First serve … 

• The No. 25 Washburn men's tennis open the 2019 spring season on the road for a pair of matches held in Springfield, Mo. at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
• The Ichabods take on the Cameron Aggies on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.
• The following day will consist of a Division II top-25 faceoff against the No. 20 Drury Panthers. The match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

Fall season recap …

• The Ichabods picked up right where they left off from their historic 2017-18 season that led them to the NCAA National Tournament quarterfinal round.
• Alejandro Valarezo Plaza and new doubles partner Paul Haase had a nearly perfect fall season going 9-1. The pair won the Midwestern State Invitational and took the championship title at the ITA Central Regional Tournament. They went on to place third at the ITA National Cup.
• Valarezo Plaza also had an impressive singles season as he reached the final match at regionals for the third consecutive season.
• Chase Brill won the Flight D singles title at the Midwestern State Invitational and finished the season with an 8-2 record.
• Bradley Eidenmueller wrapped up the fall portion going 6-3 in singles and 5-2 in doubles with partner Raul-Alin Dicu.
• In the only dual played, Washburn defeated Kansas Wesleyan 6-1.

Scouting the opposition ...

Cameron Aggies

• Cameron wrapped up the 2017-18 season with a record of 9-11.
• The team heads into the spring schedule ranked third in the South Central Region.
• The Aggies return Julen Gutierrez and Vincius Santos who led the team in singles last season. Gutierrez went 13-6 while Santos was 11-6. Together, they went 7-1 in doubles action.
• Head coach Josh Cobble has led the Aggies since January of 2017. During his tenure, the men's team has gone 26-22 overall.
• The Ichabods are looking to snap an eight match losing streak as Cameron holds the all-time series advantage 9-2.

Drury Panthers

• Similar to Washburn, Drury also reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal match in 2018 and finished its season 21-5.
• The team is starting out ranked 20th in Division II and is second in the Midwest Region.
• Head Coach Jarrod Smith has led the men's team for seven seasons to an overall record of 137-31 and is undefeated in conference play (38-0).
• Augustin Diot returns after a stellar freshman year in which he went 19-5 in singles.
• Washburn won its first matchup against Drury in 1997, but has won only one other match since and trails in the all-time series 2-15.

Nationally-ranked Ichabods …

• For the second consecutive year, the Ichabods will start the spring season nationally ranked. The team checks in at No. 25 on the latest Oracle/ITA Division II national poll.
• In addition to the team ranking, Washburn also has players appearing in the national listing. 
• The doubles team of Valarezo Plaza/Haase are ranked third in all of Division II.
• Valarezo Plaza is No. 13 in men's singles.

 Regional rankings abound …

• The Ichabods are ranked No. 2 in the Central Region, trailing only MIAA rival Southwest Baptist.
• Washburn represents three of the top-10 doubles teams in the region. 
• The tandem of Valarezo Plaza and Haase hold down the No. 1 ranking in men's doubles.
• Bradley Eidenmueller / Raul-Alin Dicu and Chase Brill / Marc Roura Casi are ranked back-to-back at seventh and eighth.
• In singles, Valarezo Plaza is ranked second and Haase checks in at 10th. Dicu also made the top-20 with his No. 16 ranking.
• In addition to the regional and national rankings, Washburn was selected second in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

 Coach Lance Lysaught …

• is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Washburn men's and women's tennis teams.
• has coached the Washburn men to a 48-28 overall record and is 9-11 in MIAA matches.
• led the Ichabods to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round in 2018, the first time the program had advanced beyond the national round of 16.
• was tabbed to start up the men's and women's tennis programs at Ottawa University in 2012 where he was the head coach for two seasons.
• is a former Washburn student-athlete who played tennis for the Ichabods from 1987-91.
• was a two-time District 10 singles champion and an NAIA national qualifier in both singles and doubles over his tenure as a player.

Lysaught by the numbers after four seasons coaching both Washburn men and women ...

7: All-American awards

5: ITA Central Region Championship titles

1: ITA Women's singles National Champion

1: MIAA Most Valuable Player

33: All-MIAA selections

3: NCAA National Tournament appearances

51: MIAA Academic Honor Roll selections