First serve . . . 

• The 35th-ranked Washburn Ichabods return to the courts in a pair of weekend matches against conference rival Emporia State and Division I foe Wichita State.

• Washburn is off to its best start under head coach Lance Lysaught with only three losses and a pair of marquee wins against No. 49 Colorado Mesa, No. 44 Missouri-St. Louis and No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney.

•   Washburn is a perfect 6-0 at the Washburn Tennis Complex. 

•  Washburn leads the all-time series with the Hornets 87-30-1 after winning nine of the last 10 meetings. The rivalry dates back to 1937 and this will be the 118th meeting of the two.

•  The Ichabods trail the all-time series with the Shockers 12-13-5 losing all 10 of its last meetings.

 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 18-7 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 18-5 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 . . . 

• John Cayton is in his 11th season at the helm of the Emporia State men's tennis program.

•  The regionally ranked Hornets are 9-3 this season after winning two of its last five matches and are set to meet Rockhurst Thursday afternoon.

• Wichita State is 11-10 this season after picking up two of its last five matches under first-year head coach Danny Bryan.

•  Matt Barlow is the lastest winner of an MIAA Weekly Award winning two in the past month alone, most recently for the his performance last week against Lindenwood and Southwest Baptist.

And the winner is . . . 

• The Ichabods have picked up three 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.

 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.

•  Chase Brill is the most recent Ichabod to come back from a deficit after posting a three set win at No. 6 singles in the win over Missouri-St. Louis.  

 High ranking, no problem . . . 

• Washburn has now posted three 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 38-41 as a men's collegiate head coach in his fifth season and 29-20 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 close out the 2016-17 regular season when it host Baker University in its senior day celebration and season finale at Rockhurst.