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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 3 seed Washburn University volleyball snapped a two-match MIAA Tournament losing streak on Thursday afternoon in St. Joseph, Mo., taking a 3-1 quarterfinal win over No. 6 seed Central Missouri.
Washburn volleyball is headed to the MIAA Tournament semifinals after a 3-1 win over Central Missouri Thursday in St. Joseph, Mo. [File photo/TSN]
The 25-3 Ichabods, who had been eliminated in the MIAA quarterfinals the previous two seasons, now move into the semifinal round where they will face No. 7 seed Pittsburg State at 5 p.m. on Friday.
A strong start for Washburn led to a 25-17 win in the opening set. The Jennies (20-8) took control early in the second set to win 25-11, but the Ichabods were able to bounce back, winning 25-17 in the third and closing out the match, 25-12.
An early four-point burst capped off by a block by Bella Limback and Austin Broadie gave Washburn a 4-1 lead. The lead grew to six points at 12-6 after three more points in a row by the three seed.
Natalie Hedlund found the floorboard for a kill that pushed the lead to 19-11 but was followed by a 6-2 run for Central Missouri to pull within four. The Ichabods closed out the set with the final four points, and final three on kills coming on passes from Corinna McMullen.
The Jennies got out to a 7-2 start in the second set, with the lead growing to 15-4 after an 8-1 run. Washburn didn't score consecutive points in the set as the Central Missouri offense hit a blazing .394 in the set.
After falling behind 3-1 early in the third set, a four-point run gave the Ichabods control of the set. The Jennies hung around and pulled within one point at 14-13 before Limback started a three-point burst with a kill. Washburn took control of the set with five more in a row, leading 23-15 after a Broadie and Brooklyn Morrisey block. They wrapped up the set to lead 2-1 in the match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University soccer will face MIAA foe Missouri Western at 10 a.m. Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Mankato, Minn.
Washburn soccer will open its NCAA Tournament bid at 10 a.m. Friday in Mankato, Minn. against Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The 11-3-5 Ichabods are the No. 4 seed in the Central Region while 12-2-7 Missouri Western is the No. 5 seed.
"I'm very proud of this year's team and the journey that we have been on to earn the chance to compete on the national stage tomorrow,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "I'm excited for the ladies to execute our brand of soccer and continue to grow within our game model as we compete for a national championship.
"Missouri Western is a good team and well coached and it should be a really high-level college soccer game.''
Washburn enters the match after failing to win their past two matches, both against rival Emporia State, with a scoreless draw on Senior Day and a 3-2 loss in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
Washburn and Missouri Western met earlier this year in St. Joseph, Mo., where the match ended in a 0-0 draw.
Washburn's defense has been its focal point, allowing just three goals during the MIAA regular season and scoring 20 during that span. The Ichabods allowed only 60 shots on goal all season, while they put 125 shots on goal.
Defenders Rilyn Snyder and Shaye Taylor are one-two in minutes played this season while senior Belle Kennedy anchors the Ichabods from the heart of the midfield.
The Washburn Rural alum earned MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and All-MIAA first-team honors.
Washburn is led in goals and points by freshman Leah Henke, who has nine goals on the year and has added an assist.
Sophomore Sam Searcey has five goals and four assists while freshman Kate Hinck has also found the back of the net five times this year and junior Mackinly Rohn has three goals and an assist. Hinck and Rohn are both former Washburn Rural stars.
The Griffons are coming off an MIAA Tournament title, which booked their place in the NCAA Tournament.
Washburn leads the all-time series with Western, 16-12-1. The Ichabods have won five of the last eight matches with the Griffons.
The Washburn-Missouri Western winner will advance to a 1 p.m. match on Sunday to face the winner between No. 1 seed Minnesota State-Mankato and No. 8 seed Harding.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior star Yibari Nwidadah and the 1-1 Washburn women will host the Washburn Classic Friday and Saturday in the new Lee Arena. [File photo/TSN] The Ichabods are 1-1 on the season after splitting games in the Central Region Challenge in Edmond, Okla. last weekend.
After falling 73-61 to St. Cloud on Friday, Washburn picked up its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon with a late comeback to knock off No. 18-ranked Southwest Minnesota State, 63-59.
Junior Britany Kogbara led the way with 15 points for WU while senior Nwidadah scored 14 points with a block and a steal and senior Payton Sterk also had 14 points along with four steals and junior Madelyn Amekporfor had nine points with a team-high seven boards.
"Obviously we bounced back. which was very very productive of us,'' Nwidadah said. "I think we know the team we can be and I think we showed that on Saturday, especially coming off that loss on Friday. Overall, I'm just really excited.''
"I think our first game we did a lot of really nice things, we just didn't pay attention to the details when we needed to,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "We just couldn't stack together enough quality possessions. Your biggest fear is you see stuff on film that you can't fix but everything we saw on tape we can fix and get better at and I was really proud of my team's response the second day.
"We got better from Day 1 to Day 2 and put a solid performance together with enough to work on that we're really excited moving forward.''
Southwest Baptist enters Friday's game with a 1-1 record while MSU Denver begins the weekend with an 0-2 record.
The Washburn Classic will be comprised of the Ichabods' two opponents, Southwest Baptist and Metropolitan State of Denver along with Northeastern State, also from the MIAA.
The 2025-26 season marks the 42nd season of play inside Lee Arena since the facility opened for the 1983-84 season. Washburn is 465-130 all-time inside Lee Arena.
Nwidadah leads the Ichabods with a 14.5 scoring average in just 22.5 minutes per game on the short season and also leads the team grabbing with 6.0 rebounds per game while also shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and swatting away 1.0 blocks per game.
With 233 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is fourth in program history and she is 13th with 635 career boards.
Nwidadah's career field goal percentage of .581 is the second best in program history. In scoring she ranks 22nd with 1,021 career points.
Kogbara has provided a spark off the bench in both games, averaging 12.5 points in just 16.5 minutes per game. She is shooting 61.1 percent from the floor, second best on the team, while grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game and coming up with 1.5 steals a game. The junior has scored in double figures in both games.
Sterk is averaging 12.5 points while starting both games and playing 30.5 minutes, second most on the team. Sterk averages a team-high 2.5 steals and has connected from deep three times, also tops on the team. The senior ranks fifth in the MIAA in steals per game.
Amekporfor is averaging 8.5 points and logging a team-high 31.5 mpg. She is shooting 61.5 percent from the floor, tops on the team, while averaging 4.0 points. The junior is averaging a team-high 2.5 blocks, while also making 1.5 steals per game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES
CLASS 3A
SANTE FE TRAIL (11-0) at HAYDEN (11-0)
Connor Hanika, Hayden
Mason Becker, Hayden
Sante Fe Trail, the No. 2 Class 3A East seed, will face No. 1 East seed Hayden Friday night, with the winner moving on to the Class 3A state championship game. Hayden, which is shooting for its third straight trip to the 3A state final, is coming off a 43-29 state quarterfinal win over Jefferson West while Sante Fe Trail advanced with a 28-26 win over Holton. Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika has completed 97 of 158 passes for 1,614 yards and 22 touchdowns with just one interception while senior Kade Mitchell has rushed for 941 yards, caught 21 passes for 463 yards and has scored 21 total TDs. Mitchell did not play in the second half last week after a first-half injury. Wildcat senior Jackson McGivern has carried the ball 63 times for 420 yards while recording 72 tackles (45 solo) on defense with seven tackles for loss. Senior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 102 tackles (53 solo) and six tackles for loss while rushing for 354 yards on 57 attempts. Senior Xander Blasing has 74 stops and seven tackles for loss and has caught 22 passes for 280 yards while senior Makhi Kidd has caught 27 passes for 286 yards. Junior Mason Becker has carried the ball 18 times for 234 yards, caught nine passes for 292 yards and is perfect on extra-point kicks on the year. Logan Power leads the Wildcats with five pass interceptions. The winner of Friday's game will move on to the state championship game at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, at Hutchinson Community College to face the winner of Friday's game between No. 1 West seed and defending state champion Andale (11-0) and No. 2 West seed Rock Creek (11-0). Andale advanced with a 57-7 quarterfinal win over Pratt while Rock Creek took a 14-7 win over Cheney. Game time: 7 p.m.
Xander Blasing, Hayden
Jackson McGivern, Hayden
Jude Krentz, Hayden
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Chip Kueffer enters year three at the helm of the Cair Paravel Latin boys basketball team, with the Lions coming off a 10-11 record last year.
Chip Kueffer has high hopes for his Cair Paravel boys basketball team in his third year as the Lions' head coach. [File photo/TSN]
Despite that record, it’s a new year and Kueffer said it doesn’t matter what other teams may think about Cair Paravel, whether that’s their record or where they finish in the conference. Kueffer isn’t worried about that.
“We have to over-achieve,'' Kueffer said. "Anytime in life if you’re up for something, you want to over-achieve. You don’t want to finish where people expect you to finish, you don’t want to perform the way people expect you to, you want to exceed expectations. We need to have the mindset every night that we’re going to play better and put up a better performance than people are expecting from us.”
The Flint Hills League is nothing to sneeze at in Class 2A boys basketball, whether teams make it to sub-state title games or the state tournament. Kueffer said he likes the Lions' chances this year because of the team's depth.
“I got eight guys that I would consider starters,'' Kueffer said. "We just have to make sure when we’re out there, we have to be going 100 percent. They can play until they’re tired and we can get fresh legs in there when needed, too.
“We’re blessed to have three senior captains this year between Caleb Cleverdon, Lucas Marichal and Drew Fay, who will be leading the charge this year. I think everybody is ready to play together and this team compliments each other really well.''
Graduated seniors Jase Pavlik and Ben Roeder were two big cogs on last season’s squad, so there will be some big shoes to fill. But Kueffer knows they left their mark to help this year's team pick up the slack.
“I think everyone leads differently and everyone is coached differently,” Kueffer said. “Those guys saw exactly what it should look like and I think they’re well equipped to be able to step into that. There’s some big shoes to fill but I know that they can do it, they’re built for it.”
Cleverdon said this year's team is really focusing on toughness and making that their identity, especially on the defensive side of the ball and being able to last all four quarters.
Lucas Marichal is a top senior returner for Cair Paravel boys basketball. [File photo/TSN]
Cleverdon said last year’s season was mediocre, that the Lions under-achieved, and that the goal for this year is set high.
“We have our eyes on the state tournament and we’re not going to stop until we get there,'' Cleverdon said. "We plan on playing every game hard, playing like it's our last because especially as seniors, we understand that not every game is given so we’re going to play with that same mentality that nothing is given and that we’re going to go out there and earn everything.”
“We’re really excited about the guys that we have. I think they’re going to lead us a long way this year and we’re excited about that.''
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