Murphy (Omaha).

Tyson Ruud has scored a career-high 13 points in three of the last four games.

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