First serve . . . 

•    The 28th ranked Washburn Ichabod men's tennis team opens its 2017 spring schedule on the road when it faces No. 38 Drury on Feb. 3 and McKendree on Feb. 4 in Springfield, Mo.

•        The Ichabods began standard dual match play in September when the team picked up a pair of sweeping victories over William Jewell and Truman State.

 Three's company. . .

•  The Ichabods head into its third season under head coach Lance Lysaught with one player nationally ranked and two others regionally ranked.

•    Alejandro Valarezo leads the Ichabods landing at No. 31 in NCAA Divison II singles and No. 2 in the Central region. The sophomore heads into the season with a 10-3 record including a perfect 2-0 at the No. 1 singles position.

•    The lone senior and team captain, Matt Barlow, is the second Ichabod to garner a regional singles ranking coming at No. 14 in the Central region after posting a 8-3 record this spring including a perfect 2-0 at the No. 3 spot.

•  Blake Hunter is the third Ichabod to boast a regional ranking at No. 16 as well as landing at No. 4 in the regional doubles rankings paired with Valarezo.

 The Opp . . . 

•    The 38th ranked Drury men's tennis team picked up 12 of 13 total first-place votes en route to landing atop the GLVC Preseason poll for the third consecutive season.

 •        Drury returns the No. 1 regional and No. 10 nationally ranked player in senior Max Hepp  as well as a pair of regionally ranked netters in Nico Sigloch and Sebastian Amato.

•  McKendree looks to build off a successful fall season after going 3-0 under first-year head coach Mendeep Yadav.

•  McKendree was tabbed fourth in the GLVC preseason poll.

 Tournament success. . .

•  The Ichabods closed out the 2016 calendar year with each player picking up at least one flight victory in tournament play.

•    Alejandro Valarezo ended 2016 with a spot in the ITA Central Regional singles final after a stellar victory over the defending champion in the semifinal.

 The young and the restless. . .

•    With one senior on both the men and women's tennis teams combined the Ichabods have the youngest roster in the MIAA conference.

Coaching. . . 

• Former Ichabod tennis player Lance Lysaught is in his third season at the helm of the Ichabodmen's tennis program. He is 29-38 as a men's collegiate head coach in his fifth season and 20-17 at Washburn.

• Washburn added former Washburn men's tennis standout, David Price, as the assistant coach to both the men and women's teams during the offseason.

 Up next . . . 

• Washburn will next head to Shawnee, Okla. to face Oklahoma Baptist on Feb. 11 before heading back to the friendly confines of the Washburn Tennis Complex to face Bethany College Feb. 24.