FIRST SERVE

• The No. 16 Washburn women's tennis team earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Central Regional Tournament, hosted by Central Oklahoma at Edmond Center Court in Edmond, Okla. They will face No. 2 seed Augustana in the first round at 9 a.m. on Saturday. 
• Should the Ichabods advance, they will then go on to play either No. 1 Central seed Central Oklahoma, No. 4 Central seed Harding, or No. 5 Central seed Northwest Missouri on Sunday at 10 a.m. in the same location to compete for a spot in the final 16 teams to compete at the NCAA Championship in Sunrise, Ariz.

 
MIAA TOURNAMENT RECAP

• In the semifinal round against Northwest Missouri, Washburn took the doubles point with 6-3 wins from both the No. 2 spot (Maja Jung/Kinsey Fields) and No. 3 spot (Svea Crohn/Maria Soler Valverde).
• In singles action, the Ichabods won the first two singles points to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Soler Valverde won the first doubles point with a 6-2, 6-1 from No. 3, then Jung won her match by set scores of 7-5, 6-2 at the fourth spot. After the Bearcats took three straight points to tie it up at 3-3, the winning point came down to Cadence Lynn at the bottom of the lineup.
• Lynn won the first set by 6-4, but lost the second set by 6-4. Going into the third set, Lynn's opponent went up 4-1 quickly but Lynn battled back to tie the set at 6 to go into a tiebreaker for the seventh point. Lynn continued to fight back with resilience to win the tiebreaker 7-4 and take the third set by 7-6, clinching the 4-3 win for Washburn over Northwest Missouri.
• In the MIAA Championship game against Central Oklahoma, the Ichabods only won one match as the duo of Crohn and Soler Valverde took a 6-3 victory from No. 3 doubles spot.
• Washburn was not able to win a single point in either singles or doubles, leading to a 4-0 loss to Central Oklahoma.

 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

• No. 20 ranked Augustana has a 18-2 overall record to earn the No. 2 seed in the Central Region. The two teams have not played each other this season. The last time they played each other was on March 23, 2019, when Washburn defeated Augustana, 5-2.
• No. 4 ranked Central Oklahoma has gone 18-1 this season, earning the No. 1 seed. The Ichabods lost to the Bronchos, 4-0, in the MIAA Championship on May 1.
• No. 23 ranked Harding has earned a 16-2 overall record this season to take the No. 4 seed. The Ichabods and Bison have not faced each other this season.
• No. 36 ranked Northwest Missouri has a 10-6 record to earn the No. 5 seed. The Ichabods defeated the Bearcats, 4-3, in the MIAA Championship semifinal on April 30.

 
CONFERENCE ACCOLADES

• Marta Torres earned the last MIAA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week award of the season on April 26.
• Maria Soler Valverde was named to the All-MIAA First Team at the No. 3 singles spot.
• Maja Jung earned All-MIAA Second Team at the No. 5 spot, while Soler Valverde and Svea Crohn took the No. 3 doubles spot.
• The Ichabods placed multiple student-athletes on the All-MIAA Honorable Mention Team. Torres, Crohn, Logan Morrissey and Cadence Lynn all earned spots at the No. 1, 2, 4, and 6 singles spots, respectively. Morrissey and Torres also placed for No. 1 doubles, while Jung and Kinsey Fields placed for the No. 2 doubles spot.

 
CHECKING IN WITH THE BODS

• Maria Soler Valverde leads the Ichabods with a stunning 15-1 record playing mainly from the third spot in the lineup. She is also 11-1 in doubles action, including 10-1 with partner Svea Crohn as they are in a seven-match winning streak.
• Freshman Maja Jung continues to make a stellar first impression as she has gone 15-1 in singles action. She is on a six-match winning streak in singles play. Jung is also 13-3 in doubles action, playing with partner Kinsey Fields from the No. 2 spot.
• Freshman Marta Torres holds a 12-6 singles record. Torres was moved up to the No. 1 spot shortly into the season, where she has a 9-4 record. She was also moved up to No. 1 doubles with partner Logan Morrissey where they have gone 7-3. Torres is 11-6 overall in doubles action.
• Morrissey has a 12-4 record in doubles action at the top of the lineup, as she has gone 7-3 with Torres and 5-1 record with Svea Crohn.
• Cadence Lynn has been a consistent force at the bottom of the Ichabod lineup, going 11-3 at the No. 6 spot.

 
ICHABODS IN THE RANKINGS

• The Ichabods are ranked No. 16 in the latest updated ITA rankings, last updated on May 7, 2021. The team is ranked second in the central regional rankings released on March 23.
• Washburn was picked third in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll, with two first-place votes and 46 points total, released on February 5, 2021.

 
HEAD COACH KIRBY RONNING

• Kirby Ronning is in his first season as the Washburn head tennis coach for the Ichabods men's and women's programs after being named to the position on July 23, 2020. Prior to Washburn, Ronning spent four seasons as the assistant coach at Azusa Pacific, where he helped lead the Cougars to multiple NCAA postseason appearances and earned himself both ITA West Region's Men's Tennis Assistant Coach of the Year and Women's Tennis Assistant Coach of the Year. 
• He earned his bachelor's degree in business from Bethel University (Minn) in 2014 and his master's in physical education from Azusa Pacific in May 2020.
• Ronning also played at Bethel for four years, playing primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles position.

 
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD
The winner of the Central Region Tournament will advance as one of 16 teams to compete in the NCAA Championship on May 19-21 in Surprise, Ariz.