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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After placing fourth in Class 5A in both 2021 and 2022, Seaman's volleyball team broke through last fall to claim the school's first state title.
Now the Vikings' focus is on winning a second straight crown Friday and Saturday at the Tony's Pizza Events in Saturday, earning the top 5A seed with a glossy 37-2 record.
Seaman volleyball celebrates its Class 5A sub-state championship last Saturday at Seaman. [Photo by Charles Spurlock/Special to TSN]
After rolling through last Saturday's home sub-state with straight-set wins over Topeka West (25-10, 25-11) and Maize South (25-15, 25-20), the Vikings will open this year's state title bid with Friday pool play.
Seaman will open its day with a 4:30 p.m. Pool I match against United Kansas Conference foe De Soto, the No. 8 seed at 17-19, followed by a 6:30 match against No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (30-5) and an 8:30 match against No. 4 seed Blue Valley Southwest (32-5).
The top two finishers in both pools will advance to Saturday's 1 p.m. semifinals, followed by the championship and third-place matches.
Maggie Moulden, one of six seniors on the Seaman roster, said she feels like the Vikings are up to the challenge of repeating.
“(We're) definitely wanting to go back and win state again,'' Moulden said. "We know we’re going to see very good competition, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Senior Kinley Wilhelm agreed.
“We just have a connection like no other and this is our fourth straight trip as seniors and I think it is a great opportunity to have one last ride together,'' she said. "I’m super-excited with how we played (in sub-state) and hoping we can transfer that to the tournament (this weekend).”
On the other side of the 5A bracket are No. 2 seed Great Bend (35-2), No. 3 Andover (31-4), No. 6 St. James Academy (28-6) and No. 7 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (30-7).
CLASS 5A VOLLEYBALL
At Tony's Pizza Events Center, Salina
FRIDAY'S POOL PLAY
Pool I
3:30 p.m. -- Blue Valley Southwest (4: 32-5) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (5: 30-5).
4:30 -- Seaman (1: 37-2) vs. De Soto (8: 17-19).
5:30 -- Blue Valley Southwest vs. De Soto.
6:30 -- Seaman vs. St. Thomas Aquinas.
7:30 -- St. Thomas Aquinas vs. De Soto.
8:30 -- Seaman vs. Blue Valley Southwest.
Pool II
3:30 p.m. -- Andover (3: 31-4) vs. St. James Academy (6: 28-6).
4:30 -- Great Bend (2: 35-2) vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (7: 30-7).
5:30 -- Andover vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
6:30 -- Great Bend vs. St. James Academy.
7:30 -- St. James Academy vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
8:30 -- Great Bend vs. Blue Valley Southwest.
SATURDAY
1 p.m -- Semifinals.
(Championship and third-place matches 25 minutes after conclusion of last semifinal).
Eight-time champ Rural No. 4 seed in Class 6A
Washburn Rural has flown under the radar a little bit this fall, earning the No. 5 ranking in Class 6A through the regular season, but Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues are back in their familiar spot as a state contender, earning the No. 4 state seed with a 30-6 record entering Friday and Saturdays state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina.
Washburn Rural celebrates a kill from senior Layla Collins (3) in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state volleyball tournament at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Junior Blues dominated last Saturday's sub-state at Rural, taking a 25-11, 25-8 semifinal win over Liberal before earning its state berth with a 25-14, 25-19 win over Lawrence Free State in the championship match.
Rural, which has won eight state titles under Bordewick, most recently in 2022, will open this season's state bid with three Friday pool matches, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The Junior Blues will open the state tourney with an 8:30 match against No. 5 seed Wichita North (30-8), followed by a 10:30 match against No. 8 Manhattan (20-15) and closing out pool play against top seed Blue Valley West (33-4) at 1:30 p.m.
Bordewick, No. 2 on the all-time Kansas wins list, said seeds don't matter a lot at state and that his team will approach things the way it always has.
"We've been the low seed, we've been middle, we've been the top seed and everybody's got an even record,'' Bordewick said. "We're just going to play as hard as we possibly can.
"The pressure's what you make of it and we're just going to go in and just see what we can do.''
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The 2024 All Shawnee County girls golf team -- From left: Addyson Baer, Hayden; Izzy Glotzbach, Hayden; Lauren Borjon, Hayden; Taylor Zordel, Silver Lake; Lauren Cox, Washburn Rural; Reece Randall, Washburn Rural. Not pictured: Natalie Peterson, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six state medalists, including three first-team repeat picks, headline the 2024 All-Shawnee County girls golf team.
Hayden juniors Lauren Borjon and Izzy Glotzbach are both first-team repeaters after helping lead the Wildcats to their second straight Class 4A state team championship while Silver Lake Taylor Zordel is a three-time all-county selection after earning her fourth straight state medal and leading the Eagles to first and second-place team finishes as a junior and senior.
Washburn Rural senior Natalie Peterson won the individual title in the city tournament and helped the Junior Blues post a third-place team finish in the Class 6A state tournament. [Washburn Rural golf]
Hayden, which won the 2024 4A crown by 15 strokes, also put senior state medalist Addyson Baer on the seven-member first team while city champion Washburn Rural, which finished third in Class 6A, is represented by seniors Reece Randall and Natalie Peterson and junior Lauren Cox. Randall and Peterson moved up to the All-Shawnee County first team this fall after being second-team picks in 2023.
Borjon placed third, Glotzbach 12th and Baer tied for 16th in 4A while Zordel finished fourth in 3A-1A as both a junior and a senior.
Randall tied for 10th and Peterson tied for 12th in 6A while Cox narrowly missed a state medal, tying for 22nd place.
Named to this year's second team were Washburn Rural senior Colbey Stead and sophomore Kailyn Petersen, Seaman senior Jaycee Zimmerman and Makenna Stuke, Topeka West senior Alex Baxter, Silver Lake junior Kailyn Hanni and Hayden >>Brooke Johnson.
All-Shawnee County first-team capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 season with an 84-53 exhibition loss at No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
Tyson Ruud scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his Washburn debut Tuesday night at Kansas. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn, ranked No. 10 in the initial NABC Preseason Coaches Poll, will open its regular season on Nov. 8, facing Sioux Falls at 3 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
Washburn fell behind 11-2 four-plus minutes into the first half and the Jayhawks pushed their lead to 16 (38-22) at the halftime break after hitting 15 of 28 shots from 3-point range and holding the Ichabods to 9 of 31 shooting from the field in the opening stanza.
The Jayhawks pushed their lead to 63-28 with 13:28 to play in the second half.
Washburn improved its shooting in the second half to 40 percent, hitting 12 of 30 shots to finish 21 of 61 (34 percent) overall while going 6 of 20 from 3-point range.
Washburn Rural product Jack Bachelor led the Ichabods with 13 points, adding five rebounds and five assists with no turnovers in 31 minutes of play.
Redshirt freshman Tyson Ruud scored 10 points and added seven rebounds off the bench in his Washburn debut.
David Coit led four Jayhawks in double figures with 19 points, hitting 5 of 10 3-point attempts.
The Ichabods were outrebounded 42 to 32 and each team had 16 turnovers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball stayed unbeaten at home, extended its winning streak to four matches and equaled its win total from 2024 with an MIAA sweep over Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday evening in Lee Arena.
Washburn improved to 17-4 on the season with a 3-0 home MIAA sweep over Northwest Missouri Tuesday night. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will play a second mid-week match at 6 p.m. Wednesday against No. 23-ranked Missouri Western.
After trailing early in the first set Washburn (17-4 overall, 8-3 MIAA) was able to work a 25-17 victory before rolling in the next two sets, 25-14 and 25-17.
A 3-0 run for the Bearcats (12-9, 6-5) put them up 8-4 in the first set and forced a timeout by the Ichabods.
Out of the break they began to chip away at the lead and were able to tie the set at 13 after a kill by Cair Paravel Latin product Taryn Pridgett. With the score 17-16 Washburn, a kill by Austin Broadie sparked a 4-0 run that would turn into a larger 8-1 burst to finish out the set 25-17 on a kill by Alex Dvorak.
In the second set it was the Ichabods jumping out ahead, scoring the first five points capped with a service ace by Corinna McMullen.
The run continued for Washburn, growing the lead to double digits at 13-3 after the first of back-to-back aces for Shawnee Heights graduate Taylor Rottinghaus.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Sophomore Mason Haas blasted a wind-aided free kick into the net Tuesday night to propel Shawnee Heights to the second round of the Class 5A soccer playoffs. The T-Birds overcame Kansas City-Schlagle 2-1 in an extra period of play at Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Mason Haas (9) scored the game-winning goal in the T-Birds' 2-1 overtime win over KC-Schlagle Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
By good fortune of the coin flip, Shawnee Heights had the wind at their backs in the extra period. Haas’ kick sailed over the Stallions’ defensive alignment and beyond the reach of the leaping goalkeeper. The stunned expressions on the faces of the T-Birds revealed how frustrated they had been by their inability to score.
“I knew if I put it back post, the goalie would have trouble dealing with it,” Haas said. “Even I was kind of surprised when it went in. I had the wind at my back and that put more pace on the ball.”
Sophomore Brayan Diaz gave the T-Birds an early tally despite playing into the wind in the first half. But the Stallions evened the score at the 16:00 mark of the first half. After flipping ends at the half, the T-Birds were stymied. It took Haas’ overtime blast to break the deadlock.
“I would call it an evening of obstacles more than frustration,” Haas said. “Things didn’t go our way, but we found a way to win. And that’s what a good team does.”
While pleased with the final result, T-Bird coach Nic Simons wasn’t too charitable about his team’s work.
“Last week we clinched a league title, and we had a game plan, but tonight we completely abandoned it,” Simons said. “We just didn’t exploit our strengths tonight. Sometimes you have to win ugly, and that’s what we did.
“Watching the second half, we were so close. Some of that was just having an off night. But some of that was needing some good fortune with the wind. And that’s kind of what we got.”
