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No. 8-ranked Ichabod volleyball looking to build momentum in final regular-season matches
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 8-ranked Washburn volleyball will close out its regular season this weekend with a pair of matches in Whiting Fieldhouse. [File photo/TSN]Broadie is a five-year member of the Ichabods, playing in 114 total matches. She has 938 career kills, a .265 career hitting percentage and 232 total blocks in her career.
McMullen has been with the Ichabods for four years, playing in 114 career matches. She has tallied 2,664 assists with 1,057 digs and served 153 aces.
A four-year member of the WU program, Limback has played in 102 career matches. She has 548 career kills while hitting .327 and has made 294 career blocks.
Conner is in year four with the Ichabods, playing in 112 total matches. She has dished out 1,866 career assists, served 74 aces and scooped 765 total digs.
Henry is a four-year member of the Washburn program, appearing in 65 career matches with 42 total digs, 16 aces and 12 assists.
Dvorak has been with the Ichabods for two seasons, playing in 51 career matches. She has 377 kills while hitting .396 and made 223 total blocks as an Ichabod.
Broadie leads the Washburn offense with 273 kills (3.29 per set) while hitting .334, third best on the team. She has started all 25 matches and also has logged 52 blocks with 53 digs. The senior has 13 double-digit kill matches and is third in the MIAA in hitting percentage and third in the conference in points per set and fourth in kills per set.
Limback is slashing a team-high .472 with 162 kills (2.00 per set) while playing and starting in all 25 matches. She has added 95 blocks (1.17 per set), also a team-high and served 12 aces. She has hit over .400 in all but eight matches this season with three double-digit kill efforts. She leads the nation in hitting percentage and is fourth in the MIAA in blocks per set.
Dvorak, sidelined for the season with a knee injury, ranks second on the team with 74 blocks (1.07 per set) while starting in all 22 matches she played in. Offensively she recorded 137 kills (1.99 per set) along with hitting .462, second best on the team. She recorded five or more blocks in nine matches. The senior ranks second in the nation and second in the MIAA in hitting percentage among qualified hitters. She is also seventh in the MIAA in blocks per set.
McMullen has started all 25 matches this season and leads Washburn with 527 assists (6.43 per set). She has also chipped in a team-high 29 service aces while ranking second on the team with 219 digs (2.67 per set). McMullen has delivered 14 matches of 20-plus assists with 10 double-doubles. She ranks eighth in the conference in assists per set.
Junior libero Taylor Rottinghaus leads the team with 344 digs (4.14 per set). She has chipped in 99 assists while serving 26 aces, second most on the team. Rottinghaus has three matches with at least 20 digs. She ranks seventh in the MIAA in digs per set and 11th in total digs.
Freshman Brooklyn Morrisey has played in 10 matches, including two starts in WU's past two outings after the injury to Dvorak. She has made 18 kills (1.06 per set) while hitting .229. She has added 14 blocks and seven digs.
Washburn women's basketball enters 2025-2026 campaign with high expectations
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Yibari Nwidadah averaged 16.8 points and 8.0 rebounds last season for Washburn, earning second-team All-MIAA honors. [File photo/TSN] 
Senior Payton Sterk averaged 15.7 points with 62 3-pointers last season for 18-13 Washburn, earning second-team All-MIAA recognition. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is 41-15 all-time in season openers after falling 82-72 to Southwest Minnesota State last season.
Washburn returns 10 letter-winners from last season's roster while adding four new faces in the form of three transfers and one freshman.
The experienced Ichabod roster consists of four seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and one freshman.
Yibari Nwidadah is back for year four with the Ichabods as a senior, earning All-MIAA second-team and MIAA All-defensive team recognition as a junior after starting in 29 games and logging 28.4 minutes per game.
Nwidadah led Washburn in scoring with 16.8 points per game on 62.6 percent shooting from the floor while averaging 8.0 rebounds. The Olathe North product had 12 scoring efforts of 20-plus points and had eight double-doubles on the year. She finished first in the MIAA and third nationally in field goal percentage.
Sterk also earned All-MIAA second-team honors as a junior and was named the MIAA co-newcomer of the Year. Sterk started in all 31 contests, logging a team-high 31.1 minutes per game while averaging 15.7 points on 41.5 percent shooting overall. She led the team with 62 3-pointers while also shooting a team-best 38.0 percent from deep.
The Colorado Springs, Colo. native grabbed 3.4 rebounds per game and averaged 2.3 assists, second most on the team. She had 10 20-plus scoring games, including three 30-plus point games. She finished second in the MIAA with 84.6 percent shooting at the free throw line and was third in the MIAA and 25th in the nation in 3-point percentage. She was also eighth in the conference in points per game.
Gabi Giovannetti enters her senior season with Washburn after being one of two players to start in all 31 games last season. She logged 27.3 minutes per game and was third on the team with an 11.6 scoring average on 41.7 percent shooting from the floor and 32.0 percent from deep with 47 made 3s, second most on the team. The Bishop Miege product also averaged 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals. Giovannetti delivered 18 double-digit scoring efforts and finished 11th in the MIAA in total 3-pointers made.
Madelyn Amekporfor returns for her junior season after playing in 30 games and making 29 starts last season and logging 26.7 minutes per game. She averaged 7.8 points on 47.0 percent shooting from the floor while grabbing 5.2 rebounds per game, second most on the team. Defensively the Andover product averaged a team-high 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks and had nine games with 10-plus points and seven games with either three steals or blocks.
Sophomore Brooke Gomez played in all 31 games and made 30 starts as a freshman, averaging 4.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and a team-high 2.7 assists. The Northglenn, Colo. native had five games with 5-plus assists, tops on the team.
Dillon Claussen off to torrid start with pair of double-doubles for No. 2 Washburn men
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Dillon Claussen probably could have started for a lot of college basketball programs accoss the country last season as a freshman.
But on a Washburn University team that was loaded with veterans, the 6-foot-8, 215-pounder knew he would have to wait his turn to crack the lineup and was perfectly content with his role off the bench while making an immediate impact for a 30-4 Ichabod team that made it all the way to the NCAA Division II semifinals.
Sophomore Dillon Claussen is averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds for 2-0 Washburn. [File photo/TSN]
"Oh man, it was amazing,'' Claussen said. "I like to say that was probably the best freshman year I could have imagined. We went to the Final Four and I got to play with a bunch of other experienced players.
"As a senior, Andrew Orr had a lot of experience in the league so he taught me a lot and then I still got to play in the games, so I was super happy with it and it definitely taught me a lot and prepared me for this year when I have a bigger role.''
Claussen played an average of 15.4 minutes per game last season and averaged 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds with 25 blocked shots while shooting 67.4 percent from the field and 70.2 percent from the free throw line.
And Claussen gives a lot of credit to last year's veterans for helping him adjust to the college game.
"Coming in as a freshman you don't know totally what it's like to be a college player and they'd been on top of their leagues,'' said Claussen, an Omaha, Neb. native. "Michael Keegan had been playing forever, Andrew Orr had been on the top of the (MIAA), really since his sophomore year.
"He'd had a huge role and (Jacob) Hanna was a super good player in his conference, so taking tips from all of them on and off the court they taught me how I could be a better person and player.''
Washburn coach Brett Ballard agreed that the season Claussen had playing behind Orr and with the other veterans was a big factor in his progress.
"I think it's really beneficial when you come into a program with great leadership and maturity,'' Ballard said. "I think Dillon would have gone a lot of places and been successful later on, but I do think it just helped elevate him and accelorated that process a little bit because he got thrown in the fire with guys that showed him how to do it.
"And then he had to go against a guy like Andrew Orr every day. So I think that competition for Dillon in practice was really beneficial, too. You saw it last year. Andrew Orr was great and there were games the last month and a half where it was basically 50-50 because we just felt like Dillon had earned that right to play. That just showed you where he was at last year and he's taken some steps this year.''
Claussen demonstrated that in Washburn's season-opening trip to Florida on Nov. 1st and 2nd while making the first-two starts of his college career.
Claussen scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Washburn's 101-53 season-opening win over Augusta, Ga. and followed that up with 23 points and 12 rebounds in an 89-77 win over No. 3-ranked Dallas Baptist.
