TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 21 Washburn women's tennis heads to Kearney, Neb., for two conference matchups beginning on Thursday against Fort Hays State at 2 p.m. in a neutral court contest, followed by a ranked matchup with the No. 22 Lopers on Friday at 11 a.m. 

Ichabod Breakdown

• Washburn begins conference play with a neutral court match against Fort Hays State on Thursday and will be on the road against Nebraska at Kearney on Friday. 
• The Ichabods are 5-2 on the year with a 5-2 home win over Rockhurst in the teams last non-exhibition match. 
• Fort Hays State enters the week 5-3 on the season and the Lopers are 8-5. Both teams will play a match the day before taking on Washburn. 
• The Ichabods are in the midst of a three match winning streak, the longest of the season so far. 
• Washburn is ranked 21st 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.

Washburn who's who

• Sonia Smagina is ranked No. 2 in the latest ITA singles rankings after advancing to the ITA Cup singles championship in the fall. 
• Smagina is joined by Maja Jung and the pair are ranked No. 9 by the country in doubles
• Smagina and Lara Schmid also have a No. 15 ranking together after qualifying for the ITA Cup in the fall. 
• Maja Jung is ranked No. 33 in the ITA singles rankings
• Smagina leads the Ichabods in singles, going 14-1 on the year and 5-0 in duals all at No. 1
• Jung has gone 11-3 in singles including 6-1 in duals and is 3-0 at No. 2 
• Marta Torres has gone 5-2 in duals including 3-1 at No. 2
• Isabella Martensson is 5-3 in singles and has gone 4-1 in duals with a 2-0 record at No. 5
• Washburn has won 62.5% of its singles matches this season, going 50-30
• The Ichabods are a combined 18-3 at No. 1-3 in duals 
• Smagina leads the Ichabods with a 11-2 record in doubles this season and is 5-0 at No. 1
• Maja Jung is 10-1 in doubles action, going 7-0 in duals and is 6-0 at No. 1
• Smagina and Jung are 4-0 together in doubles, all at No. 1 
• Lara Schmid is 9-2 in doubles so far on the year and is 3-0 in duals
• Torres and Casie Curry are each 9-2 in doubles play, Torres has gone 5-1 at No. 2
• Isabella Martensson is 7-2 in doubles and is 1-1 in duals 
• Washburn has a 80.0% winning percentage in doubles this season, going 32-8
• In duals that number goes up to 85.7% for doubles

Last time on the court

• Washburn defeated Rockhurst University 5-0 on Feb. 25 in its last non-exhibition match
• The Ichabods swept doubles play with 6-1, 6-4 and 6-2 wins.
• Sonia Smagina, Maja Jung, Marta Torres and Isabella Martensson each went 2-0 on the day with singles and doubles wins 
• Smagina and Jung stayed unbeaten in duals, both as a doubles pair where they are 4-0, but in singles play as well
• Washburn won its third straight match, its longest winning streak of the season.

Milestone markers

• Maja Jung is two wins away from 50 career singles victories and three away from 40 career in doubles
• Marta Torres is six wins away from 40 career singles wins
• Isabella Martensson is five singles victories away from 20 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 66-27 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 Miller Zeiders round out the men's coaching staff

Schedule spring forward

• Washburn plays its first MIAA matches this week against the Tigers and Lopers. 
• The Ichabods will travel to Florida in March to play three matches
• Washburn has eight MIAA matches on the slate in the spring.
• The final home game of the season is March 31 against Newman which will be senior day.
• 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

Opponent Quick Scout
Match #8 - vs Fort Hays State

inside the fort

• Fort Hays enters the week 5-4 following a 7-0 loss to Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday.
• Fort Hays is 0-3 in neutral court matches
• Florella Mendez and Maria Paz Diaz led the Tigers with six singles wins
• Paz Diaz is 6-5 and 5-3. in duals with a 3-2 record at No. 3
• Mendez is 6-6 on the year and is 1-0 at No. 1 and 2-1 at No. 3
• Heidi Lubbers is 3-2 on the season, all in duals
• The Tigers have won 50.0% of its singles matches, going 33-33
• Grace Unruh and Stefany Stemmer are 5-4 in doubles to lead Fort Hays, winning three of their last four
• Florella Mendez and Heidi Lubbers are 3-3 on the year and 2-0 at No. 3
• Fort Hays has won 55.2% of its double matches going 16-13 overall
• The Tigers were picked to finish ninth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll

Fort Hays Staff

• The Tigers are led by Brian Flax in his 27th season at the helm
• Flax ranks as the all-time leader in coaching victories at FHSU with 205
• Flax has guided the Tiger tennis team to 10 or more wins nine times
• In 2004-05, Flax guided FHSU to a region ranking of eighth, the highest ITA ranking ever for the program in its NCAA Division II history
• Assistant coach Johnnie Carmichael rounds out the staff

History with Hays

• Washburn has played against the Tigers 34 times with the Ichabods leading the all-time series 25-9
• Washburn has won the last 23 matches
• The Ichabods are 21-0 against Fort Hays in conference matchups
• Last season Washburn won 7-0 against the Tigers on March 27, 2022
• The series history between the two teams dates back to Oct. 24, 1974, a 5-4 win for Fort Hays in Topeka

Match #9 - at Nebraska at Kearney

A LOOK AT THE LOPERS

• Nebraska Kearney enters the week 8-5 after a 4-3 loss to No. 8 Central Oklahoma on Feb. 26. They are ranked No. 22 in the latest ITA poll. 
• The Lopers will play Northwest Missouri State on Thursday.
• Nebraska Kearney is 2-5 at home this season 
• The Lopers were picked to finish sixth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll
• Narindra Ranalvo leads Nebraska Kearney with a 9-3 record in singles, going 8-3 at No. 3
• Mellsa Becerra, Alexis Bernthal, Masha Hatouka and Jazmin Zamorano each have eight wins for the Lopers
• Becerra is 7-4 at No. 1
• Clare Plachy is 6-0 on the season, and 4-0 at No. 6
• Nebraska Kearney has won 71.4% of its singles matches, 50-20
• Hatouka and Ranalvo are 9-4 together in doubles, all at No. 2
• Becerra is 7-4 on the season in doubles matches, going 7-4 at No. 1
• As a team the Lopers have won 62.2% of doubles matches this season, going 23-14 overall

 Nebraska Kearney Staff

• The Lopers are led by Scott Shafter in his 4th season
• Shafer joined the UNK tennis program in the summer of 2013. He served as the top assistant to head coach Jake Saulsbury for six years before being elevated to head coach in the summer of 2019.
• As an assistant in 2014 Schafer helped both UNK squads finish third in the MIAA and reach the NCAA's.

History with the Lopers

• The Ichabods and Nebraska Kearney have played 23 times in their program histories with Washburn leading 17-6 all-time
• In away matches the Ichabods are 3-3 against the Lopers
• Washburn has won the last three matches in the series
• Last season the Ichabods defeated Nebraska Kearney 4-3 in Topeka on March 26, 2022
• The series history between the two teams dates back to March 7, 1997