First Serve … 

• The Washburn men's tennis team (10-4, 1-1 MIAA) travels to the Show Me State for three matches this upcoming weekend, April 12-14. 
• The Ichabods will take on Lindenwood and No. 13 Southwest Baptist for the final time in a regular season MIAA match as both teams are leaving the MIAA to become members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season.
• The match at Lindenwood is scheduled for Friday, April 12, with a first serve coming at 3 p.m.
• The following day, the Ichabods travel to Bolivar, Mo., to play No. 13 Southwest Baptist at 11 a.m.
• Washburn wraps up the busy weekend in Springfield, Mo., as they take on Ouachita Baptist at the Cooper Tennis Complex, a neutral site for both teams. The match is slated to begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 14.

Last Time Out …

• The Washburn men's tennis team trailed the match on April 7 by two points early on, but fought back with four singles victories by the middle of the order to claim a 4-3 win against Rockhurst (11-9).
• Rockhurst won the doubles point with victories on courts No. 1 and 2. Chase Brill and Bradley Eidenmueller won their fifth-consecutive match at No. 3 doubles, 7-5.
• The Hawks won the first singles match at the top of the order and took a 2-0 lead, but Washburn was resilient and won the next four matches to clinch the dual. 
• Paul Haase won in twin sets 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. 
• Brill tied up the match with a come from behind three set victory. He dropped the first set, but came back strong to win the match 2-6, 6-0, 6-4. 
• Marc Roura Casi also battled it out in three sets at No. 3 singles. After losing a close first set, he won the final two in tiebreakers, 4-6, 7-6 (7-6), 7-6 (7-4). 
• With a 3-2 advantage over Rockhurst, Eidenmueller put the match away for Washburn with his at the No. 4 slot, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Scouting the Opposition ...

Lindenwood Lions

• The Lindenwood Lions wrapped up the 2017-18 season with a record of 6-10 (0-5 MIAA).
• Tabbed as the 10th team in the Central Region, the Lions' season got off to a rough start as they lost their first seven matches. The team is currently 3-10 (0-2 MIAA).
• Bill Vahle is the interim coach after he led the Lions for 12 seasons before retiring in the 2016-17 season.
• Washburn is 6-2 all-time against Lindenwood, and has won the last three matches.

• The Bearcats went 19-3 (5-0 MIAA) last season and reached the NCAA National Round of 16 after winning the MIAA and Central Regional Championships.
• SBU was picked as the favorite in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll as well as in the Central Region.
• The team is currently ranked No. 13 with a record of 11-2 and 2-0 in conference play.
• The Bearcats are led by Fanni Varga in her first full season as the head coach. As the associated head coach last season, she was named the MIAA Men's Coach of the Year and the ITA Central Regional Coach. In the 2016-17 season, she was named the ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's programs.
• Freshman Adham Gaber has been named the MIAA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week three times this season for his efforts at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles.
• These two teams first met in 1991 and SBU leads the series, 27-14.

Ouachita Baptist Tigers

• The Tigers went 2-15 (0-3 GAC) last season.
• OBU was picked seventh in the Central Region heading into the new season.
• The Tigers have already improved on last season and are currently 11-3 (3-1 GAC).
• Ouachita Baptist will play two matches before it faces Washburn. The team is scheduled to face Southwest Baptist on Friday and Northwest Missouri on Saturday.
• Craig Ward has been the head coach for the Tigers since 1990 and has compiled a 262-99 record.
• The Ichabods won the last meeting against the Tigers, 6-3, but trail in the series 2-1.

Nationally Ranked Ichabods …

• As a team, the Ichabods are ranked 45th in Division II for the second week in a row.
• In addition to the team ranking, two players remain ranked in the ITA national ranking.
• The doubles team of Alejandro Valarezo Plaza / Haase are now the fourth-ranked duo in all of Division II.
• Valarezo Plaza checks in as the 14th-ranked men's singles player.
• The national rankings will be released every Wednesday until May 1.

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.
• The third and final regional rankings will be released on May 22.
• In addition to the regional and national rankings, Washburn was selected second in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

'Bods and Ends …

• Washburn is on a four match winning streak.
• Brill posted his 50th career victories in singles and doubles in the win against Rockhurst.
• The Ichabods are 5-1 when playing away matches.
• The No. 3 doubles team of Eidenmueller/Brill have won their last five matches.
• Six of the seven players on the roster have recorded 10 or more singles victories between the fall and spring seasons.

Coach Lance Lysaught …

• is in his fifth season as the head coach of the men's and women's Washburn tennis teams.
• has coached the Washburn men to a 58-32 overall record and is 10-12 in MIAA matches.
• is 3-1 against LWU and 2-7 against SBU. 
• has never coached against Ouachita Baptist.
• 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.

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