TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Ichabods finish the regular season hosting Bethel College and JUCO No. 1 Cowley County CC on April 21 and 22.
 

First Serve

• The Bethel College match will also be Washburn's senior day. The team will recognize senior Miller Zeiders and Raul-Alin Dicu after the match around 4:30 or 5 p.m.
• The men's team won two straight conference matches over Newman and Emporia State to finish the season 3-1 in the MIAA/GAC
• The Ichabods hold a 16-3 record against Bethel College with an 11-2 home record
• The Ichabods have played Cowley County two times in program history and won both times. The last match was in Feb. 2005 at home

2022 Ichabods

• Daniel Bird, since joining the Ichabods, has an 18-8 singles record and a 16-6 doubles record. Bird was All-MIAA Second Team at No. 5 singles in 2021
• Dicu is a fifth-year senior holding an overall singles record of 55-44 and an overall doubles record of 52-40. 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 22-16 in singles and 28-10 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 17-10 in singles and 23-14 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 13-8 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 leads the team with an 18-6 singles record and 3-1 in doubles in 2021-22
• Noah Neideck is 13-4 in doubles with partner Dicu and has four singles win
• Sophomore transfer Santiago Rendon, from Norfolk State, is 6-5 in singles and 11-2 in doubles play

Milestone Tracker

• Dicu's 55 career singles wins are 17th in Washburn history. He needs one more win to move into the top 15 and five wins to be the 11th Ichabod to have 60 wins.
• Perez is in Washburn's top-20 for career doubles win percentage (.737)
• Perez is two doubles wins away from 30 in his career
• Hammes is two singles wins away from tying Aleja Valarezo Plaza for the most singles wins by a freshman
• Bird is two singles wins away from 20 in his career
• Pjontek is three singles from 20 as well

Washburn Notes

SENIOR DAY

• The Ichabods are recognizing seniors Zeiders and Dicu
• Dicu played five seasons at Washburn and eclipsed 50 singles wins and 50 doubles wins in his career
• Dicu compiled a 55-44 singles record and a 52-40 doubles record
• Dicu sits in 17th in all-time singles wins and 18th in all-time doubles wins
• Miller tallied a 10-3 singles record and an 8-6 doubles record in three seasons at Washburn

THREE DOUBLES

• Washburn is a whopping 17-2 at No. 3 doubles this season with five different teams playing the position
• Rendon and Perez have the highest number of wins with eight
• Perez along is 11-2 at No. 3 doubles

UNDEFEATED HOME RECORD

• The Ichabods are 6-0 at home this year
• That includes wins over No. 18 Ouachita Baptist, No. 50 Southwest Baptist and No. 58 Rockhurst

Scouting the Threshers

• The Threshers are 6-9 overall and 4-4 this season with two matches left on their schedule
• Bethel's roster consists of 13 players total with one graduate student, one senior, seven sophomores and four freshmen
• Sophomore Milan Bucek leads the team in singles wins and doubles wins. He holds an 8-5 singles record at No. 2 singles and an 8-5 doubles record at No. 1 doubles. Bucek was ranked 19th nationally in 2020-21
• Sophomore Joaquin Pluis is also having a good year with a 7-5 singles record and a 7-4 doubles record
• Michael Cech is 7-6 in singles and 8-5 in doubles. Cech was ranked No. 50 nationally last season
• The lineup consistently includes Bucek, Cech, Pluis, Tomas Quercia, Nolan Schrader and Jordan Singh
• Pluis was the only one to miss one match against Sterling College
• The doubles teams have switched around throughout the season. The Threshers have played wight different doubles teams this year

Threshers Head Coach Gabe Johnson

• Gabe Johnson is in his third season head coaching the men's and women's tennis programs at Bethel College
• Johnson was named the KCAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year for the 2020-21 season
• He led the Thresher's to a 12-5 record, their most wins since 2007
• Johnson is a 2019 Bethel College graduate and a four-year tennis letter winner
• While playing as a Thresher, Johnson won the 2018 and 2019 KCAC Sportsmanship Award
• In 2018, he was a part of a doubles team that finished in third place at No. 1 doubles in the KCAC Fall Individual Championship

Scouting the Tigers

• Cowley County finished second at nationals last season and ranked first in the NJCAA Men's ITA Collegiate Tennis Coaches Poll on March 9
• The Tigers are 13-1 this year 
• 2021 ITA All-American Takeshi Taco makes an impact at the top of the lineup
• Taco won a national championship at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles with partner Jack Clements
• The Tigers also brought back another 2021 ITA All-American in Andoni Garmendia
• Sophomore Aymeric Bruno returns after playing No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles for the Tigers as a freshman
• Freshman Boruch Skierkier and Hanamachi Carvajal were ranked No. 1 in their home countries. Skierkir in South America in 16u and Carvajal in Chile in 16u
• Harry Collins is an All-American transfer from Hartford Community College

Tigers Head Coach Manuel Raga

• Manuel Raga is in his fourth season head coaching the men's and women's tennis programs at Cowley County CC
• Raga was named the Men's Tennis Region III Wilson ITA Coach of the Year as the Tigers tied the highest ever finish in the history of the program
• At Cowley, Raga finished as a national runner-up at No. 4 singles and helped the team win the conference and region title
• After Cowley, he went on to have three successful seasons at Bethany College
• At Bethany, he was the KCAC Player of the Year and an All-American all three years
• Raga graduated from Bethany in 2016 with a degree in business Administration and Management
• He helped the Bethany tennis team as a graduate assistant
• His sister, Arianna, played for the Tigers' women's tennis team

 Ichabods in the Rankings

• The Ichabods checked in at No. 16 in the latest ITA National Team Rankings, released on April 14
• There are four Ichabods ranked in the ITA DII National Singles and Doubles Rankings.
• Freshman Hammes moved up a couple of places to No. 28 with his 16-6 singles record
• Senior Dicu fell from No. 44 to No. 52. Dicu is 10-8 at No. 1 singles this year
• Earle and Pjontek still ranked No. 24 in doubles

Looking Ahead

The Ichabods get ready for the MIAA Championship on April 27 and April 28