EDMOND, Okla. -- No. 24 Washburn captured the 2023 MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship on Friday afternoon with a 4-0 sweep of No. 15 Northwest Missouri State. The Ichabods win the conference tournament for the first time since 2009-10 and qualify for the NCAA Regional Tournament for a third straight season.
Washburn (16-7) outscored opponents 12-2 on the way to the 2023 crown and did not lose a point in either the semifinal or championship match. The Ichabods also avenged a 4-3 loss to the Bearcats (14-6) during the regular season. Northwest Missouri State entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed overall and No. 1 seed from the MIAA while Washburn was the No. 2 seeded MIAA representative.
In the championship match No. 16 Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon began the day with a 6-2 doubles victory at No. 2 over Fabien Calloud and Jan Skerbatis, the No. 36 ranked doubles tandem in the nation. Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Daniel Bird sectured the match's first point with a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
On the top court No. 8 Miquel Perez and Sebastian Pjontek were leading No. 19 Andrea Zamurri and Fillippo Piranomonte 5-2 when the doubles point was clinched.
In singles action Bird at No. 4 trailed early in his first set before pulling out a 7-5 win late. He carried the momentum over into the second set, winning 6-1 and making it a 2-0 match. At No. 2 Pjontek, ranked No. 47 nationally, lost his first set 6-1 to No. 45 ranked Delebois. He bounced back in the second set for a 6-2 victory and did not let up in the third, winning 6-3 to set up match point on the remaining four courts for the Ichabods.
At the top court Hammes, ranked No. 28 nationally, would deliver that final point, knocking off conference player of the year and No. 12 ranked Zamurri in three sets to capture the crown. Hammes dropped the first set 6-3 and went to a tiebreaker in the second, winning 7-2. In the third he jumped out to a 5-1 lead before coming away with a 6-3 title clinching victory.
Three matches were left unfinished after the sweep, at No. 3 Perez lost his opening set 7-6(2) to No. 65 Calloud but came back to win a second set tiebreaker 7-6(6) and was trailing 2-1 in the third set. No. 70 ranked Rendon led 6-5 at No. 5 after falling in a first set tiebreaker 7-6(5). At No. 6 Daniel Harkin led 2-1 in the third set after also losing a first set tiebreaker, 7-6(6) and winning the second set 6-3.
The NCAA Regional field will be announced on Monday, April 24 at 7 p.m. ct and the first rounds will take place between May 6 and 9.
Doubles competition:
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Pjontek, Sebastian/Perez, Miquel (WU) vs Piranomonte, Fillippo/Zamurri, Andrea (NWMSU) 5-2 UF
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Hammes, Tim/Rendon, Santiago (WU) def. Calloud, Fabien/Skerbatis, Jan (NWMSU) 6-2
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Nakatsuji, Yoshinobu/Bird, Daniel (WU) def. Delebois, Michael/Meier, Mason (NWMSU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles competition:
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Hammes, Tim (WU) def. Zamurri, Andrea (NWMSU) 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3
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Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) def. Delebois, Michael (NWMSU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
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Perez, Miquel (WU) vs Calloud, Fabien (NWMSU) 6(2)-7, 7-6(6), 1-2 UF
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Bird, Daniel (WU) def. Skerbatis, Jan (NWMSU) 7-5, 6-1
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Meier, Mason (NWMSU) vs Rendon, Santiago (WU) 7-6(5), 5-6 UF
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Harkin, Daniel (WU) vs Birgerson, Simon (NWMSU) 6(6)-8, 6-3, 2-1 UF
Order of finish: 4, 2, 1
