EDMOND, Okla. -- Washburn enters the MIAA Tournament as the North Division's No. 2 seed. The Ichabods start the tournament playing the South Division's No. 3 seed Harding on April 27, starting at 10 a.m.

First serve

• The men's team defeated Harding 4-2 back on April 3, making the Ichabods 2-1 in the all-time series
• The two teams will once again play each other on a neutral court in Edmond, Okla.
• Washburn sits fourth in the central region and Harding sits fifth. The top four teams in the region move on to play in the NCAA Regional Championships
• The Ichabods defeated Southern Arkansas in the first round of the MIAA Championship last season
• The Ichabods ended the regular season 17-4 and 4-4 versus ranked opponents

2022 Ichabods

• Daniel Bird since joining the Ichabods has a 19-8 singles record and a 17-6 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 56-44 and an overall doubles record of 53-40. 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 23-16 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 24-14 in doubles since joining the Ichabods in 2020. Pjontek, along with partner Eidenmueller, earned ITA All-American in doubles last season
• Miller Zeiders holds an 11-3 overall singles record and 9-6 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 4-4 in singles and 14-8 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 a 19-6 singles record and 3-1 in doubles in 2021-22
• Kim Niethammer holds a 6-2 singles record and Noah Neideck is 14-4 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 56 career singles wins are tied for 15th in Washburn history. He needs four more singles 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 one singles win away from tying Aleja Valarezo Plaza for the most singles wins by a freshman
• Bird is one singles win and three doubles wins away from 20 in his career
• Pjontek is three singles from 20 as well

Washburn Notes

MIAA TOURNAMENT

• The Ichabods are the No. 2 seed for the North Division and will play the South Division's No. 3 seed Harding
• First-round matches begin at 10 a.m. on April 27. The winners will advance to play the No. 1 seeds on April 27 at 4 p.m.
• The championship match is on April 28 at 9 a.m.
• The champion of the tournament is an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Central Region Championship
• The tournament is hosted by Central Oklahoma at Edmond Center Courts in Edmond, Oklahoma

NEUTRAL MATCHES

• The men's team is 3-3 this season when playing at a neutral site
• Their three wins came against Illinois-Springfield, Southeastern Oklahoma State and Harding

ALL-MIAA HONORS

• Eight Ichabods earned All-MIAA honors. It is the most in one season since Washburn had nine players earn All-MIAA honors after the 2012-13 season
• Hammes was named MIAA Freshman of the Year. Chase Brill was the last player to win the award in 2016-17
• Hammes was also named All-MIAA Second Team at No. 2 singles. Rendon also earned Second Team All-MIAA at No. 6 singles
• All-MIAA Honorable Mentions included: Dicu at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, Perez at No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles, Pjontek at No. 4 singles and No. 1 doubles, Bird at No. 5 singles, Earle at No. 1 doubles and Neideck at No. 2 doubles

PREVIOUS MATCH AGAINST HARDING

BOLIVAR, Mo. – The No. 13 Washburn Ichabods topped regional foe Harding, 4-2. Washburn's early lead was too much for the Bisons to overcome.

Miquel Perez and Santiago Rendon returned to their winning ways with a 6-3 victory over Milosh Petrovic and Diego Pierola at No. 3 doubles. Perez leads the team with a 16-3 doubles record. Harding (8-6) put the pressure back on Washburn (14-3), defeating No. 18 Matthew Earle and Sebastian Pjontek.

Raul-Alin Dicu and Noah Neideck took down No. 31 Alvaro de Lorenzo and Morgan Salvan for the doubles point. The win was Neideck's tenth doubles win as an Ichabod.

In singles play, Perez dominated in straights sets, 6-2, 6-2 in the second spot. Pjontek followed close behind with his straight-set victory at No. 4 singles. Despite being down three, Harding won a pair of singles matches to pull within one. Dicu and Hammes lost at No. 1 and No. 3 singles.

Both Rendon and Daniel Bird battled to clinch the final point. Rendon won the first set 6-3 but fell in the second set 6-4. He sealed the victory with a 6-3 third set win over Cas de Ruiter. Bird won a second-set tiebreaker, forcing a third set. However, he would not need to finish since the Ichabods had claimed the win.

Washburn begins the final slate of conference matches at Northwest Missouri State on Saturday, April 9, starting at 1 p.m.

Doubles Competition

1. Arthur Bellan/Dani Ortiz (HU) def. #18 Earle,Matthew/Pjontek,Sebastian (WU) 6-4

2. Dicu,Raul-Alin/Neideck,Noah (WU) def. #31 Alvaro de Lorenzo/Morgan Salvan (HU) 6-3

3. Perez,Miquel/Santiago Rendon (WU) def. Milosh Petrovic/Diego Pierola (HU) 6-3

Order of Finish: 3,1,2

Singles Competition

1. Dani Ortiz (HU) def. #55 Dicu, Raul-Alin (WU) 6-3, 6-3

2. Perez, Miquel (WU) def. Arthur Bellan (HU) 6-2, 6-2

3. Morgan Salvan (HU) def. #35 Hammes, Tim (WU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1

4. Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) def. Alvaro de Lorenzo (HU) 6-3, 6-1

5. Milosh Petrovic (HU) vs. Bird, Daniel (WU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (3-7), 0-1, unfinished

6. Santiago Rendon (WU) def. Cas de Ruiter (HU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

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

Scouting the Bisons

• No. 58 Harding posted a 9-8 overall record and a 1-2 conference record in 2021-22
• The Bisons have five players with double-digit singles wins and doubles wins
• Junior Dani Ortiz was a driving force in dual singles and doubles competitions. Ortiz compiled a 10-7 singles record (10-6 at No. 1) and a 13-4 doubles record (8-0 at No. 2)
• Ortiz also won MIAA Athlete of the Week for the South Division back in March and earned MIAA/GAC honorable mention at No. 1 singles
• Ortiz's doubles partner Arthur Bellan went 13-6 in doubles and 5-12 in singles
• Bellan and Ortiz were named MIAA/GAC Second Team at No. 1 Doubles and are ranked No. 31 nationally
• Senior Alvaro de Lorenzo overall tied for the best singles record, going 11-9. Lorenzo also went 12-7 in doubles with Morgan Salvan
• Lorenzo earned MIAA/GAC honorable mention at No. 4 singles
• Lorenzo and Salvan were also named MIAA/GAC Second Team at No. 2 doubles
• Salvan and Bryce Walker also went 11-9 in singles
• Salvan earned MIAA/GAC honorable mention at No. 3 singles
• Senior Milosh Petrovic went 10-4 in singles play and 11-4 in doubles play. Petrovic earned All-MIAA/GAC honorable mention at No. 5 singles
• Petrovic and Diego Pierola were All-MIAA/GAC honorable mention at No. 3 doubles
• Freshman Cas de Ruiter made an impact in doubles with his 7-1 record mostly with Petrovic as his partner

Bisons Head Coach David Redding

• David Redding is in his eighth season as head men's and women's tennis coach
• The men's team is 79-46 under Redding
• Redding led the men's team to tie for the MIAA-South regular-season championship and qualified for NCAA Central Region Tournament
• Before Harding, He was the director of tennis at the Northwood Club since 1989 and served as the assistant tennis professional at the club from 1984-1989
• Redding was a graduate assistant at Southern Methodist from 1983-1985
• Redding was a member of the Harding tennis team from 1979-83. He earned multiple all-district and all-conference honors and earned the 1983 NAIA Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship
• He was inducted into the Harding Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990

 Ichabods IN the Rankings

• The Ichabods moved back into the ITA Team Rankings' top-15 at No. 15, released on April 21
• There are four Ichabods ranked in the ITA DII National Singles and Doubles Rankings.
• Freshman Hammes moved up a couple of places to No. 26 with his 19-6 singles record
• Senior Dicu fell from No. 52 to No. 67. Dicu is 12-9 at No. 1 singles this year
• Earle and Pjontek dropped two spots to No. 26 in the ITA Doubles Rankings. The team is 14-8 overall and 12-7 at No. 1 doubles

Looking Ahead

An Ichabods' win advances them to the MIAA Semifinals against the No. 1 seeded Ouachita Baptist on April 27 at 4 p.m.