TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 38 Washburn men's tennis opens postseason play facing No. 44 Southeastern Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the MIAA/GAC Championship tournament on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Edmond, Okla. 
 

Ichabod Breakdown

• No. 38 Washburn faces No. 44 Southeastern Oklahoma State in the first round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament on Wednesday April 19 at 2 p.m. in Edmond, Okla.
• The match was moved indoors to the Greenwood Tennis Center due to forecasted wid.
• The Ichabods are 13-7, 3-1 on the season after defeating Southern Arkansas 4-2 to close the season. 
• The Savage Storm closed the regular season 11-8, 1-2.
• Washburn had seven players named to All-MIAA/GAC conference teams on Tuesday.
• They were ranked No. 4 in the Central Region rankings released by the NCAA last week.
• 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 seven players from last seasons roster and add one transfer and one freshman. 

Washburn who's who

• Washburn enters the match at 13-7 with a 3-1 record in conference play
• The Ichabods are 1-2 in neutral court matches this season
• Washburn is ranked No. 38 in the latest ITA Rankings
• In singles, Tim Hammes is ranked No. 28, his highest ranking of the season
• Sebastian Pjontek is slotted in at No. 49, he has won his last five singles matches
• Santiago Rendon leads the Ichabods with a 19-8 singles record, he has gone 3-0 from No. 2 and is 4-1 at No. 4. 
• Daniel Bird is 17-7 in singles and has gone 14-5 in duals, at No. 4 he has gone 7-2
• Hammes has a 11-7 mark at No. 1 singles
• The Ichabods have a winning record at every singles position
• Washburn has won 57.1% of its singles matches going 89-67
• Miquel Perez and Pjontek are ranked No. 15 together nationally in doubles
• Rendon and Hammes are slotted at No. 17 together
• Hammes and Pjontek are ranked No. 36 together 
• Rendon and Hammes have a 15-3 record in doubles together going 12-3 from No. 2
• Bird and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji have gone 11-5 together with a 3-0 record at No. 2
• Perez and Pjontek are 7-3 together overall and 3-1 against nationally ranked opponents
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with a 21-6 doubles record, he has gone 16-3 in duals
• As a team the Ichabods have won 64.6% of doubles matches, going 51-28 on the year
• In duals Washburn has won 61.2% of singles matches and 70.9% of doubles

Last time on the court

• Washburn defeated Southern Arkansas 4-2 in Magnolia, Ar. to close out the regular season
• The Ichabods won doubles matches at No. 2 and No. 3 6-3 and 7-5 respectively to clinch doubles
• Sebastian Pjontek and Santiago Rendon won doubles matches before Daniel Bird clinched the match at No. 4, all three wins were in two sets
• Daniel Harkin's No. 6 match was left unfinished in the third set

Milestone markers

• Miquel Perez and Sebastian Pjontek are both 3 doubles wins away from 40 in their careers.
• Pjontek is two singles victories away from reaching 30 career wins
• Santiago Rendon needs two doubles victories for 30 in his Ichabod career
• Daniel Bird is three singles wins away from 40 in his 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 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 was honored with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Sportsmanship award two times.

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 #21 - vs Southeastern Oklahoma State

Scouting the Storm

• Southeastern Oklahoma State ended the regular season with an 11-8 record
• The Savage Storm are coming off a 4-3 loss to Harding on April 14
• SEOSU is 4-1 in neutral court matches, they went 1-2 in the GAC this season
• Stipan Madzar is ranked No. 66 nationally in singles with a 11-14 overall record
• Gen Naraya leads Southeastern Oklahoma with a 16-4 singles record mostly from No. 4 and No. 5
• Juan Gonzales is 15-10 in singles this season primarily from No. 2 and No. 3
• Marin Jurkovic and Gonzales are slotted at No. 35 nationally in doubles  
• Jurkovic leads the Savage Storm with a 16-7 record in doubles, splitting time between No. 1 and No. 2
• Gonzales is 14-7 in doubles this season playing mostly at No. 2 
• Madzar is 14-12 in doubles mostly at No. 1 
• Thabo Ncube is second on the team with 15 doubles victories

Southeastern Staff

• Southeastern Oklahoma State is led by Brian Nelson in his fourth season in charge of the men's and women's programs for the Storm
• Prior to joining SEOSU Nelson was the head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay
• He also spent 11 season at Seminole State College 
• He is a USPTA certified recreational coach and has served as the president of the NJCAA Men's Tennis Coaches Association since 2015
• Student assistant Brady Matthews rounds out the staff

History with Southeastern Oklahoma State

• Washburn and Southeastern Oklahoma State have faced off nine times in program history with the Ichabods holding a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series. 
• Washburn lost to the Savage Storm 4-3 in Edmond, Okla. on April 2 this season
• The Ichabods are 1-2 all-time on in neutral court matchups against SEOSU
• The first match between the two teams came on March 4, 2002 and was a 5-0 win for Southeastern Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. 

Schedule spring forward

• If Washburn wins its opening round matchup against Southeastern Oklahoma State they will face Harding on Thursday, April 20 at Edmond Center Court at 10 a.m. 
• NCAA Regionals are scheduled to begin May 6