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Washburn University's volleyball team moved up one place in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings to become the No. 3 team in the nation.
The Ichabods begin MIAA play this week on the road at Fort Hays State Friday and at No. 1-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
Washburn went 3-1 last weekend at the Mountain Lion Invitational to improve to 8-1 on the young season. The Ichabods' only loss came on Saturday to then-ranked No. 15 Colorado School of Mines.
Freshman outside hitter Jalyn Stevenson celebrates a kill in a recent Washburn University volleyball match. The Ichabods moved up to No. 3 in the latest AVCA national rankings. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Nebraska-Kearney moved up two places to take over the No. 1 spot in the national rankings with a perfect 7-0 record.
Angelo State remains at No. 2 with Washburn No. 3. Concordia St. Paul and Wayne State round out the top five.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West will induct five former Charger athletes, one coach, one special contributor and one team into the Topeka West Athletics Hall of Fame Thursday night.
Former West athletes Tony Barry, Jeff Benson, Misty Caryl Lingerfelt, Katie Freund Niemann and Daniel Heflin will be inducted Thursday as well as the late Bill Allen, a former Charger coach. Rome Mitchell will be inducted as a special contributor while the 1967 West girls gymnastics team will be inducted as a team.
A reception in the Topeka West Leadership Studies room will be held for the inductees at 6 p.m., followed at 7 by the induction ceremony in the Topeka West Auditorium. Admission is free to both of events.
The inductees will be also introduced at halftime of Friday's Homecoming football game against Hayden at Hummer Sports Park (7 p.m. kickoff).
Those chosen for induction in 2021 are:
TONY BARRY -- A 1982 West graduate, Barry participated in football and basketball for the Chargers. He was a two-year letter-winner in both football and basketball and was named second-team All-City and second-team All-I-70 League as a senior in football. He was named All-I-70 League as a senior in basketball. Barry currently resides in Topeka and is very active at Christ the King parish and CASA in Topeka.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's been a tough start to the 2021 season for Seaman's boys soccer team, with none of the 1-5-0 Vikings' losses harder to take than Monday's 2-1 double-overtime non-league defeat to Lawrence at Seaman.
But despite that heartbreaking defeat, which came with just 2:13 remaining in the second 10-minute overtime session, Seaman assistant coach Jenna Cunningham saw several positives that the Vikings can take from Monday's performance moving forward.
"We really fought,'' said Cunningham, who coached the Vikes in coach Jacob Kirmer's absence. "We haven't had a game like that where we wanted to win it so bad.
"We wanted to win so bad, so this one hurts. We really wanted to get that one, but there were improvements.''
Seaman senior Justin Kruse (1) and Lawrence senior Dominic Chieu wait for the ball to come down during Monday's soccer game at Seaman. The Lions took a 2-1 win in double overtime. [Photo by Rick Peterson]
Seaman drew first blood on a goal from senior Pablo Font at the 28:17 mark of the first half off an assist from freshman Kaelin Loy and the Vikings never trailed until Lawrence junior Cale Scott ended the game late in the second OT.
Seaman junior goalkeeper Ayden Thompson turned away several Lion scoring threats in both halves to give the Vikings a chance at the victory, but the hosts had trouble generating scoring opportunities after Font's early goal.
"We've got to pick it up defensively and offensively,'' Cunningham said. "We've got to find our attack, we've got to find a way to score.''
Seaman freshman Ethan Geiger (17) advances the ball as sophomore Alden Parker-Timms defends for Lawrence Monday at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman won't have much time to dwell on Monday's loss, with the Vikings going on the road to face Centennial League foe Junction City on Tuesday.
"I told them, 'Hey, you've got tonight to think about it and it should hurt and it does, but we've got to move on tomorrow,'' Cunningham said.
LAWRENCE 2, SEAMAN 1 (2 OT)
Lawrence 1 0 0 1 -- 2
Seaman 1 0 0 0 -- 1
Lawrence -- Goals: Josh Anderson, Cale Scott. Assists: Colin Sandefur, Josh King.
Seaman -- Goal: Pablo Font. Assist: Kaelin Loy.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kansas' softball team already has a definite Washburn Rural flavor, with Kasey Hamilton finishing her freshman season this past spring and Olivia Bruno just beginning her Jayhawk career.
Now Campbell Bagshaw is set to join her former Junior Blue teammates at KU in 2022-23 after orally committing to the Jayhawks over the weekend.
"It's definitely a stress reliever,'' Bagshaw said about getting her college pick out of the way. "I went on a visit to William Jewell and I was also looking into Murray State, but after everything was all said and done, KU just seemed like the best fit for me.''
Campbell Bagshaw [Twitter]
Bagshaw said she's looking forward to reuniting with Hamilton and Bruno in the fall of '22.
"I've always looked up to them and admired them for their leadership and their work ethic and they always were just super encouraging and always supported me through it all, whatever decision I made,'' Bagshaw said. "But they love KU and I know that I can trust both of them with everything, so it was good to have those two as kind of like my mentors.''
Bagshaw, who earned All-Shawnee County and All-Centennial League first-team honors as a junior infielder, said it will be nice to get a chance to play her college softball so close to her Topeka home.
"It was definitely whatever felt right,'' Bagshaw said of her college choice. "I know personally I am a homebody and that was one of the reasons that Murray State wasn't quite a good fit for me because I knew I wouldn't be able to go eight hours away.
"I was OK to go a couple of hours away maybe, but just being around the atmosphere of Lawrence itself and then also the campus, I knew it was definitely the right fit.''
With her future set, Bagshaw will turn her focus on her senior seasons in basketball this winter and softball next spring.
"I'll play travel fall ball and then I'll play basketball and I'll play travel softball after our high school season,'' Bagshaw said.
Bagshaw played on Rural's Class 6A state championship basketball team as a freshman in 2019 and hit .419 with 37 runs scored, two homers and 18 runs batted in for the Junior Blue softball team this past season as Rural posted a 20-3 record and advanced to the 6A state quarterfinals.
Now Bagshaw wants to do whatever she can to end her prep career in both sports with a bang.
"Last year our seniors were great leaders,'' Bagshaw said. "I know for basketball we only had one senior, but I think the chemistry between the girls is great and I think that is definitely a key in both sports to have success.''
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Washburn University senior libero Faith Rottinghaus has been named the MIAA Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Monday afternoon.
Faith Rottinghaus
Rottinghaus, who helped Shawnee Heights win the Class 5A state title in 2016, passed the 2,000 career digs milestone last week as she helped the Ichabods to a 3-1 record at the Mountain Lion Invitational.
Rottinghaus averaged 5.29 digs/set in four matches and scooped up 20 digs against No. 15 Colorado School of Mines to reach the milestone. She was also named to the All-Tournament team and finished the weekend with 74 digs, 57 receptions with zero errors, five service aces with one error in 48 total attempts and eight assists.
Rottinghaus now has 2,005 digs and is 88 away from moving up to second on Washburn's all-time record list. Shawnee Heights product Erica Cowhick (2004-07) is Washburn's career digs record holder with 2,464.
The Ichabods will begin MIAA play this weekend on the road at Fort Hays State (Sept. 17) and No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney (Sept. 18).
