TOPEKA, KAN. -- No. 19 Washburn women's tennis plays host to No. 27 Northwest Missouri State at the Washburn Tennis Complex in a 1 p.m. battle between the two highest ranked teams in the MIAA.

Ichabod Breakdown

• Washburn begins four match homestand on Saturday against conference rival No. 27 Northwest Missouri State. 
• The Ichabods are 8-4 on the season following a 6-1 loss on the road to No. 2 Saint Leo on Monday. 
• The Bearcats are 10-3 after defeating Southwest Baptist 5-2 March 16. 
• Washburn is 20-24 all time against Northwest Missoui State. 
• The Ichabods match against the Bearcats will be their fifth straight ranked opponent they will face. 
• Washburn is ranked 19th nationally in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
• Washburn is coming off a 16-12 season in 2021-22 and the second appearance in the NCAA National Championships in program history.
• The Ichabods were picked first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches poll.
• The Ichabods return six players from last season's roster and add two transfers and one freshman. 

Washburn who's who

• Washburn is 8-4 on the season but have lost the last two times taking the court. At home they are a perfect 2-0, both coming indoors 
• The Ichabods are ranked No. 19 in the ITA poll for the second straight week
• Sonia Smagina was ranked the No. 1 overall singles player in the latest rankings
• It is the first No. 1 overall ranking for the Ichabods since Alexis Czapinski and Logan Morrissey captured the top spot during the 2018-19 season 
• Maja Jung jumped up to the No. 19 spot 
• Smagina and Lara Schmid are the No. 13 ranked doubles pairing 
• Smagina and Jung are ranked No. 21 in doubles as well 
• Smagina leads the Ichabods with an 18-2 singles record and is 9-1 at No. 1
• Jung is 15-4 on the season with a 10-2 duals record and is 7-1 from the No. 2 position
• Isabella Martensson is 7-5 on the year in singles and is a perfect 4-0 from No. 5
• Washburn has won 59.1% of its singles matches going 65-45 on the year 
• The Ichabods are a combined 27-9 from the No. 1 - No. 3 spots this season
• Smagina also leads the Ichabods with a 14-4 doubles record and 8-2 in duals, all from No. 1 
• Jung is 13-3 in doubles play, her and Smagina have won 7-2 together all at No. 1
• Casie Curry and Marta Torres are 5-2 together and are both 12-4 on the season 
• Isabella Martensson is 11-3 in doubles, going 5-1 from No. 3
• Issabella Pensavalle is 10-4 in doubles , going 7-3 from No. 3
• Lara Schmid is 9-2 in doubles play, primarily in the fall and has missed most of the spring
• Washburn has won 76.4% of its doubles matches, going 42-13 overall on the year 

Last time on the court 

• Washburn lost 6-1 on the road to No. 2 Saint Leo University.
• It was the second straight loss to a top-12 ranked opponent
• The Ichabods went 0-3 in doubles play, losing 7-5, 7-6(4) and 6-1
• Maja Jung got the lone singles victory, a win over No. 11 Claudia Borbon Roca at the No. 2 position 6-4, 6-2
• Maddie Shelley was the only other Ichabod to take her opponent three sets, losing 6-1, 2-6, 6-1

Milestone markers

• Isabella Martensson is one doubles win away from 30 in her career
• Issabella Pensavalle is one singles win away from 10 in her career
• Marta Torres is five wins away from 40 in singles 
• Lara Schmid is five doubles wins away from 30 in her career 

Head coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in his third year as head coach of the Ichabod men's and women's tennis teams
• He has led both teams to the NCAA tournament in both seasons at the helm
• Ronning has a combined record of 77-34 in his two plus seasons at Washburn
• Prior to joining the Ichabods, Ronning spent four seasons as the assistant coach at Azusa Pacific from 2016-2022
• Ronning played for Bethel University (Minn.) for four seasons and was honored with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Sportsmanship award two times.

The assistants

• Volunteer assistant Kurt Reid and graduate assistant Miller Zeiders round out the men's coaching staff
• Reid enters his fourth season as an assistant with the Ichabods.
• He started his collegiate tennis career at Tulsa (1977-78) before transferring to Washburn for the 1978-79 season.
• Zeiders joins the Ichabods after a four-year career at Washburn from 2018-22

Opponent Quick Scout
Match #13 - vs No. 27 Northwest Missouri State
 

book on the bearcats

• Northwest Missouri State enters the week 10-3 and has won its last four matches overall, most recently a 5-2 win over Southwest Baptist
• The Bearcats are 2-0 in the MIAA and 4-1 on the road 
• Northwest Missouri is ranked No. 27 overall in the latest ITA rankings
• Vera Alenicheva is ranked No. 30 overall in singles
• Tyffaine Pais claimed the No. 59 spot in the rankings
• Pais leads the Bearcats in singles with a 10-1 record all coming from No. 2
• Alenicheva has a 9-4 record at No. 1 
• Angela Per Moreno plays the back half of the lineup, going 9-2 overall and 5-0 at No. 4
• As a team NWMSU has won 71.6% of its singles matches, going 53-21
• Alenicheva, Pais and Per Moreno each lead the Bearcats with nine doubles victories 
• Pais and Per Moreno are 9-2 together this season, all at No. 3
• Alenicheva and Tessa Kwakernaak are 8-3 together and have an 8-2 record at No. 2
• As a team the Bearcats have won 65.8% of its doubles matches, going 25-13 on the year

Northwest Missouri Staff

• Mark Rosewell is in his 39th season in charge of the men's and women's Bearcat tennis programs
• In his career he has 1,193 victories, 27 combined MIAA Regular Season Championships and 10 MIAA Tournament Championships.
• He has been named MIAA Coach of the Year 27 times, the latest honor coming in 2017.
• He has been named the ITA Regional Coach of the Year seven times combined
• Graduate assistants Juan Esteban Druan and Martin Sanchez round out the staff

History with the Bearcats

• The Ichabods and Bearcats have faced off 44 times in program history with Northwest leading the all-time series 20-24
• Washburn has won seven of the last eight matches
• The Ichabods are 4-13 in Topeka against NWMSU
• The first match came on April 23, 1991 and was a 5-4 win for Washburn in Maryville, Mo.
• Last season Washburn picked up a 4-3 win over the Bearcats in Maryville on April 9, 2022

Schedule spring forward

• Washburn's match Northwest Missouri State begins a four match homestand and mark the return of conference play with the Bearcats. 
• Washburn has five remaining MIAA matches on the slate in the spring.
• The match on March 31 against Newman will be senior day for the Ichabods.  
• Washburn wraps up the regular season with two matches in Arkansas, the final regular season game comes on April 15 against Southern Arkansas University
• The Women's MIAA Tournament will take place from April 21-23