First serve . . . 

• The 35th-ranked Washburn Ichabod men's tennis rides a two-match win streak into a pair of conference matches against Lindenwood and No. 20 Southwest Baptist

• Washburn is off to its best start under head coach Lance Lysaught with only two losses and a pair of marquee wins against No. 49 Colorado Mesa and No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney.

•   Washburn is 1-2 outside of the friendly confines of the Washburn Tennis Complex. 

•  Washburn leads the all-time series with Lindenwood 4-2, defeating them last season on the road in a 6-3 decision.  Washburn trails the all-time series with SBU 13-24 dafter beating them  last season at Washburn, but falling to them in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

 Three's Company . . . 

• 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 match with a 17-5 at the No. 1 singles position.

• The lone senior and team captain, Matt Barlow, garners a regional singles ranking coming at No. 14 in the Central region after posting a 15-5 record this season .

•  Blake Hunter is the third Ichabod to boast a regional ranking after jumping into the rankings at No. 13 as well as landing at No. 2 in the regional doubles rankings paired with Valarezo.

 The Opp . . . 

• Bill Vahle is in his 12th season at the helm of the LU tennis programs.

•  LU has one doubles dup regionally ranked. Filip Bogic and Naoufal El Idrissi are 7th in the cental region.

• Southwest Baptist is in its 51st season under John Bryant and ranked 20th in the country.

•  Four Bearcats are ranked both regionally and nationally in singles and/or doubles.

 And the winner is . . . 

• The Ichabods have picked up a pair of weekly awards this season. 

• Alejandro Valarezo was the first Ichabods to pick up a weekly honor after starting the season at 4-0 at No. 1 singles.

•  Matt Barlow is the lastest winner of an MIAA Weekly Award.

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 Comeback kids . . . 

•  Five Ichabods have staged and successfully carried out comeback wins this season.

•  Alejandro Valarezo and Blake Hunter are the most recent Ichabod to come back from an deficits after posting three set wins in the upset of No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney.  

 High ranking, No problem . . . 

• Washburn has now posted back-to-back wins over ranked oppoonents for the first time under head coach Lance Lysaught.

 Coaching. . . 

•   Former Ichabod tennis player Lance Lysaught is in his third season at the helm of the Ichabodmen's tennis program. He is 36-40 as a men's collegiate head coach in his fifth season and 27-19 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 return to the Washburn Tennis Complex to take on Missouri - St. Louis on March 1 with first serve set for 1 p.m.