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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University will open its 120th season of men's basketball with a pair of games in Kansas City, Mo.'s storied Municipal Auditorium, starting on Friday at 3 p.m. when the Ichabods will face Sioux Falls (S.D).
Washburn will then face preseason No. 1 and defending NCAA Division II champion Minnesota State (Mankato) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Seniors Andrew Orr (24) and Michael Keegan (23) are part of a strong returning nucleus for the Washburn Ichabods, who posted a 19-11 record a year ago. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods played their lone exhibition game on Oct. 29, facing NCAA Division I top-ranked Kansas and falling 84-53 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Washburn coach Brett Ballard said he feels like the Ichabods got what they needed to out of the KU game and will get an idea this weekend how they will stack up against top Division II competition.
"It's two really challenging games out of the gate and two regional games, which have implications on the postseason, so we're jumping right into the deep end, but we've had a good preseason and I feel like the KU exhibition and our closed door scrimmages were really beneficial for us,'' Ballard said.
Sioux Falls will also be playing its first games of the season in Kansas City, while Minnesota State opened the season with a pair of losses to fellow ranked teams at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, falling to No. 19-ranked Florida Southern 91-86 in overtime and 57-49 to No. 9-ranked North Georgia the following day.
Washburn finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-11 record, advancing to the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
The Ichabods have recorded 30 20-win seasons and four under Ballard in his seven seasons, receiving four NCAA postseason berths.
Washburn returns four players who started at least half of last season's 30 games and eight players return who saw action last year for the Ichabods.
WU senior Andrew Orr received second-team All-MIAA honors last season after averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds while junior Sam Ungashick received all-conference honorable mention after averaging 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Other returning starters include junior Brady Christiansen (7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds) and senior Michael Keegan (7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds) while sophomore Jack Bachelor started 11 games and averaged 11.5 points and 3.8 rebounds with 3.9 assists.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball will begin its 2024-25 regular season with a pair of games in St. Cloud, Minn. for the Central Region Crossover.
Washburn junior transfer Payton Sterk has opened her career for the Ichabods with double-figure games against Kansas State and Kansas. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will face Southwest Minnesota State to open the season at 4 p.m. on Friday before Washburn before facing the host team, St. Cloud State, at 4 o'clock on Saturday.
Washburn wrapped up its preseason exhibition schedule with an 81-54 loss at Kansas last Friday. Junior Yibari Nwidadah was a rebound shy of a double-double against the Jayhawks, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds while juniors Gavi Gionannetti and Payton Sterk added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Kansas game followed an 89-36 exhibition loss at nationally-ranked Kansas State, with transfer Sterk scoring a team-high 12 points for the Ichabods.
Third-year Washburn coach Lora Westling said the two Division I exhibitions should help prepare the Ichabods for anything they'll face over the upcoming season.
"We're not going to see that much talent on a roster for the rest of our season, but what we were hoping to get out of it is some highlights, which I think we did,'' Westling said. "We were able to try out kind of a new defensive system for us and create some turnovers against some really talented players.
"We wanted to make sure we had a bright light on what we need to improve on and I felt like we got that. We've got to take care of the ball better and find better spacing and flow in our offense. We wanted to be excited about the upcoming season and I think we got that accomplished as well, so overall just great experiences with our exhibition games and now we're ready to compete against teams at our level.''
Washburn is coming off a 13-16 season in 2023-24, finishing 10th in the MIAA with an 8-14 record, and advancing to the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
The Ichabods were picked to finish ninth in the MIAA Preseason Media Poll and were tabbed 10th by the coaches.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
Seaman senior Max Huston has passed for 2,078 yards and 26 TDs and rushed for 627 yards and nine TDs for the 7-2 Vikings. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Bryer Finley (1) has caught 67 passes for 1,404 yards and 21 TDs this fall for the 7-2 Vikings. [File photo/TSN]
Class 5A
VALLEY CENTER (No. 11 West: 3-6) at SEAMAN (No. 3 West: 7-2)
Seaman advanced to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs with a 65-7 win over Topeka West last Friday while Valley Center upset No. 6 West seed Goddard, 7-6. The winner of Friday's game will advance to play the winner of Friday's game between No. 2 West seed Eisenhower (7-2) and No. 7 Maize South (6-3). Seaman senior Max Huston has completed 122 of 194 passes for 2,078 yards and 26 touchdowns and has rushed for 627 yards and nine TDs on 96 attempts. Senior Bryer Finley has 67 receptions for 1,404 yards and 21 TDs while junior Kaden McKinney has carried the ball 126 times for 823 yards and 11 TDs. Junior Cameron Brian leads the Vikings with 100 tackles (56 solo) with eight tackles for loss. Valley Center senior Connor Brian has completed 63 of 166 passes for 655 yards and eight TDs. Junior Rylan Bailey has 401 rushing yards and three TDs on 173 attempts while sophomore Ray J Logan has caught 33 passes for 424 yards and five TDs. Senior Steel Schomaker leads Valley Center with 93 tackles.
Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has passed for 1,448 yards and 16 TDs for the 8-1 Wildcats. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Hayden senior Jensen Schrickel has 426 receiving yards, 288 rushing yards and has scored 11 touchdowns for the 8-1 Wildcats. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Class 3A
GIRARD (No. 6 East: 6-3) at HAYDEN (No. 3 East: 8-1)
Hayden, which played for the Class 3A state championship last fall, advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 56-6 win over Hiawatha last Friday, while Girard is coming off a 43-15 first-round win ovr Kansas City-Bishop Ward. The winner of Friday's game will play the winner of Friday's game between No. 2 East seed Frontenac (9-0) and No. 10 Perry-Lecompton (4-5). Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has completed 96 of 139 passes for 1,448 yards and 16 touchdowns while junior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 78 times for 696 yards, caught 23 passes for 398 yards and scored 21 total touchdowns. Senior Jensen Schrickel has caught 28 passes for 426 yards, rushed for 288 yards on 23 attempts and scored 11 total TDs. Junior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 87 total tackles.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn University volleyball coach Chris Herron knows that his Ichabods face a daunting task in Friday's 6 p.m. MIAA match against No. 5-ranked Nebraska-Kearney at Lee Arena.
Washburn volleyball celebrates last week's 3-0 sweep over nationally-ranked Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
After all, the Lopers are 24-1 on the season overall, 11-1 in the MIAA and swept the Ichabods 3-0 earlier in the season.
But Washburn is on a hot streak of its own, sporting an 18-4 overall record and a 9-3 mark in the MIAA after a pair of sweeps last week over Northwest Missouri State and No. 23-ranked Missouri Western, and Herron wants his team to embrace the challenge of Friday night's UNK match.
"I try to present to our kids that we have to treat it like and think of it as an opportunity, that we get the chance and we get an opportunity to play the No. 5 team in the country,'' Herron said. "And as long as our kids believe that, and I feel like this group does, then they almost relish the opportunity and they're looking forward to that opportunity.
"And that's how I want them to look forward to every match. That's hard to do that every match, but we only have four left (in the regular season) that we're guaranteed so there's got to be a sense of urgency.''
Friday's match against the Lopers will open WU's Alumni Weekend while the Ichabods will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday with their final home regular-season match against Fort Hays State (6 p.m.).
Before the match on Saturday Washburn will recognize seniors Emma Williams, Jalyn Stevenson, Maddie Steiner, Taryn Pridgett and Austin Broadie. The five seniors have played a combined 19 seasons with the Ichabods, appearing in 377 total matches.
Stevenson has been a four-year member of the WU program, appearing in 428 sets across 119 matches. She was an AVCA All-American honorable mention pick in 2022 and is a two-time All-MIAA first team selection. The Spring Hill native is 15th in program history with 1,234 kills and 19th in digs with 1,247.
Cair Paravel product Pridgett has been a five-year member of the program, appearing in 115 sets and 56 matches. Pridgett has tallied 170 total kills with 50 digs and 42 blocks.
Broadie has been with Washburn for four seasons, playing in 291 sets and 82 matches. She has accumulated 600 career kills with 191 total blocks and 145 digs. The Burns native is 24th in program history with a .243 career attacking percentage and is 33rd all-time in total blocks.
Williams has been with the Ichabods for three seasons as a player and one as a student assistant. She has played in 129 sets and 52 total matches, serving 16 aces with 43 digs and five assists.
Steiner is a three-year member of the Ichabod volleyball team and the Seaman product has appeared in 193 sets across 68 matches. Steiner has accumulated 309 career digs with 72 assists and has served 26 aces.
Washburn Rural soccer drops 3-0 decision to SM East in Class 6A semifinal, will play for third place
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawneee Mission East struck early and late in Wednesday's Class 6A soccer semifinal, taking a 3-0 win over Washburn Rural at the Shawnee Mission Soccer Complex.
The Lancers got a goal from Ben Perkins with 37 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first half to build a 1-0 halftime advantage before Lars Alsin added a pair of goals in the second half to give SM East its final margin.
With Wednesday's win Shawnee Mission East improved to 18-1-1 while Washburn Rural fell to 14-3-3.
The Lancers will play Dodge City for the 6A state title at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita while Washburn Rural will face Shawnee Mission West in the 4 p.m. third-place game at Stryker.
Dodge City (20-0-0) advanced to the championship match with a 1-0 semifinal win over SM West, getting a goal from Osvaldo Chairez on a long shot with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. The Red Demons played without leading goal scorer Zahit Garibay, who suffered an injury in the second half of Monday's quarterfinal.
Washburn Rural, which is in the 6A Final Four for the fifth straight season, will be facing a SM West team that is now 15-3-2 on the season.
Class 6A semifinal
SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 3, WASHBURN RURAL 0
Washburn Rural (14-3-3) 0 0 -- 0
Shawnee Mission East (18-1-1) 1 2 -- 3
Shawnee Mission East -- Goals: Lars Alsin 2, Ben Perkins.
