TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 26 Washburn women's tennis ends its regular season in Arkansas with matches against Ouachita Baptist on Friday and against Southern Arkansas on Saturday.
Ichabod Breakdown
- No. 26 Washburn plays its final two regular season matches this week against Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas.
- The Ichabods are 12-6, 6-2 on the season after a 6-1 win over Newman
- The Tigers are 4-14 on the season while the Muleriders enter the week at 11-12.
- Washburn is ranked 26rd nationally in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
- The Ichabods were ranked No. 3 in the Central Region rankings released by the NCAA this 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 12-6 on the season after a 6-1 win over Newman to wrap up home and conference play on Tuesday.
- The Ichabods finished 6-2 in MIAA play and 5-1 in Topeka matches
- Washburn is ranked No. 26 in the latest ITA Tennis Rankings and they were listed in the first Central Region rankings last week released by the NCAA.
- Sonia Smagina is ranked No. 2 nationally in the latest singles rankings for a third straight week
- Maja Jung is slotted at No. 22 in singles
- Smagina leads the Ichabods with a 24-2 singles record overall. She has gone 15-1 in duals all at No. 1
- Jung has an 19-6 record on the singles side, with a 14-4 duals record, she has gone 11-3 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 10-5 in duals with a 5-1 mark at No. 5
- Washburn has won 61.6% of singles matches, going 90-56 so far this season
- Smagina and Jung are ranked No. 7 nationally together in doubles
- Smagina and Lara Schmid are No. 23 but have been limited playing together in the spring due to injury
- Jung and Smagina are 13-2 together this season, all at No. 1
- Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle are 10-3 in doubles with a 5-1 record at No. 2
- Curry and Marta Torres are each 16-6 overall in doubles, going 9-4 together
- Smagina leads in doubles victories overall with a 19-4 record
- The Ichabods have won 76.7% of doubles matches, going 56-17 this season
Last time on the court
- Washburn won a 6-1 match over Newman at the Washburn Tennis Complex
- It was the Ichabods' second straight 6-1 victory
- Washburn won two of three doubles matches, getting a 6-0 win from Sonia Smagina and Maja Jung at No. 1 and a 6-2 win for Marta Torres and Casie Curry at No. 3
- Smagina, Jung and Torres all went 2-0 on the day with singles victories
- Isabella Martensson and Maddie Shelley each won two-set singles matches from No. 4 and No. 6 respectively.
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 84-39 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 won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Sportsmanship award two times.
- Graduate assistant Miller Zeiders and volunteer assistant Kurt Reid round out the coaching staff
Schedule spring forward
- 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
Opponent Quick Scout
Match #19 - at Ouachita Baptist
Tale of the Tigers
- Ouachita Baptist enters the match against the Ichabods with a 4-14 record overall
- The Tigers are 0-5 in the GAC
- OBU has lost its last four matches, most recently a 7-0 decision to Southern Arkansas on Tuesday
- Ouachita Baptist has scored only two total points over the last three matches
- The Tigers are 0-6 in home matches
- Last season OBU finished 3-19
- Austynn Crocker paces Ouachita Baptist with 6 singles victories, she is 6-20 overall
- Shelly Davilus is 5-3 in singles matches
- Crocker leads the Tigers in doubles with nine wins, she is 9-15 overall this season
- Natalia Zamora is 8-15 in doubles competition
Ouachita Baptist Staff
- Kourtney Chumbley leads the Tigers in her third season as head coach of the women's program
- She was a three-time all-conference selection as a Tiger in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and was selected as the team MVP in 2013
- Chumbley was an assistant coach for the men's and women's tennis teams at Mount Olive College for three years, and also served as the director of student-athlete development
History with the Tigers
- Washburn and Ouachita Baptist University have never squared off with one another on the women's side
Match #20 - at Southern Arkansas
Scouting Southern Arkansas
- Southern Arkansas is 11-12 on the season after winning a 4-3 home contest over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Wednesday
- The Muleriders will face Texas A&M-Texarkana on Friday before facing the Ichabods
- SAU is 6-3 in home matches this season
- Sarah Roy is ranked No. 62 on the singles side of the ITA Rankings
- Lena Milosevic leads the Muleriders with a 13-6 singles record, she is 13-2 at No. 2
- Annika Berrendorf is 12-6 this season, all from No. 2
- Roy is 7-7 in No. 1 duals
- This season SAU has won 48.5% of singles matches going 50-53
- Greta Wallin and Kalley Smith are 9-8 together in doubles, all at No. 1
- Milosevic and Berrendorf are 9-9 together at No. 2
- Southern Arkansas has won 45.1% of doubles matches going 23-28
Muleriders Staff
- Greg Owen is in his fifth season as head coach of the men's and women's teams at Southern Arkansas
- Owen comes to SAU from Seward County Community College (Liberal, Kan.) where he was into his third season as head men's and women's tennis coach
- Prior to his time at Seward, Owen was the head tennis coach at Midlothian High School (Midlothian, Texas) for six years from 2009-2015
- Graduate Assistant Charlie Hudson rounds out the coaching staff
History with Southern Arkansas
- Washburn has played Southern Arkansas three times in program history and leads the all-time series 3-0
- The Ichabods and Muleriders have never played in Arkansas
- Last season Washburn defeated Southern Arkansas 7-0 on April 2, 2022 in Springfield, Mo.
- The first match between the two was on Feb. 15, 2019 in Midlothian, Texas and was a 5-2 win for the Ichabods
