First serve

• The Ichabods travel to Illinois for a match against No. 2 Indianapolis on Feb. 12 and then they head to Missouri to face William Jewell on Feb. 13
• It is Washburn's first top-five matchup of the year. Indianapolis is one of seven top-25 teams on Washburn's schedule and one of two in the top-five
• It is the Ichabods' first top-five match since losing to No. 3 Central Oklahoma in the 2021 NCAA Central Region Championship
• Ichabods are undefeated against the Greyhounds, winning all three matches. Every match has been played on a neutral site
• Washburn women's defeated William Jewell, 7-0 back in October
• The Ichabods have swept their opponents in consecutive games to start their season
• Washburn now has six 7-0 sweep in the last two seasons
• Under Coach Kirby Ronning, Washburn women's tennis have an 19-3 overall record
• Ichabods leads the all-time series 6-1 over the Cardinals. Washburn is just 1-1 on the road against Williams Jewell

2022 Ichabods

• Junior Svea Crohn has an overall singles record of 27-25 and doubles record of 47-15. She is a four-time All-MIAA member, three-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll member and received MIAA and ITA Scholar-Athlete honors in 2021
• Kinsey Fields has a career singles record of 14-9 and 33-16 doubles record in a little over 3 seasons. She has earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention at No. 2 doubles, MIAA Academic Honor Roll three times and was a MIAA Scholar Athlete
• Sydnee Foster in her third-year holds an 8-6 singles record and 4-5 in doubles action. She is a two-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll, an ITA Scholar-Athlete and earned the Academic Excellence award
• Jung has only recorded one dual singles loss as an Ichabods. Her only loss was to #5 Central Oklahoma's Blythe Buntrock last season. She is 20-2 overall in singles and 14-5 in doubles. She also earned All-MIAA Second Team at No. 5 singles and No. 2 doubles in 2021
• Lynn is 17-4 in singles and 5-9 in doubles at Washburn. She is a two-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll member and Scholar-Athlete
• Freshman Issabella Pensavalle comes from Jenks High School where she placed fourth in the state her freshman year
• Freshman Lara Schmid transferred from St. Edward's University in Texas after the tennis program was eliminated in 2020. Schmid's first year was cut short due to COVID-19, but she still went undefeated in singles with five wins and 3-2 in doubles action
• Schmid dominated from the No. 3 spot going 3-0 and outscoring her opponents 18-4 in the first set and 16-7 in the second
• Marta Torres has a 15-9 singles record, and 14-7 doubles record in over two seasons. She was All-MIAA honorable mention at No.6 singles and No. 1 doubles last season and was an ITA Scholar-Athlete

Milestone tracker

• Jung's overall 21-2 (.913) record makes her tied for third in best career singles winning percentage (min. 20 wins) in Washburn history
• Crohn's 48-15 overall doubles record has her in Washburn's top 15 career doubles winning percentage (.762)

Washburn Notes

CAREER FIRST

• Lara Schmid in her first start as an Ichabod, earned her first career doubles and singles wins
• Jung earned her first singles win from No. 1 in the lineup against William Jewell. She played the No. 2, 4, and 5 in her first season with Washburn

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS

• The Ichabods are 8-20 against ITA top-50 opponents. In those same five years, Washburn does not have a top-five win

STRONG STARTS

• Washburn has secured the doubles point in its last four matches
• The Ichabods in the last two season, under Coach Ronning, earned the doubles point 19 times out of 21 matches

FRESHMEN ICHABODS

• Washburn's three freshmen are undefeated in both dual singles and doubles. They are a combined 3-0 in singles and doubles
• Overall, the three are a combined 5-3 in singles and are 3-1 in doubles

Scouting the Greyhounds

• The Greyhounds had a record of 23-1 and were Division II Women's Tennis Runner-ups. No. 1 Indianapolis fell to No. 2 Barry in the National Championship. It was the Greyhounds only loss of the season
• The Greyhounds' 2021-22 roster is seeing several key returners and some top transfers
• Indianapolis is returning five of their six top performers for last season. All five had double-digit singles and doubles wins.
• The Greyhounds will be without Alina Kislitskaya. Kislitskaya went 16-0 in singles and 17-2 in doubles in 2020-21. She earned ITA Senior Player of the Year, was an ITA All-American, and is a two-time First Team All-GLVC
• Kristina Lagoda, Kislitskaya's doubles partner, is returning after going 13-2 in singles and 18-1 in doubles. She was a 2021 ITA All-America
• The two-time ITA All-American and All-GLVC, Anna Novikova, will also be returning. Last year, Novikova had a 15-2 singles record and a 19-1 doubles record. This year she took home the 2021-22 ITA Midwest Doubles championship with partner, Bella Dunlap
• Novikova's former partner, senior Nikol Alakseeva, comes back for her final season. She had a 16-1 singles record and 19-1 doubles record, both at the No. 1 spot. She is a two-time ITA All-American and earned GLVC Player of the Year in 2021.
• 2021 ITA Rookie of the Year and GLVC Freshman of the Year, Sofia Sharonova, looks to repeat her performance. Sharonova went 14-4 in singles and 17-2 in doubles with another returner, Maria Solnyshkina
• Maria Solnyshkina went 18-2 in doubles and 13-2 in singles last season. 
• They Greyhounds are also adding three transfers
• Maissane Aik played for one of the best NAIA tennis programs in Keiser. In 2021, she compiled a 9-4 singles record and a 12-3 No. 1 doubles record
• Southern Mississippi transfer, Arina Amaning, played No. 1 singles and doubles since her freshman year. Unfortunately dealt with an injury her junior year and was a medical redshirt her senior year
• Dunlap transfers from No. 3 Central Oklahoma where she had a 38-13 singles record and 31-12 doubles record. She captured the ITA regional championship and made a run to the national title match in her first semester. This fall, Dunlap grabbed the ITA Midwest Singles and Doubles Championship.

Greyhounds Head Coach Malik Tabet

• Malik Tabet is entering his eighth year coaching the Greyhounds men's and women's tennis teams
• Tabet has led the Hounds to 11 Midwest ITA Regional individual championships, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight total trips to the NCAA Sweet 16, program-first trips to the NCAA semifinals for both the men's and women's programs, and seven GLVC Tournament championships
• He has won GLVC Women's Coach of the Year four-times and ITA Midwest Women's Coach of the Year twice. He earned National ITA Women's Coach of the Year in 2020-21.

Scouting the Cardinals

• The Cardinals went 0-14 during their 2020-21 season. William Jewell is already outperforming that record this season. The Cardinals are 5-2 to start their 2021-22 campaign
• William Jewell is a brand-new team this season despite bringing back four of its five players
• Gillian Evans, Kelly Parrish, Julia Santos, and Julia Yamate are the four returners. Evans has yet to compete so far this season. The rest are a combined 4-1 in singles and 3-2 in doubles
• It has been the four freshmen and transfer Katie Boyd who have turned the team around
• Boyd transferred from Johnson County CC and this season has a 4-1 singles record and 4-1 doubles record
• Boyd's doubles partner, Laurel Coleman, is 3-2 in singles
• Freshman Gwyn Gifford has competed at the No. 1 singles and doubles while compiling a 4-1 singles record and 2-3 doubles record. She has split between two doubles partners
• Freshman Maisie Markowitz is also performing well with a 4-1 singles record and a 3-2 doubles record. She has also split between two doubles partner

Cardinals Head Coach Thomas Balkcom

• Thomas Balkholm began his first season coaching William Jewell men's and women's tennis teams
• Balkhom also serves as William Jewell's Assistant Director for Events. Facilities and Equipment and the NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Designee
• Before William Jewell, he spent time as the Associate Director of Player Personnel at Georgia Tech
• Balkhom spent 20 years as a football defensive coach
• He played collegiate football at Georgia Tech as a defensive back. Balkhom was the co-captain of the 1990 national championship team and earned Defensive MVP of the 1991 Florida Citrus Bowl

 Ichabods in the Rankings

• The Ichabods sit at No. 17 in the Division 2 Men's ITA Preseason Coaches' Poll released on January 19 
• Washburn women's tennis were picked second in the MIAA Preseason Poll released on Feb. 1
• Marta Torres Rodriguez ranked No. 6 in the ITA Central Regional rankings

Looking Ahead

Washburn head back home for a scrimmage against Cowley County CC on Feb. 19 before traveling to Springfield, Mo. for matches against Illinois-Springfield and Drury on Feb. 26 and 27.