First serve . . . 

• Washburn women's tennis makes it return trip to Missouri with a pair of weekend matches against conference foes Lindenwood and Southwest Baptist.

•  The Ichabods have posted two sweeps this season and are off to its best start to the season under head coach Lance Lysaught.

•  The last time Lindenwood and Washburn met was last March when the Lions dealt Washburn a 4-5 loss in St. Charles. Southwest Baptist last met with Washburn last season when the Ichabods were defeated 1-8 by the Bearcats. 

 Racking up Rankings . . . 

• Washburn heads into its third season under head coach Lance Lysaught led by sophomore Madeline Hill who holds the No. 8 spot in the ITA Division II singles rankings.

• Hill leads the team with a 25-2 record in singles. 

• Jacqueline Engelbrecht and Hill have teamed up to post a 21-1 doubles record and are currently ranked 7th nationally.

• To go along with its national rankings, Washburn is tabbed 8th in the central region with Hill leading the way at No. 1 in singles. Engelbrecht and Hill are first in doubles in the region. 

 The Opps. . .

•  Lindenwood is 6-9 on the season and 0-4 in MIAA action. 

• Tereza Melicharkova heads into the match ranked sixth in the region in singles.

•  The Lions are in its 12th season under head coach Bill Vahle. 

• Southwest Baptist is 11-2 on the season and 3-1 in conference play, pending a match with UMSL.

•The Bearcats are No. 1 in the central region with a pair of netters regionally ranked in singles and one duo ranked in doubles. Laura Soares in seventh in singles followed by Lani Tuemmers at No. 17. The duo has team up to come in fifth in the region in doubles.

• SBU is in its 51st year under head coach John Bryant.

Tournament success. . .

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

• Three Ichabod netters ended 2016 with a spot in a ITA Central Regional final which was capped off with a singles victory by Madeline Hill. 

 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.

Record watch. . .

• Madeline Hill is currently tied for third-place in the record books for single-season singles wins at 25.

• The sophomore is four wins from breaking the single-season singles win mark of 29 set by Marissa Moment.

 Coaching . . . 

•  Former Ichabod tennis player Lance Lysaught is in his third season at the helm of the Ichabod women's tennis program. He is 30-47 as a women's collegiate head coach in his fifth season and 19-30 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 home for three matches. The Ichabods will venture outside of the conference to take on Missouri-St. Louis before matching off with Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State.