First serve . . . 

•    The 36th ranked Washburn Ichabod men's tennis looks to extend a five-match win streak and open conference action with a win when the team visits Northwest Missouri State on March 8 and meets with Colorado Mesa on March 10 in Wichita, Kan.

•        Washburn is off to its best start under head coach Lance Lysaught with its only loss coming at the hands of then-No. 20 Drury on Feb. 3.

•   Washburn is 3-0 in front of its home crowd at the Washburn Tennis Complex. Having dropped three-points on its home court all season.

•  Washburn trails in the all-time series with Newman 12-43 with the teams last meeting on March 28, 2016 when the Bearcats handed Washburn a 2-7 loss on the road.

 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 15-4 record including a near perfect 7-1 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 13-4 record this season including a near perfect 7-1 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 . . . 

•        Mark Rosewell is in his 33rdth year at the helm of the Northwest men's tennis team.

•    The Northwest men's tennis team is 2-1 on the season and 12th in the ITA rankings with its only loss coming at the hands of Indianapolis.

•  Two Bearcat is currently ranked in the top-50 of the ITA standings. Romain Boissinot sits at No. 38 and is followed by Sergi Fontcuberta at No. 42.

•  Dan MacDonald is in his 10th season at Colorado Mesa.

•  The Mavericks are 5-6 this sesason and sit at No. 50 in the ITA rankings.

•  The Mavericks will visit play Newman at 9 a.m. before matching up with Washburn. 

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 is the most recent Ichabod to come back from an early deficit. In his latest match against Newman the sophomore defeated Eduardo Santos 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. 

 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 34-39 as a men's collegiate head coach in his fifth season and 25-18 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 open conference action on the road in Maryville, Mo. against Northwest Missouri State March 7 before traveling to Wichita, Kan. to face Colorado Mesa in a non-conference match.