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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four Shawnee County schools earned Top 10 spots in the Kansas Volleyball Association's Week 1 state rankings released Wednesday, led by Class 4A No. 1 Hayden and 3A top-ranked Silver Lake.
Hayden volleyball is ranked No. 1 in the KVA Week 1 Class 4A state rankings. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake volleyball holds down the No. 1 spot in the KVA Class 3A rankings after starting the seaon 7-0. [Photo by Silver Lake volleyball]
Hayden, 4-0 at the time of the rankings, moved up from its preseason No. 2 ranking in 4A while while Silver Lake, 7-0, jumped all the way from No. 8 in preseason to the No. 1 spot in 3A.
Rossville, 7-0, also made a big jump in 2A, moving from 10th in preseason to No. 4.
Washburn Rural, 4-2, remained No. 5 in 6A after also being ranked fifth in preseason.
Current classifications for the rankings are based on enrollments from the 2024-25 school year.
The rankings will be adjusted when the updated KSHSAA classifications are released at the end of September.
Kansas Volleyball Association Week 1 State Rankings
Class 6A
1. Mill Valley 2-1
2. Blue Valley West 3-0
3. Olathe West 3-1
4. Olathe Northwest 3-1
5. Washburn Rural 4-2
6. Blue Valley North 2-2
7. Manhattan 3-2
8. Lawrence Free State 6-2
9. Garden City 5-2
10. Wichita Northwest 2-0
Class 5A
1. St. Thomas Aquinas 3-1
2. Blue Valley Southwest 3-1
3. St. James Academy 8-1
4. Maize South 12-1
5. Bishop Carroll 7-0
6. Lansing 4-2
7. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 4-3
8. De Soto 3-0
9. Salina South 6-1
10. Salina Central 6-1
Class 4A
1. Hayden 4-0
2. Bishop Miege 0-2
3. Clay Center 7-1
4. Andale 7-0
5. Holton 7-1
6. Rock Creek 8-2
7. Concordia 5-3
8. McPherson 4-3
9. Eudora 0-3
10. Mulvane 5-2
Class 3A
1. Silver Lake 7-0
2. Hoisington 7-1
3. Hesston 6-1
4. Halstead 3-3
5. Beloit 5-1
6. Nemaha Central 5-3
7. Neodesha 2-0
8. Riley County 6-2
9. Girard 2-0
10. Jefferson West 7-1
Class 2A
1. Ellinwood 3-0
2. Moundridge 7-0
3. Sedgwick 9-2
4. Rossville 7-0
5. Maranatha Christian 1-0
6. Inman 5-2
7. Oakley 9-0
8. Medicine Lodge 9-1
9. Hillsboro 4-3
10. Valley Heights 5-3
Class 1A Division 1
1. Little River 3-1
2. Rock Hills 4-0
3. South Gray 9-1
4. Centralia 6-1
5. Spearville 4-1
6. Greeley County 5-2
7. Olpe 5-2
8. Clifton-Clyde 1-1
9. Flinthills 3-1
10. Pretty Prairie 4-4
Class 1A Division II
1. Ingalls 7-0
2. Marais des Cygnes Valley 5-1
3. Hanover 0-2
4. Argonia 3-0
5. Cheylin 4-1
6. Lebo 1-1
7. Attica 5-1
8. Linn 2-0
9. Dighton 4-1
10. Victoria 4-0
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' soccer team used its speed and attacking style to post eight scores in the first half against Cair Paravel Latin Monday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex, taking an 8-0 non-league win.
Senior Camden Granado sliced through the Lions’ defense for four goals to lead the T-Birds.
The game gave the T-Birds a boost of confidence going into a match versus Topeka High on Thursday at Hummer Sports Park. For Class 2A Cair Paravel, it was a chance to challenge itself against a much bigger school.
Defeating Cair Paravel was another step in the journey for the T-Birds who bounced back with a win last Thursday over Free State after dropping the season opener at Washburn Rural.
“Opening with Rural, that was a pretty tough way to open the season,” Shawnee Heights coach Nic Simons said. “But we bounced back really well against a great Free State team, and it was great to see us come out tonight and kind of take care of some things and get things where we want going into Thursday against Topeka High.”
The Lions held Shawnee Heights off the board for the first five minutes of the game. But once Granado got rolling, the T-Birds took command. They netted four goals in the next nine minutes, three of them off the foot of the senior captain.
“To score as many goals as we did in the first half just gives us confidence in our offense,” Granado said. “I can’t take the credit because (my teammates) did great getting me the ball. We did great just making passes in order to move the ball up the field.”
“Some of the creativity on the offensive side of the field is kind of what I’ve been wanting to see,” Simons said. “And I think our ability to push the ball up the field is something that we’re going to need to bring on Thursday.
Once the T-Birds were comfortably in the lead, Simons began substituting liberally.
“It’s good for us to get some guys some experience,” Simons said. “We played quite a few sophomores off our bench tonight and it was incredible to see some of those guys step on the field and give us some great minutes.
“We knew coming into the season that we could have a good team. Almost everybody played varsity last year,” Granado said. “It’s just living up to those expectations. Obviously, we have goals that are going to come later in the season, but it’s just working towards them every game and making sure that every game matters.”
Though the score wasn’t what the Lions would have liked, they had several near misses that kept things interesting. Coach Mark Congdon believed trying to match the speed and intensity of the 5A T-Birds was a good learning experience.
“We’ve got more experience than we usually do, but we’re still starting several freshmen and sophomores,” Congdon said. “They were a little bit shell-shocked – this was a pace of play they hadn’t experienced before. They were chasing their tails most of the night.
“We played a team last night that is struggling and having a down year, so we mercy-ruled somebody last night, and tonight we get mercy-ruled. So, it was great to see both sides of the spectrum, to learn things like how to play with class no matter what the score is.”
Congdon said he expects this to be the best team the Lions have fielded in the last several years. Playing a powerful opponent early in the season can be to their benefit.
“That’s great soccer. How can we mimic that?” Congdon said. “I told the guys, 'You learn from your opponent. What made them so difficult to defend? What were the passes that broke our backs? What things can we take into the rest of our season and copy them?’ ”
Congdon noted a goal scored by Cair Paravel senior Nathan Keys that was wiped out by an offside penalty.
“This is the first game Nathan Keys was shut out since 2023,” Congdon said. “He scored in every game last year, and in our first three games this year. That (call) was unfortunate because I thought he might keep his streak going.”
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 8, CAIR PARAVEL 0
Cair Paravel (2-2-0) 0 X — 0
Shawnee Heights (2-1-0) 8 X — 8
Shawnee Heights — Goals: Granado 4, Curvelo-Montenegro 2, Lindecrantz, Retana. Assists: Lilly. Shutout: Arteaga.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural boys soccer coach Brian Hensyel knew that visiting Blue Valley West would present a tough challenge in Tuesday night's non-league game and that's exactly what he wanted.
Senior Dylan Willingham scored a pair of goals, giving him seven on the season, in Washburn Rural's 3-2 double-overtime loss to Blue Valley West Tuesday at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And even though the Junior Blues dropped a 3-2 double-overtime heartbreaker at McElroy Field, the veteran coach is counting on the loss to make Rural better as the 2025 season wears on.
"No. 1, we always want to play the best teams we can play,'' Hensyel said. "The only way you're prepared to play people at the end is to play teams like Blue Valley West, we play Blue Valley North later in the year and we take a trip to Iowa and play some good teams. You have to test them and we told our guys before the game, we've won a couple of games and we've been pretty impressive doing it, but we needed to play somebody really good and they're good.
"So from the perspective of the third game of the year, playing a really good team, it's good for us to kind of find out where we were. And what we found out is we can be pretty good and we had a pretty good first half and put in a couple of set piece goals, which is something that we do. I thought we just let off the gas and let off the energy a little bit to start the second half.''
Washburn Rural, now 2-1, jumped out in front 2-0 at halftime on a pair of goals from senior star Dylan Willingham, but Blue Valley West (4-1) battled back with two second-half goals to force overtime and scored the game-winning goal with just 42 seconds remaining in the second OT.
Willingham put Rural up 1-0 when he converted a free kick with 16:10 left in the opening half and added a second goal, his seventh of the season, off an assist from senior Brandon Hamilton with 7:06 remaining in the half.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Ichabod volleyball rose 10 spots in the Week 1 American Volleyball Coaches Association Rankings released Monday afternoon and are now ranked No. 12 in the nation.
After starting out the season with a 4-0 weekend at the Oredigger Classic, the Ichabods rise from No. 22 to No. 12 in the rankings. They received 541 total points in the voting.
Washburn volleyball celebrates a point in Saturday's Oredigger Classic. [Photo by Zach Greer/Colorado School of Mines]
Lynn remains in the top spot of the rankings for a second straight week to begin the year, followed by Angelo State and MSU Denver.
Around the MIAA, Central Oklahoma is ranked No. 4 andNebraska-Kearney slots at No. 8 while Missouri Western is receiving votes.
Washburn will be at home this weekend for four matches in two days at the Washburn Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High soccer looks forward to every game it plays, but the Trojans get a little extra pep in their step when they get the opportunity to face a USD 501 rival, particularly now that the three 501 schools are in three separate leagues.
Topeka High senior Bruno Nunez (right), who had a goal and an assist, advances the ball in Monday's 8-0 win over Highland Park while Scot sophomore Ronaldo Mijares defends. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka High got that chance to square off with a district rival on Monday at Hummer Sports Park and took full advantage, rolling to an 8-0 win over Highland Park in a game that was ended by the eight-goal spread rule with eight and a half minutes remaining.
"We just started playing Highland Park again and it's nice because these guys all know one another,'' said Topeka High coach Derek Snook, whose Trojans improved to 3-1. "They hang out in neighborhoods together and they might be neighbors as far as I know, but playing against a city team and playing well, that always helps.
"It helps with the confidence and I think it helps with community camaraderie as well because no matter how fierce it is on the field, it's still family at times.''
Topeka High got the only goal it would need at the 30:41 mark of the opening half on a shot by senior Noah Storrer and added first-half goals from junior John Martinez, freshman Emyr Vargas on a penalty kick and senior Neri Diaz-Mayorga to take a commanding 4-0 advantage at the break.
