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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 24-ranked Washburn University volleyball has put together an impressive 9-1 start to the 2024 season.
But Chris Herron and his Ichabods know that bigger challenges are ahead, beginning with the start of MIAA play this weekend.
No. 24-ranked Washburn volleyball is 9-1 entering MIAA play this weekend. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"We talked about this the very first day,'' Herron said. "Preseason practice is what it is -- two-a-days -- and then the next step is the tournaments, the non-com, and then the next step is a big step into conference play and then the huge step is in regionals.
"We're into that conference step now and it's different because the crowds are going to be bigger, they're going to be louder, they're going to be obnoxious and everybody wants to get a piece of you so you have to have big boy pants.''
The Ichabods will visit Northwest Missouri State on Friday before finishing off the week at Missouri Western on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts.
"It's like any coach, you always want one more because you're so selfish but you have to be pretty happy with 9-1,'' Herron said.
"Six of the seven slots that we have are pretty much cemented and kind of clear who we're playing. We have one spot that we're just a little bit fuzzy on because it's a battle between two or three kids but we just need one of those kids to just kind of distance themself from the others but it's good to have the depth we have.''
The Ichabods picked up three sweeps last weekend and are 9-1 despite not playing a home match to date.
Last weekend Washburn swept both Missouri S&T and Harding on Day 1 of the PSU Regional Challenge and on Saturday, the Ichabods swept Henderson State to finish out the tournament.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2024 college volleyball season couldn't have gotten off to a much better start for Washburn University sophomore libero Taylor Rottinghaus.
Taylor Rottinghaus
Rottinghaus has helped lead the No. 24-ranked Ichabods to a 9-1 non-conference record and the former three-sport Shawnee Heights standout picked up an added bonus earlier this week when she was named the MIAA Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week by the conference.
Rottinghaus became the first Ichabod to earn weekly conference recognition this season and earned the honor for the first time in her career.
"It's awesome, it's exciting,'' Rottinghaus said. "I was very surprised, actually. I didn't know that they were already starting up with the awards for the MIAA, so getting that award was just surreal because we haven't even started conference play yet.''
Washburn sophomore Taylor Rottinghaus was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Ichabods post three straight 3-0 sweeps last week. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Rottinghaus helped the Ichabods to a 3-0 week at the PSU Regional Challenge with 3-0 sweeps over Missouri S&T, Harding and Henderson State. Rottinghaus recorded 59 digs across WU's three matches (6.56 per set) while adding seven assists and serving four service aces on the weekend.
In the win over Harding, Rottinghaus recorded 29 digs over the three sets, tying for the eighth most digs in a three-set match in program history.
"I was extremely proud of getting that award because I've been working my butt off with my team -- like everybody has been -- but just to get recognized even though I don't get to score the points, I just get to help my team score the points, that was awesome,'' she said.
Veteran Washburn coach Chris Herron said that every honor that comes Rottinghaus' way is well-deserved.
"She's athletic, she's fearless,'' Herron said. "She's hard on herself and that's the only part that I don't like. She's harder on herself than I am ever hard on her. That can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing, so we just try to make sure that she's in a good space in her head because her athleticism takes over everything else.''
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
The Seaman volleyball team, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, hosted a triangular on Tuesday with United Kansas Conference rivals Piper and Lansing.
Seaman improved to 15-1 while running its win streak to 15 matches with UKC sweep Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
After slow starts to begin each set, Seaman won its first match of the night, taking a 25-21, 25-13 win over Piper.
The opening set was back and forth, with Seaman taking a 9-5 lead before Piper came back to take a 10-8 lead. Seaman regained the lead at 19-16, forcing a Piper timeout, before the Vikings closed out the first set, 25-21.
Set 2 began as a repeat of the first with no team building a lead more than two points. Seaman was able to extend its lead to 13-9, which caused Piper to use a timeout. Seaman continued its scoring surge with three straight service points from junior Kinsley Smith, stretching the lead to 18-11. Seaman finished out the second set and the match, winning 25-13.
The Lady Vikes were led in service points by Kinsley Smith and senior Kinley Wilhelm. Seniors Maegan Mills and Ava Esser led the team in kills. Senior Maggie Moulden led in blocks, while senior Campbell Chabot and junior Harper Hafenstine led in assists. Wilhelm and Mills led the Vikings in digs.
In the final match of night, Seaman battled the Lions from Lansing. After a great start in Set 1, the second set was a close battle, but the Vikings swept the Lions, 25-15, 25-23.
Set one saw the Lady Vikes start aggressively, both offensively and defensively, taking an 11-5 lead. Seaman extended the lead to 17-10, forcing Lansing to take their final timeout of the set. The Lady Vikes finished off the set, winning 25-15.
In Set 2 Lansing jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but the Lady Vikes charged back to take a 10-8 lead, causing a Lansing timeout. The remainder of the set saw neither team have a lead larger than two points. The Vikings held on to win the set and the match, 25-23.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls tennis team tuned up for Thursday's city tournament with a strong showing in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center, led by sophomore singles champion Emma Sweeney.
Seaman sophomore Emma Sweeney captured the singles championship in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational tennis tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Sweeney claimed the singles title with an 8-2 win over Maize senior Rylee Frye in the championship match while the Vikings also got a third-place singles finish from junior Molly Gorman as well as a second-place doubles finish from senior Sidney Chinn and sophomore Peyton Henry and a fifth-place doubles finish from Cameron Lux and Katlyn Hiebsch.
Viking junior Molly Gorman earned a win by injury default over Emporia junior Kali Keough in the third-place singles match while Chinn and Henry dropped an 8-2 decision to Washburn Rural seniors Izzy Haggard and Emerie Catlin in the doubles final while Lux and Hiebsch took an 8-4 win over Maize in the fifth-place doubles match.
"I was more than pleased,'' Seaman coach Jamie Robinson said. "I thought we competed well and we won the matches we needed to win to get some good seeds at city.''
Senior doubles champions Izzy Haggard and Emerie Catlin of Washburn Rural celebrate a point in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Haggard and Catlin's doubles championship paced host Washburn Rural in Tuesday's meet.
"I thought they played with a lot of confidence today and it really showed,'' Washburn Rural coach Brad Johnston said. "They were being aggressive and finishing points early, some of the stuff we've worked on after our first few matches.''
The Junior Blues also got fifth and sixth-place finishes Tuesday from senior Carolina Chedzoy and sophomore Julia Katzer, with Chedzoy taking an 8-5 win in the fifth-place match.
Washburn Rural enters Thursday's city tournament as the defending champion, topping Seaman by a 31-28 margin in 2023 while Hayden finished third with 23 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls claimed their third straight United Kansas Conference golf team championship in as many tries in Tuesday's league meet at Lake Shawnee while Topeka West senior Alex Baxter got over the hump for the UKC individual title after a pair of near misses.
Baxter shot an 87 to take medalist honors while Seaman dominated the rest of the top five en route to a huge 56-stroke margin over runnerup Basehor-Linwood (372-428) in the team race.
Topeka West senior Alex Baxter shot an 87 to win the individual championship in Tuesday's United Kansas Conference tournament at Lake Shawnee. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Baxter knew Tuesday was her last chance to claim an individual UKC title and she wanted to do whatever she could to close the deal.
"I'm pretty excited,'' Baxter said. "My sophomore year I placed third here, my junior year I placed second and I was hoping my senior year I would place first, which I accomplished.''
After finishing third as a sophomore and second as a junior, Topeka West senior Alex Baxter shot an 87 to win the individual championship in Tuesday's United Kansas Conference tournament at Lake Shawnee. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Jaycee Zimmerman finished second in Tuesday's United Kansas Conference golf tournament with an 88, helping Seaman win its third straight league team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Baxter trailed for much of the day but was able to come from behind on her back nine (Lake Shawnee's front nine) for the win, taking a one-stroke victory over Seaman senior Jaycee Zimmerman, the 2023 conference champion.
"I got a pep talk from my coaches (Richard Mariani and Lynn Riney) and I had to just toughen up and keep going at it,'' Baxter said.
Junior Makenna Stuke shot an 89 to finish third individually for team champion Seaman in Tuesday's United Kansas Conference golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Vikings put all six of their golfers in the top 14 spots, with junior Makenna Stuke shooting an 89 to finish in third place while sophomore Katelynn Frye was fourth (97), senior Anna McLaughlin tied for fifth (98), sophomore Chloe Schmidtlein tied for 10th (106) and junior Molina Quintana tied for 14th (110).
Seaman had finished a distant third as a team in Monday's city tournament at Western Hills, 63 strokes behind champion Washburn Rural, but the Vikings cut 17 strokes off their team score on Tuesday.
It was a good team win today, and I am proud of our girls,'' Seaman coach Julie McLaughlin said. "We really struggled in the city tournament yesterday, and our golfers were pretty down, so this was a solid victory to be able to bounce back and lower our scores some today on a challenging course.
"We still have some work to do to get our scores where we want them to be as we get deep into the season, but we feel like today was a boost to our morale.''
Shawnee Heights senior Lyla Blair tied for fifth individually with a 98 while T-Bird sophomore Lauryn Valdivia finished 13th (109).
UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
