TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn ends their four-match home stand with No. 28 Rockhurst on Tuesday, March 29 at 1 p.m.

First Serve

• The men's team defeated No. 44 Southwest Baptist, 4-3, on Friday
• The Ichabods scrimmaged the Hawks back in October
• This match was moved from February 5 to March 30
• Washburn is 17-13 against the Hawks in program history. The Ichabods won the last matchup, 6-1, in March 2021
• The Ichabods are 12-2 on the season and 3-2 versus ranked opponents

2022 Ichabods

• Daniel Bird since joining the Ichabods has a 15-6 singles record and a 16-6 doubles record. Bird was All-MIAA Second Team at No. 5 singles in 2021
• Raul-Alin Dicu is a fifth-year senior holding an overall singles record of 52-41 and an overall doubles record of 48-38. He is a four-time Academic Honor Roll member, two-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete, 2-time All-MIAA Honorable Mention and an ITA Scholar-Athlete
• Miquel Perez has gone 20-13 in singles and 24-8 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 13-8 in singles and 21-10 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 10-3 overall singles record and 8-6 in doubles play. He was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2021
• Freshman Matthew Earle comes in with many accolades 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. He is 3-4 in singles and 11-4 in doubles in his first season
• Freshman Tim Hammes played No. 1 singles and doubles throughout high school while leading them to three regional championships. Hammes is 14-4 in singles play and 3-1 in doubles in 2021-22
• Kim Niethammer holds a 6-2 singles record and Noah Neideck is 9-2 in doubles with partner Dicu and has two singles win
• Sophomore transfer Santiago Rendon, from Norfolk State, is 3-3 in singles and 7-0 in doubles play

Milestone Tracker

• Dicu's 52 career singles wins are 17th in Washburn history. He needs 5 more wins to move into the top 15 and 8 wins to be the 11th Ichabod to have 60 wins.
• Dicu is also two doubles wins from the 50 mark. 
• Perez moved into Washburn's top-15 for career doubles win percentage (.750)
• Hammes is six singles wins away from tying Aleja Valarezo Plaza for the most singles wins by a freshman

Washburn Notes

VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS

• The Ichabods are 3-2 this year against ranked opponents
• Washburn is coming of a 4-3 win over No. 44 Southwest Baptist
• They are undefeated against opponents ranked outside the top-10. Rockhurst is currently ranked at No. 28
• Four ranked teams left on the Ichabods' schedule

DOUBLES POINT

• The Ichabods have earned the doubles point in 13 of their 14 matches played. The lone match without the doubles point came against No. 8 Indianapolis
• The Ichabods are 12-1 at No. 3 doubles. Perez has helped with his 9-1 record at that position

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Ichabods hosts their final home match of a four-match stretch
• Washburn is 5-0 at home this season and 10-1 in the last two seasons
• During this stretch, the Ichabods face two-top-50 opponents. Washburn defeated No. 44 Southwest Baptist and face No. 28 Rockhurst next

Last Match Recap

TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 11 Washburn Ichabods defeated No. 44 Southwest Baptist, 4-3. It is Washburn's third win over a ranked opponent this season.

After missing the last match, Raul-Alin Dicu rejoined partner Noah Neideck at No. 2 doubles and were the first to win their match, 6-2. The Bearcats (4-8) responded, defeating No. 21 Matthew Earle and Sebastian Pjontek, 7-5.

The Ichabods (12-2) clinched the doubles point in a tightly-contested match at No. 3 doubles. Miquel Perez and Santiago Rendon remain undefeated with a 7-6 (4) win.

In singles play, Southwest Baptist tied the match at 1-1 after defeating Perez, 6-0, 6-4 at the second flight. Washburn took a 3-1 lead when Dicu and Tim Hammes got wins at No. 1 singles and No. 3 singles. No. 36 Hammes took down his opponents in two sets, 6-4, 6-3 and No. 49 Dicu followed close behind also with a two-set victory, 6-4, 7-6 (7)

The Bearcats fought back with a win over Daniel Bird at No. 4 singles. Bird fell in three sets, 6-3. 0-6, 6-3. Neideck secured the Washburn victory in his second straight singles appearance. His 6-2, 7-5 win makes him 2-0 in singles this season.

The Ichabods go up against another ranked opponent in No. 28 Rockhurst on Tuesday, March 29 at 1 p.m.

Doubles Competition

1. #35 Alvaro Nunez/Youssef Nabil (SBU) def. #21 Earle,Matthew/Pjontek,Sebastian (WU) 7-5

2. Dicu,Raul-Alin/Neideck,Noah (WU) def. Carlos Corser/Max Sanoja (SBU) 6-2

3. Perez,Miquel/Rendon, Santiago (WU) def. Makary Adamek/David Szeri (SBU) 7-6 (7-4)

Order of Finish: 2,1,3

Singles Competition

1. #49 Dicu,Raul-Alin (WU) def. David Szeri (SBU) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)

2. Makary Adamek (SBU) def. Perez,Miquel (WU) 6-0, 6-4

3. #36 Hammes,Tim (WU) def. Youssef Nabil (SBU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Alvaro Nunez (SBU) def. Bird,Daniel (WU) 6-3, 0-6, 6-3

5. Carlos Corser (SBU) def. Rendon, Santiago (WU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3

6. Neideck,Noah (WU) def. Max Sanoja (SBU) 6-2, 7-5

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

Scouting the Hawks

• No. 28 Rockhurst posted a 7-8 season in 2020-21 and are currently 5-4 this season
• The 2021-21 Hawks are close to being a brand-new roster after five seniors left and another player transfered
• Rockhurst did bring back five players while adding five freshmen and a sophomore transfer
• Simon Birgerson transferred to Northwest Missouri State after leading the Hawks with a 9-6 singles record and a 9-5 doubles record. 
• Senior Nicolas Leon went 8-6 in singles and 9-4 in doubles
• The other four seniors combined for a 11-21 singles record and a 16-15 doubles record
• Santiago Rodriguez returned after going 6-6 in singles and 6-6 in doubles. This year, Rodriguez is 6-5 in singles and 4-6 in doubles
• Indiana Tech transfer Agustin Cortes had a stellar first year, going 14-0 in singles and 10-4 in doubles. Unfortunately, this year he is 1-6 in singles and 4-4 in doubles
• The Hawks are led this year by their freshmen class
• Freshman Louis Keiner is tied with Rodriguez with a team leading 6-5 singles record. 
• Semen Tsyrenov is 6-4 in singles and 4-4 in doubles

Hawks Head Coach Jamie McDonald

• Jamie McDonald enters his second spring season as the head women's tennis coach
• He graduated from Denison (Ohio) University with a double major in psychology and political science in 2018
• McDonald was a three-time All-Conference honoree and team-captain in his senior year. He was also named to the ITA Scholar-Athlete Team four years in a row
• He previously served asa a volunteer coach at Denison and head coach at Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Mo.

 Ichabods in the Rankings

• The Ichabods stayed in the top-15 of the ITA DII National Rankings released on March 24 at No. 11
• There are four Ichabods ranked in the ITA DII National Singles and Doubles Rankings.
• Freshman Tim Hammes moved down to No. 36 with his 13-4 singles record
• Senior Raul-Alin Dicu did not move as he remained at No. 49 after not competing this past week
• Kim Niethammer took a dive from No. 53 to No. 59
• Sebastian Pjontek went from No. 67 to out of the singles but stayedin the doubles rankings
• Matthew Earle and Pjontek with a doubles record of 11-3 fell just one spot to No. 21

Looking Ahead

The Ichabods travel to Bolivar, Mo. for two ranked matches against Southern Arkansas and Harding. Washburn plays SAU on April 2 at 3 p.m.