First Serve … 

• The No. 37 Washburn men's tennis team (13-6, 2-2 MIAA) is tabbed as the three seed in this weekend's MIAA Championship Tournament in Oklahoma City and will face No. 47 Northwest Missouri (10-10, 3-1 MIAA), the two seed, in the semifinal match on Saturday, April 27, at 9 a.m.
• The MIAA Men's Tennis Tournament is comprised of the top-four teams with the best regular season conference record. 
• The winner of the semifinal match will advance to the MIAA Championship match on Sunday, April 28, against the victor of the Southwest Baptist/Emporia State semifinal match.
• The men's two-day tournament is held at the OKC Tennic Center in Oklahoma City.

Last Time Out …

• The Ichabods finished out the regular season by splitting a pair of 4-3 matches, falling to No. 20 Midwestern State and then defeating No. 45 Southeastern Oklahoma State.
• Against Midwestern State (16-3), the Mustangs took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. 
• The fourth-ranked duo of Alejandro Valarezo Plaza and Paul Haase defeated the No. 21-ranked pair of Ben Westwick and Alberto Diaz at No. 1 doubles, 6-3.
• The singles portion of the match was extremely competitive by both sides as four of the six matches were decided in the third frame. 
• Valarezo Plaza, the 18th ranked singles player, got things started for Washburn with a huge 7-5, 6-4 victory at the top of the order against the No. 2-ranked player in the nation, Angel Palacios. 
• The Mustangs answered with a close three set win at the No. 3 position. 
• Bradley Eidenmueller knotted up the match again for the Ichabods with his strong come-from-behind triumph at No. 4 singles, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3. 
• Midwestern State, however, won at Nos. 2 and 5 to clinch the dual and cut Washburn's comeback short. 
• Chase Brill powered through at No. 6 and won the final match of the day, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 11-9.
• Washburn bounced back the following day to take an exciting 4-3 victory over regional opponent No. 45 Southeastern Oklahoma State (8-6).
• Washburn trailed early after Southeastern Oklahoma State narrowly won the doubles point. 
• The fourth-ranked duo of Valarezo Plaza and Haase shutout their No. 1 doubles opponents, 6-0. 
• The Savage Storm responded and won the No. 2 match, 6-3. 
• Brill and Eidenmueller put up an incredible fight at the No. 3 spot but ultimately fell in a grueling 6-7 (13-15) decision.
• The high level of competition carried over to singles action as the teams went back and forth winning matches. 
• Raul-Alin Dicu put Washburn on the board with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the No. 2 slot. 
• The Savage Storm answered with a straight set victory of their own at No. 3 singles. 
• For the second time in as many days, Valarezo Plaza, the 18th ranked men's singles player, defeated a top-five nationally ranked player. Valarezo Plaza lost a close first set tiebreaker, but rallied back and took the second and third to complete the upset and take down the fifth-ranked Juan Scoppetta, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-4.
• With the match tied at 2-2, Southeastern Oklahoma won 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 5 line to lead the dual yet again. 
• With their backs against the wall, the Ichabods had to win the final two matches and did just that. 
• Eidenmueller knotted up the match again with his three set victory at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. 
• It all came down to the No. 6 match. Brill lost the first set and was on the verge of defeat in the second set before coming out on top in the tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3). He clinched the victory for the Ichabods with his third set 6-4 triumph.

Scouting the Opposition ...

Northwest Missouri State Bearcats

• The Bearcats finished the season with a .500 record, going 10-10 (3-1 MIAA).
• Northwest Missouri defeated Washburn, 5-2, earlier this season.
• In that match, Washburn won the doubles point, but was unable to stave off Northwest Missouri in singles play. 
• Eidenmueller took the lone singles point for the Ichabods at the No. 5 slot, 6-1, 6-4.
• Franco Oliva leads the team with a singles record of 25-9. He went 11-7 at the top of the order this spring.
• Fabien Calloud finished 12-5 at No. 2 singles and tallied an overall record of 17-9.
• Together, the two make up the No. 2 doubles team with a record of 10-1.
• The Bearcats earned an All-MIAA first-team or second-team award at each position.
• Franco was named the MIAA Men's Tennis Player of the Year and first-team at No. 1 singles and second-team at No. 2 doubles. He is also currently ranked 20th in DII.
• Northwest Missouri claimed three first-team selections and six second-team honors.
• NWMSU lost in the opening round of the tournament last season and were swept by Southwest Baptist.

Nationally Ranked Ichabods …

• The Ichabods are remain at No. 37 for the second-straight week in the ITA national poll.
• After two huge wins against top-five nationally ranked opponents, Valarezo Plaza moved up 13 places to No. 5 in men's singles.
• The doubles team of Valarezo Plaza / Haase are ranked fifth.
• The national rankings will be released every Wednesday until May 1.
• In addition to the national ranking, the Ichabods entered the Central Region rankings at fourth. The top-six teams in the Central Region will advance to the NCAA Regional tournament.

'Bods and Ends …

• Two Ichabod doubles teams picked up All-MIAA honors.
• Valarezo/Plaza were named to the first-team at No. 1 doubles. It was Valarezo Plaza's fifth career MIAA postseason award and Haase's third.
• Brill/Eidenmueller were named to the second-team at No. 2 doubles. Brill won the award for the second-straight year and claimed his fourth MIAA honor while it was Eidenmueller's first career conference accolades.
• Valarezo Plaza earned his fifth MIAA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award of the season on April 22.
• He has now won the weekly conference honor 10 times in his career.
• Washburn has won three MIAA tournament titles, with the most recent being won in 2009.
• The Ichabods are 20-17 all-time in the MIAA tournament.
• Dicu picked up his 30th career singles victory after the match against SEOSU.
• Brill leads the team with singles victories at 19-6 combined with the fall and spring seasons. He is 12-4 this spring betweem three different places in the lineup.

Coach Lance Lysaught …

• is in his fifth season as the head coach of the men's and women's Washburn tennis teams.
• is 4-6 in the MIAA tournament on the men's side.
• has coached the Washburn men to a 61-34 overall record and is 11-13 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.

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