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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tatiana Dowling's Seaman volleyball team has faced a brutal schedule this fall, with seven of the Vikings' losses in a 25-10 season coming against schools that will compete in the Class 6A and 5A state tournaments this weekend.
Now the goal for the battle-tested Vikings, the No. 7 seed, is to make that tough slate pay off in Friday and Saturday's 5A state tournament at Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina.
"I am really happy with our schedule in the regular season,'' Dowling said. "I think it gives us challenges, makes us better, and prepares us for competition at state.
"With that being said, of course I would like to come away with some wins instead of losses in those circumstances, but I am glad that we have been able to have learning experiences through those games.''
Seaman's volleyball team will make a second straight appearance in the Class 5A state tournament this weekend. [File photo/TSN]
After ending a lengthy state drought last season with a quarterfinal experience Seaman clinched its second straight state appearance with a romp through the Eisenhower sub-state last Saturday at Goddard.
The Vikings took a 25-13, 25-19 semifinal win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel before taking a 25-23, 25-19 victory over Maize in the championship match.
Senior Drew Baxter, junior Laynee Brown and sophomores Taylin Stallbaumer and Brooklyn Gormley all played key roles for Seaman a year ago in a quarterfinal loss at Lansing and Dowling is hopeful that experience will help the Vikings this weekend.
"I definitely think that any state experience helps in the future,'' Dowling said. "It helps our program create a culture and an expectation, but it also helps give us the experience of a state tournament, which we hadn’t gotten before last year.''
And the fact that the Vikings were able to earn a return trip to state speaks well for the program.
"It is definitely something we’re proud of,'' Dowling said. "We make mini-goals throughout the season and this was one of them. Now, we have a goal to make it to the second day of state.
"We’ll continue making goals from there. I try to instill in them to never be satisfied and to keep pushing for more, and I feel like they’ve done a great job of stepping up to that challenge.''
Lansing is the tournament's top seed at 33-1 and is in Pool I along with No. 4 Maize South (30-8), No. 5 St. James Academy (27-9) and No. 8 Bishop Carroll (25-12).
Seaman is in Pool II along with No. 2 seed St. Thomas Aquinas (34-3), No. 3 Spring Hill (30-6) and No. 6 Emporia (26-9)
Seaman will open its state bid at 9:30 a.m. Friday against Aquinas and will face Spring Hill at 10:30 and Emporia at 12:30 p.m.
The top two finishers in both pools will advance to Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinals. The championship and third-place matches will follow the semis.
Seaman faced five schools in the 5A state field in the regular season, taking two wins over Spring Hill and a win over Centennial League rival Emporia and dropping three matches to Lansing while also losing to St. James Academy and Bishop Carroll.
CLASS 5A STATE VOLLEYBALL
At Tony's Pizza Events Center, Salina
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University defensive end Braden Rose isn't likely to make the switch to running back any time soon.
But the 6-foot-1, 255-pound junior did record the Ichabods' second-longest touchdown of the 2021 season last Saturday, scooping up a Central Oklahoma fumble in the closing seconds and rambling 75 yards for Washburn's game-clinching TD in a 29-17 road victory over the Bronchos.
Rose admitted he was out of gas by the time he reached the end zone, but said that was a small price to pay to achieve what he called the biggest moment of his football career.
"I definitely didn't have a lot left,'' Rose said. "It took everything I had to get the touchdown because obviously I don't do that type of running all the time, but the experience of a lifetime scoring that was what kept me going.
"That's No. 1 for sure. That's definitely a play I'll never forget.''
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
How big were Kevin Neal Jr.'s defensive takeaways in back-to-back Washburn University wins over then-No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri and Central Oklahoma?
Big enough that Neal himself isn't sure which play he enjoyed the most.
Neal, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior defensive back, came up with a game-saving interception at the goal line in the Ichabods' 17-16 win over perennial MIAA power Northwest two weeks ago and turned in another huge takeaway in 6-2 Washburn's 29-17 road win at Central Oklahoma last Saturday, preventing a Broncho touchdown when he stripped the ball away from a UCO ball-carrier in the first half.
"To be honest, in both circumstances I was just trying to make a play for the team, do whatever I could to help the team,'' Neal said. "They were both super cool and both big plays in the game obviously, but neither one of them sticks out.
"I was just glad to make the plays for the team.''
Kevin Neal Jr. is congratulated by his Washburn teammates after a game-saving interception against Northwest Missouri. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Neal said big defensive plays, particularly the strip against Central Oklahoma, come down to anticipation and a little bit of gambling.
"It was just taking a chance,'' said Neal, a native of Platte City, Mo. "I saw the ball-carrier running with the ball and I could tell that he didn't know I was behind him, so I thought if I could get close enough before he got to the end zone hopefully I could pop it out.
"I saw the ball at the last second so I just took a chance and it worked out.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's always a challenge to make the jump from high school to college athletics, and making the leap from a Class 1A school to the NCAA Division II ranks can be an even more formidable task.
But it's one that former Cair Paravel Latin standout Hannah Woolery has seemingly handled with ease, becoming a key player for Emporia State's women's soccer team from the time she stepped on campus in 2019 and helping lead the Lady Hornets to a 14-1-1 record and No. 11 national ranking this fall.
"I think any transition is going to be difficult, especially the physicality of it and just the speed of play, but I had played for Bryan (Sailer, ESU coach) before so I kind of knew what I was getting into and just the team atmosphere, you catch on pretty quick,'' Woolery said.
Emporia State soccer standout Hannah Woolery (10), a Cair Paravel Latin graduate, has helped the Hornets post a 14-1-1 record this fall while earning a No. 11 national ranking. [Photo courtesy of ESU Photography]
A midfielder, Woolery started all 17 games for the Hornets as a true freshman, scoring four goals and dishing out six assists en route to earning All-MIAA honorable mention.
After having the 2020 fall season wiped out by COVID-19, Woolery and ESU turned in a strong abbreviated spring season and picked up right where they left off this fall, with Woolery contributing eight goals and six assists this season, including a goal and two assists in Sunday's 4-3 double-overtime win over Central Missouri.
"I think last year was definitely the most mentally difficult year we've had because we still prepared like we were going to have a season and then we came in and there was no season,'' Woolery said. "It just kept getting postponed so we were practicing, we were doing all the conditioning and the fitness tests, but we didn't have the reward of actually playing a game.
"That made it very difficult but thankfully in the spring we got kind of a shortened season and that was just a small glimpse of what it was going to turn into in the fall, so I was very grateful for that.''
Former Cair Paravel Latin soccer standout Hannah Woolery has scored eight goals and contributed six assists for Emporia State's 14-1-1 soccer team this fall. [Photo courtesy of ESU Photography]
Woolery, who also played basketball and volleyball for Cair Paravel as well as club soccer for Sporting Kaw Valley, said that the uncertainty of '20-'21 served as motivation for her and her teammates.
"It just kind of made us thirsty for more and the fact that we were going to have a full season we just wanted to keep growing and keep pushing and see how far we really could go, especially since we had everybody coming back,'' she said.
"I would say that we are growing as a team and there is still room for improvement but I think as a team we're really happy with where we are right now.''
Emporia State will take on Washburn at Yager Stadium Friday (6 p.m.) before closing out the regular season Sunday at Nebraska-Kearney and Woolery said the goal for the Hornets now is to close out the season with a bang.
"We have made it the furthest in ESU history and we're still capable of a lot but I don't want to overstep anything by saying how we're going to finish,'' Woolery said.
"I just think we need to keep working hard and keep pushing and just challenge ourselves to grow and finish the season strong.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 4-ranked Washburn volleyball captured its 14th sweep of the season in a 3-0 win at rival Emporia State on Tuesday evening, with senior outside hitter Genna Berg becoming the 10th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career digs and 1,000 career kills.
Washburn took a 25-16, 25-16, 25-21 win over the Hornets to improve to 20-3 overall and 12-2 in the MIAA.
Washburn senior Genna Berg became the 10th player in school history to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career Tuesday night at Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods got off to a slow start and trailed 3-0 in the first set before responding with three consecutive points of their own to even the match.
The Hornets (4-17, 2-12 MIAA) knotted the score at four when a kill by Kelsey Gordon, a former Emporia High standout, ignited an 8-1 scoring run to give Washburn the lead for good. Emporia State pulled within five points at 20-15, but the Ichabods won five of the next six points to claim the opening set.
