TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Ichabods host their first official game of the spring against William Woods at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6

First Serve

• Washburn men's tennis won its season opener, sweeping William Jewell 7-0 on Oct. 23, 2021.
• It is Washburn's fourth 7-0 sweep in the last two seasons, six in the last 3 seasons
• Tim Hammes and Kim Niethammer earned their first singles wins at Washburn. Hammes got his first doubles win with Sebastian Pjontek. Noah Neideck also got his first doubles win with Raul-Alin Dicu
• Washburn's six freshmen are the most for the program since at least 2005
• The Ichabods, in their history, have won both matches against William Woods. The last match in 2018, the Ichabods defeated the Owls, 7-2

2022 Ichabods

• Daniel Bird since joining the Ichabods is now 9-1 in dual singles, his only loss to Northwest Missouri's Martin Sanchez. Bird was All-MIAA Second Team at No. 5 singles in 2021
• Dicu is a fifth-year senior holding an overall singles record of 47-36 and a overall doubles record of 42-36. He is a four-time Academic Honor Roll member, two-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete, 2-time All-MIAA Honorable Mention and a ITA Scholar-Athlete
• Miquel Perez has gone 13-9 in singles and 14-7 in doubles while at Washburn. He earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention at No. 2 singles and All-MIAA Second Team at No. 2 doubles in 2021.
• Sebastian Pjontek is now 7-3 in singles and 12-7 in doubles since joining the Ichabods in 2020. Pjontek, along with partner Eidenmueller, earned ITA All-American in doubles last season
• Miller Zeiders holds a 9-3 overall singles record and 7-6 in doubles play. He was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2021
• Freshman Matthew Earle comes in with many acculades while playing for St. Michael's College. Earle helped lead the team to Leinster School Senior Champions twice and as an individual was a two-time National Doubles champion and National Grade 1 singles champion
• Freshman Tim Hammes played No. 1 singles and doubles throughout high school while leading them to three regional championships
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Santiago Rendon are joining the Ichabods this spring
• Sophomore transfer Rendon, from Norfolk State, posted a 7-5 record at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots and 5-5 at No. 2 doubles his freshman year. Named MEAC Rookie of the Week twice and earned a spot on the All-MEAC Second Team

Milestone Tracker

• Dicu's 47 career singles wins are tied 20th in Washburn history. He needs 10 more wins to move into the top 15 and 13 wins to be the 11th Ichabod to have 60 wins.

Previous Match recap

Box Score TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn men's tennis team swept William Jewell, 7-0, in their season opener. The Ichabods begin their season 1-0.

In doubles competition, the duo of Raul-Alin Dicu and Noah Neideck got things going defeating their opponent 6-1, from the third spot in the lineup. Miquel Perez and Daniel Bird secured the doubles point as they won their match in the No. 2 spot, 6-1 as well. Sebastian Pjontek and Tim Hammes made it a sweep with their 6-3 win. 

From the No. 3 spot in singles competition, Hammes had a decisive victory with scores of 6-1 and 6-2. Perez followed suit winning in two sets with scores of 6-3 and 6-2 from the No. 2 spot.  Bird, fifth in the lineup, quickly took down his opponent scoring 6-1 in both sets.

The Ichabods take some time off with their next match being Sunday, January 30. The match is set for 1 p.m. at Genesis Tennis Center against Ottawa.

Washburn 7, William Jewell 0

Singles Competition

Dicu, Raul-Alin (WU) def. Bickauskis, Ugnius (WJC) 6-2, 6-3

Perez, Miquel (WU) def. Braga, Pedro (WJC) 6-3, 6-2

Hammes, Tim (WU) def. Quennery, Max (WJC) 6-1, 6-2

Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) def. Lafranchise, Julien (WJC) 6-4, 6-4

Bird, Daniel (WU) def. Shields, Nick (WJC) 6-1, 6-1

Niethammer, Kim (WU) def. Wheeler, Max (WJC) 6-3, 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 6

Doubles Competition

Pjontek, Sebastian/Hammes, Tim (WU) def. Bickauskis, Ugnius/Braga, Pedro (WJC) 6-3

Perez, Miquel/Bird, Daniel (WU) def. Wheeler, Max/Quennery, Max (WJC) 6-1

Dicu, Raul-Alin/Neideck, Noah (WU) def. Lafranchise, Julien/Ledbetter, Jack (WJC) 6-1

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

Scouting the Owls

• William Woods men's tennis went 16-4 in its 2020-21 campaign. The Owls were just 2-2 before going on a nine-game win streak. Then went on a five-match win streak before ending its season in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament
• The Owls are returning eight of their 12 players from their 2021 roster and adding seven freshmen
• The three seniors, who are not returning, combined for a 20-5 singles record and 26-9 doubles record. Aaron Westerland will be the biggest loss with a 12-3 in singles and 14-2 in doubles during the 2020-21 season
• Among the returners are four players with double-digit singles wins in 2020-21
• The Owls' No. 1 Patrick Shelepov returns for his senior year after going 11-5 in singles and 13-6 in doubles. Shelepov is 6-3 in singles this season and ranked 40th in the NAIA National Poll
• No. 2 Ben Grumley also returns after a stellar freshman year in which he went 11-6 in singles and 12-6 in doubles. He is currently ranked 43rd nationally in the NAIA
• Robert Schorr and Vitek Subert are the other big returners. Subert is currently 7-3 in doubles this season with partner Nick Cooke, who is coming back as a graduate student. Subert/Cooke are ranked 13th nationally in NAIA doubles
• Incoming freshman, Vaclav Schneider has a 3-3 singles record and ranked No. 10 In NAIA Central Region

Owls Head Coach Chance Joost

• Chance Joost is entering his third year coaching William Woods men's and women's tennis
• Joosts led the men's team to a HAAC.AMC/Sooner championship and to the NAIA National Championships in his second season
• Joost's first coaching stint was as an assistant at Washburn for two seasons. He also played for the Ichabods, earning All-MIAA honors and is 15th in singles wins at Washburn

Last Time Playing William Woods

Box Score TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn men's tennis team ended its regular season on a high note Thursday, defeating William Woods 7-2.

The Ichabods won each of their doubles matches, with the No. 1 team of Alejandro Valarezo and Blake Hunter extended their winning streak to 10 matches.

After three singles matches the Ichabods were able to clinch, with Blake Hunter doing the honors after winning a three-set match at No. 3 singles.

Four of the six singles matches went into a tiebreaker set, the Ichabods coming away with three of them. The final decision of the day came from Chase Brill, winning his No. 6 singles match 6-7 (7), 6-1, 11-9.

The Ichabods finish their regular season 11-4, and will take the No. 3 seed into the MIAA Championship Tournament. They will take on Nebraska-Kearney Tuesday morning. In the two teams' earlier matchup, the Lopers won 7-2.

For more information on the 2017-18 men's tennis season, visit wusports.com.

Singles Competition:

1. Plaza,Aleja Valarezo (WU) def. Javier Callejo (WWU) 4-6, 6-1, 10-4

2. Christian Barbieri (WWU) def. Haase,Paul (WU) 6-3, 6-0

3. Hunter,Blake (WU) def. Christopher Vleeming (WWU) 3-6, 6-1, 10-7

4. Oscar Barreiro (WWU) def. Dicu,Raul-Alin (WU) 6-4, 4-6, 10-8

5. Eidenmueller,Brad (WU) def. Stefan Simic (WWU) 6-0, 6-0

6. Brill,Chase (WU) def. Jesus Amezcua (WWU) 6-7 (7-9), 6-1, 11-9

Doubles Competition:

1. Plaza,Aleja Valarezo/Hunter,Blake (WU) def. Jesus Amezcua/Oscar Barreiro (WWU) 8-2

2. Hunter,Tommy/Dicu,Raul-Alin (WU) def. Javier Callejo/Christopher Vleeming (WWU) 8-5

3. Haase,Paul/Brill,Chase (WU) def. Stefan Simic/Christian Barbieri (WWU) 8-4

 Ichabods in the Rankings

• The Ichabods sit at No. 21 in the Division 2 Men's ITA Preseason Coaches' Poll released on January 19 
• Washburn men's tennis was picked second in the MIAA/GAC Men's Tennis Coaches Preseason released on Feb. 3
• Seven Ichabods landed on the ITA Central Regional rankings including six in the singles ranking. Four Ichabods in the top 10
• Kim Niethammer was the highest ranked Ichabod at No. 7 after going to the quarterfinals at the ITA Central Region Tournament in early October while defeating No. 15 Sofiane Bah. He was also ranked 49th nationally
• Tim Hammes ranked No. 8 after making it to the quarterfinals at the ITA Central Region Tournament and defeating the regions No. 19 Morgan Salvan and No. 16 Fabien Calloud on his way there
• Miquel Perez ranked No. 9, Raul Dicu ranked No. 10, Sebastian Pjontek ranked No. 12 and Daniel Bird ranked No. 14
• In doubles, Perez/Bird ranked No. 3 regionally and No. 19 nationally after going  3-1 at the ITA Central Region Tournament. On their way to the semifinals, the duo defeated the No. 7 doubles team in Birgerson/Calloud. They would then lose to the No. 1 ranked doubles team.
• Pjontek/Matthew Earle rank No. 5 regionally

Looking Ahead

Ichabods head to Missouri for two matches against Indianapolis and Williams Jewell on Feb. 12 and 13. The first serve against Indianapolis is at 6:30 p.m. and first serve for WIlliam Jewell is at 2 p.m.