LINCOLN, Neb. --- The 35^th-ranked men's tennis team fell short in its chase for the MIAA Championship, falling in a 5-3 decision to top-seeded No. 18 Northwest Missouri State.

Washburn gained momentum early on in the match, taking two of three doubles points. The 15^th-ranked duo of Alejandro Valarezo and Blake Hunter ousted a pair of Bearcat netters 8-2 at No. 1 doubles. Matt Barlow and Tommy Hunter edged out Romain Boissinot and Sergi Fontcuberta at the second slot in a 9-8 decision. Paul Haase and Chase Brill were defeated 8-0 at No. 3 doubles.

With a 2-1 lead in hand, the upset minded Ichabods headed into singles action where they picked up two losses early. Brill was defeated in straight sets at No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-2. Tommy Hunter dropped his match at No. 5 singles in a 6-1, 6-1 decision.

Barlow extended a seven-match win streak at No. 3 singles tying the match at 3-3 after defeating Northwest netter Mauro Tete in straights sets 6-2, 6-3. With the win Barlow eclipsed Adam Woods and now sits tied for third in the Washburn record books for single-season singles wins.

With two courts left Washburn continued to battle it out at the Dillon Courts. After dropping the opening set at No. 1 singles Valarezo faced an early deficit in second frame. The sophomore netter managed to string a few games together to tie the second set at 6-all before No. 39 Romain Boissinot clinch the match 6-2, 7-6.

Haase split the first and second set at No. 5 singles and was leading 4-1 in the third before the match was clinched.

Washburn drops to 16-4 on the season after making its first appearance in the MIAA Championship since the 2009-10 season. The Ichabods are currently third in the Central Region and will await the release of the 2017 National Tournament field on April 25^th at 7:30 p.m.