First serve . . .
• The 36th ranked Washburn Ichabod men's tennis rides a two-match winning streak into its home opener against the Bethany Swedes Feb. 11.
• Washburn wrapped up a three match road trip with a sweeping victory over Oklahoma Baptist on Feb. 11 in Oklahoma City.
• Alejandro Valarezo leads the Ichabods with a perfect 4-0 singles record and near perfect 3-1 doubles record with Matt Barlow and Blake Hunter.
• The last time these two teams met was 24 years ago in 1993 when Washburn defeated Bethany 8-1 on the road.
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 14-3 record including a perfect 6-0 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 11-4 record this spring including a near perfect 5-1 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 . . .
• Tony Swiantek is in his third year at the helm of the Bethany men's tennis team.
• The Bethany men's tennis team is 2-1 on the season after wins over Doane, RV Hastings, with its lone loss against Seward CC.
• Bethany was tabbed 23rd in the NAIA Coaches poll, dropping two spots after starting the season at No. 21 in the preseason edition.
• The Swedes picked up two first-place votes en route to a second-place finish in the KCAC Preseason poll and most recently were tabbed second in the Feb. 13 KCAC 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 31-39 as a men's collegiate head coach in his fifth season and 22-18 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 remain at home where the team will host Newman on March 4 before opening conference play against Northwest Missouri on March 7.
