TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 32 Washburn Ichabods men's tennis hosts Emporia State on Thursday for the 104th iteration of the Turnpike Tussle at 1 p.m. at the Washburn Tennis Complex. 

Ichabod Breakdown 

• Washburn finishes its home stretch with the Turnpike Tussle against Empoira State at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the Washburn Tennis Complex. 
• The Ichabods are 9-5, 1-1 on the season after a 4-3 loss to No. 16 Northwest Missouri State on Saturday. 
• Empoira State enters Thursday's match at 5-5 on the year and 1-0 in conference.
• The Ichabods are 74-29 all-time against the Hornets, the most wins over any opponent in program history. 
• Washburn is ranked 32nd  nationally in the latest ITA Coaches Poll. 
• The Ichabods were picked to finish second in the MIAA/GAC Preseason Coaches Poll 
• Washburn went 17-6 in 2021-22 and earned a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. 
• The Ichabods return eight players from last seasons roster and add one transfer and one freshman. 

Washburn who's who

• Washburn enters the week at 9-5 with a 1-1 record in conference play
• The Ichabods are 4-1 in home matches this season
• Washburn is ranked No. 32 in the latest ITA Rankings, it is the second consecutive week they have moved up
• In singles, Tim Hammes is ranked No. 32
• Sebastian Pjontek is slotted in at No. 47 after being unranked last week
• Santiago Rendon leads the Ichabods with a 14-7 singles record, he has gone 3-0 from No. 2 
• Daniel Bird is 13-5 in singles and has gone 10-3 in duals, at No. 4 he hs gone 6-2
• Hammes has a 7-6 mark at No. 1 singles
• Washburn has won 53.2% of its singles matches going 66-58
• Rendon and Hammes are ranked No. 12 nationally in doubles
• Miquel Perez and Pjontek are slotted at No. 18 in the nation
• Hammes and Pjontek are ranked No. 32 together 
• Rendon and Hammes have a 10-2 record in doubles together going 7-2 from No. 2
• Bird and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji have gone 8-3 together with a 3-0 record at No. 2
• Perez and Pjontek are 3-1 together against nationally ranked opponents
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with a 16-5 doubles record, he has gone 11-2 in duals
• As a team the Ichabods have won 61.9% of doubles matches, going 39-24 on the year

Last time on the court

• Washburn lost a 4-3 match to No. 16 Northwest Missouri State in Topeka at the Washburn Tennis Complex. 
• The Ichabods swept doubles play, with two wins over ranked teams and the No. 2 and No. 3 matches needing tiebreakers. 
• Sebastian Pjontek knocked off the No. 27 ranked singles player winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 from No. 2 
• Santiago Rendon won in three sets at No. 4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-0

Milestone markers

• Tim Hammes is two singles victories away from 30 in his career
• Miquel Perez is one singles wins away from 30 in his career
• Santiago Rendon needs two more doubles victories for 25 in his career
• Noah Neideck needs one more singles victory to reach 10 career wins

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 78-36 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
• Volunteer assistant Kurt Reid and graduate assistant Raul-Alin Dicu round out the men's coaching staff

The assistants

• Volunteer assistant Kurt Reid and graduate assistant Raul-Alin Dicu 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.
• Dicu joins the Ichabods after a five-year standout career for Washburn from 2017-22
• He finished his career with a 56-45 singles record and 53-41 doubles mark and is in the top-20 in singles and doubles wins in program history

Opponent Quick Scout
Match #15 - vs Emporia State

Examining Emporia

• Emporia State enters the week 5-5 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA/GAC North Division
• They claimed a 6-1 over Augustana to open up conference play
• The Hornets are 1-3 on the road
• Harrison Brown leads Empoira State in singles victories with 5, he is 5-3 overall with a 2-1 record at No. 5
• Theo Belmonte is 4-5 on the year and has gone 3-4 from No. 3
• Overall the Hornets have won 44.6% of singles matches, going 25-31
• Brown also leads Emporia in doubles with a 5-4 record, he is 4-4 from No. 2
• Brown and Dominik Simunovic are 4-3 together from No. 2 and No. 3
• No other doubles pairing has more than one victory together
• Empoira has won 31% of doubles matches going 9-20 overall

Emporia State Staff

• Emporia State is led by interm head coach Cyrielle Peyroche who is leading both the men's and women's programs
• She spent the 2021-22 season as a graduate assistant coach
• Peyroche finished a three-year playing career with the Hornets in the 2020-21 season
• Assistant coach Emily Huston rounds out the staff

History with the Hornets

• Washburn and Emporia State have played 103 times in program history with the Ichabods leading the all-time series 74-29.
• Washburn has won six matches in a row and 34 of the last 35
• Last season the Ichabods swept the Hornets 7-0 in Emporia
• The first match between the two teams was a 6-0 win for Washburn on April 10, 1948. 
• Washburn is 42-12 against Empoira State in Topeka 

Schedule spring forward

• Thursday's match against Empoira State will be the second to last MIAA/GAC North Division match of the spring for the Ichabods. It will also be senior day for the women's team. 
• Wasburn's final home match will be on April 11 against Newman. 
• 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 Men's MIAA Tournament will take place from April 19-21
• NCAA Regionals are scheduled to begin May 6