By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kevin Bordewick, who has led Washburn Rural to seven Class 6A state volleyball championships and nine state titles as a head coach, garnered the No. 1 position on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches volleyball list.
Kevin Bordewick has coached Washburn Rural to seven Class 6A state volleyball championships and nine state titles as a head coach overall. [File photo/TSN]
Former Hayden coach Jesica Farmer-Walter led the Wildcats to five state volleyball championships. [Hayden Catholic High School]
Bordewick led the Junior Blues to four straight championships from 2006-2009 and added titles in 2004, 2011 and 2012.
Washburn Rural is 937-220 in 27 seasons under Bordewick, with 23 state tournament appearances. He has a 984-260 career record in 30 seasons.
The veteran coach has also won 6A state basketball titles in 2019 and this past season and Bordewick has been a part of 12 state championships overall, serving as an assistant coach for Rural's three state basketball titles under former coach Bill Annan.
Former Hayden coach Jesica Farmer-Walter earned the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best list after leading the Wildcats to five state championships in the Class 4A and 4A-Division II ranks.
Farmer Silver Lake coach Angie Bittner, current Silver Lake coach Sarah Johnson and former Shawnee Heights coach Kerry Kapfer round out the top five on the Best of the Best Top 10 list, with Bittner, Johnson and Kapfer combining for 11 state championships.
Farmer-Walter earned the No. 1 spot in the Reader's Choice poll, receiving more than 850 votes, followed by Johnson and Bordewick in balloting by TSN readers.
A five-person panel of current and past sports media professionals with more than 150 years of combined experience met to help determine the final Best of the Best Top 10.
Former Shawnee Heights state champ Laura Curry is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list, followed by former Rossville coach Cathy Foote, former Hayden coach Susan Dickerson, former Seaman coach Erica (Cowhick) Book and current Seaman coach Tatiana (Schafer) Dowling to round out the top 10.
Here's a look at the Top 10 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 10 BEST OF THE BEST VOLLEYBALL COACHES
1. Kevin Bordewick -- Bordewick has led Washburn Rural to seven Class 6A state titles, with the Junior Blues winning four straight championships from 2006-2009 and added titles in 2004, 2011 and 2012. Bordewick's Junior Blues finished second in 2002 and 2019. Bordewick has posted a 937-220 record in 27 seasons at Rural. The veteran coach has also won 6A state basketball titles in 2019 and this past season and Bordewick has been a part of 12 state championships overall, serving as an assistant coach for Rural's three straight basketball titles under former coach Bill Annan.
2. Jesica Farmer Walter -- Farmer-Walter coached Hayden to the Class 4A state title in 2007, 4A Division II championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the 4A title in 2019. Farmer-Walter also turned in a six-year stint as the Wildcats' girls basketball coach, with multiple state tournament appearances, including a state runner-up finish.
3. Angie Bittner -- Bittner led Silver Lake to a dominating run in Class 3A, with the Eagles winning state championships in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007.
4. Sarah Johnson -- Johnson has continued Silver Lake's state championship tradition in volleyball, leading the Eagles to Clas 3A state titles in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
5. Kerry Kapfer -- Shawnee Heights was a consistent state contender in Kapfer's long run at the school, including Class 5A state titles in 1999 and 2000 and second-place state finishes in 2002, 2003 and 2006.
6. Laura Curry -- Curry led Shawnee Heights to their most recent Class 5A state championship in 2016. Curry's title team in '16 included future Division I players Jazz Sweet (Nebraska) and Megan Cooney (Illinois) as well as NCAA Division II All-American Faith Rottinghaus.
7. Cathy Foote -- After coaching at Westmoreland, Foote guided the Rossville program for 21 seasons and was inducted into the Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
8. Susan Dickerson -- Dickerson coached Hayden to back-to-back Class 4A state runner-up finishes in 2001 and 2002 and the Wildcats finished third in the 2000 season.
9. Erica (Cowhick) Book -- Book coached four seasons at Seaman with three state tournament appearances before accepting a position at NCAA Division III Simpson College and then moving back to the high school level at Spring Hill. Book's Seaman's teams reached the Class 5A semifinals in all three of their state appearances, placing third in 2008 and 2009 and fourth in 2011.
10. Tatiana (Schafer) Dowling -- Seaman has made back-to-back Class 5A state tournament appearances under Dowling, a former Viking standout. The Vikings advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2021, earning the Vikings' first state berth since 2014, and finished fourth at state last fall.
READERS CHOICE VOLLEYBALL AWARDS
1. Jesica Farmer-Walter -- No. 2 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
2. Sarah Johnson-- No. 4 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
3. Kevin Bordewick -- No. 1 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
4. Tatiana (Schafer) Dowling -- No. 10 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
5. Kerry Kapfer -- No. 5 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
6. Laura Curry -- No. 6 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
7. Angie Bittner -- No. 3 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
8. Carrie Schmidt -- Schmidt served as Hayden's assistant coach to Jesica Farmer-Walter during the Wildcats' dominating run of five Class 4A and 4A-Division II state championships
9. Erica (Cowhick) Book -- No. 9 in TSN Best of the Best Top 10 (see capsule above).
10. Kylee Dewey -- Dewey is currently Seaman's junior varsity coach, part of a Viking coaching staff that has advanced to back-to-back Class 5A state tournaments, including a fourth-place finish last fall.
Next up: Wrestling Best of the Best Top 10 and Reader's Choice awards.
