TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 23 Washburn women's tennis closes out conference action on Tuesday against Newman in the teams final match played in the capital city this season. The Ichabods head to Arkansas on Friday and Saturday to close the regular season.
Ichabod Breakdown
- No. 23 Washburn plays its final home match of the season against Newman on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
- The match was rescheduled from March 31 due to weather
- The Ichabods are 11-6, 5-2 on the season after a win over Northeastern State
- The Jets are 9-6, 2-3 on the season after a 5-2 road win over Emporia State.
- Washburn is 9-2 all-time against Newman.
- Washburn is ranked 23rd nationally in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
- The Ichabods were also listed in the first Regional rankings released by the NCAA last week.
- 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 11-6 on the season after a 6-1 win over the RiverHawks on the road last weekend
- The Ichabods are 5-2 in MIAA play and 4-1 in Topeka matches
- Washburn is ranked No. 23 in the latest ITA Tennis Rankings and they were listed in the first Central Region rankings released by the NCAA.
- Sonia Smagina is ranked No. 2 nationally in the latest singles rankings
- Maja Jung is slotted at No. 24 in singles
- Smagina leads the Ichabods with a 23-2 singles record overall. She has gone 14-1 in duals all at No. 1
- Jung has an 18-6 record on the singles side, with a 13-4 duals record, she has gone 10-3 from No. 2
- Casie Curry has won her last five matches and is 10-6 in duals with a 4-0 record at No. 4
- Isabella Martensson is 9-5 in duals with a 5-1 mark at No. 5
- Washburn has won 60.7% of singles matches, going 85-55 so far this season
- Smagina and Jung are ranked No. 16 nationally together in doubles
- Smagina and Lara Schmid are No. 18 but have been limited playing together in the spring due to injury
- Jung and Smagina are 12-2 together this season, all at No. 1
- Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle are 10-2 in doubles with a 5-0 record at No. 2
- Curry and Marta Torres are each 15-6 overall in doubles, going 8-4 together
- Smagina leads in doubles victories overall with a 19-4 record
- The Ichabods have won 77.1% of doubles matches, going 54-16 this season
Last time on the court
- Washburn won a 6-1 road contest against No. 43 Northeastern State on Saturday
- Sonia Smagina and Maja Jung won 6-3 at No. 1 doubles and Isabella Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle clinched the point at No. 2, winning 7-5
- Smagina, Jung and Martensson all went 2-0 on the day with singles victories at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 respectively
- Marta Torres and Casie Curry each rallied after losing doubles for two set victories at No. 3 and No. 4
Milestone markers
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 82-39 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 #18 - vs Newman
View of the Jets
- Newman is 9-6 on the season after a 5-2 win on the road against Emporia State last Thursday.
- The Jets are 2-3 in MIAA play with two more matches to go after facing the Ichabods
- Newman is 5-4 in road matches this season, after Tuesday they will have 10 road matches with only six in Wichita
- The Jets have lost three of their last five matches
Newman Staff
- Shella Augspurger is in her 19th season with Newman and is in her 17th full season after becoming Director of Tennis in 2007-08
- Has led the men's and women's programs to a combined 21 Heartland Conference Tournaments in 23 chances
- She has been teaching tennis over 20 years including experience with clubs in the St. Louis area and at Maize High School
History with the Jets
- Washburn and Newman have played 11 times in program history with the Ichabods leading 9-2 in the all-time series
- The Ichabods are 7-1 at home against the Jets
- Washburn has won the last five matches including a 6-1 win on April 14, 2022 last season
- The first match between the two was a 9-0 Washburn win on April 21, 2008 in Topeka.
Schedule spring forward
- Tuesday's match against Newman is the final match of the season in Topeka 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
- NCAA Regionals are scheduled to begin May 6
