First serve . . .
• The No. 25-ranked Washburn Ichabod men's tennis returns to the court with two non-conference matches starting with Rockhurst on Tuesday and Newman on Sunday.
• Washburn has won its last two matches improving to 11-4 on the season entering the match with a 2-1 record in the MIAA.
• The Hawks enter the match ranked No. 6 in the Midwest Region with a 6-5 record.
• The series between the Ichabods and Hawks is tied 13-13 with Rockhurst winning the last two.
• Newman is 6-10 and has lost its last two matches.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Jets 7-1 having lost the meeting last season in Wichita.
Drop shots . . .
• The Ichabods jumped from No. 36 to No. 25 in the latest ITA National Poll and from sixth to fourth in the latest ITA Central Regional Poll.
• The Ichabod doubles team of
Blake Hunter and
Alejandro Valarezo Plaza are ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 1 in the regional rankings … they are 22-5 overall this season and 12-3 in dual matches … the 22 wins is tied for sixth on the single season doubles win chart … the Ichabod single season record for wins is 32.
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Alejandro Valarezo Plaza is 17-5 overall and ranked No. 9 in the latest ITA Regional Rankings.
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Matt Barlow is ranked No. 11 in the singles regional rankings and has a 17-7 singles record.
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Blake Hunter is also ranked No. 12 in singles in the region and he is 19-6 this season.
• Hunter leads the Ichabods with 19 singles wins and Barlow and Valarezo Plaza each have 17.
• The Ichabod single season wins record is 24 shared by Ryan Ward (2010) and Santiago Giraldo (1997).
• The last Ichabod to record 20 singles wins in a season was Bobby Florence in 2013.
• The doubles team of Barlow and
Zach Hampton are ranked 10th in the latest regional doubles rankings earning a 15-6 record.
• Statistically speaking, the Ichabods are a combined 93-56 (.624) in singles play and they are 54-25 (.684) in doubles action.
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Blake Hunter was named the MIAA Tennis Player of the Week on Feb. 15 and on March 28.
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Alejandro Valarezo Plaza was named MIAA Tennis Player of the Week on March 21.
Coaching . . .
Former Ichabod tennis player
Lance Lysaught is in his second season as the Ichabod head coach. He is 24-36 as a collegiate head coach in his fourth season and 15-15 at Washburn.
Up next . . .
The Ichabods return to the court on April 21 hosting Nebraska-Kearney and will then take on Southwest Baptist on April 24 in a pair of rescheduled matches from earlier this season.
