TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 25 Washburn women's tennis begins postseason play on Saturday against No. 38 Missouri Western State in the semifinals of the MIAA Championship Tournament at 10 a.m. in Edmond, Okla. 

Ichabod Breakdown

• No. 25 Washburn kicks off postseason play against No. 38 Missouri Western State in the MIAA Championship semifinals at 10 a.m. in Edmond, Okla. on April 22. 
• The Ichabods are 14-6, 6-2 at the end of the regular season
• The Griffons are 13-5 after a 4-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney in the quarterfinals.
• Washburn defeated MWSU 5-2 on March 29 in Topeka this season.
• The Ichabods are the No. 2 seed in the tournament and the Griffons are the No. 3 seed.
• Six Ichabods were named to All-MIAA teams earlier in the week and Sonia Smagina was named player of the year overall.
• Washburn is ranked 25th 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 14-6 entering postseason play after a 4-1 win over Southern Arkansas to close the season
• The Ichabods finished 6-2 in MIAA play and 2-1 in neutral court 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 fourth straight week. She was named the MIAA player of the year earlier in the week.
• Maja Jung is slotted at No. 29 in singles 
• Smagina leads the Ichabods with a 26-2 singles record overall. She has gone 17-1 in duals all at No. 1
• Jung has an 20-7 record on the singles side, with a 15-5 duals record, she has gone 12-4 from No. 2
• Casie Curry has won her last six matches and is 11-6 in duals with a 4-0 record at No. 5
• Isabella Martensson is 11-5 in duals with a 6-1 mark at No. 5
• Washburn has won 63.5% of singles matches, going 99-57 so far this season
• Smagina and Jung are ranked No. 7 nationally together in doubles
• Smagina and Lara Schmid are No. 36 but have been limited playing together in the spring due to injury
• Jung and Smagina are 15-2 together this season, all at No. 1
• Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle are 11-3 in doubles with a 6-1 record at No. 2
• Curry and Marta Torres are each 18-6 overall in doubles, going 11-4 together
• The Ichabods have won 78.2% of doubles matches, going 61-17 this season
• In duals Washburn has won 65% of singles matches and 79.7% of doubles

Last time on the court

• Washburn won a 4-1 road contest over Southern Arkansas to close the regular season
• Sonia Smagina and Maja Jung won 6-2 at No. 1 doubles while Marta Torres and Casie Curry won 6-3 at No. 3 to clinch the point
• The Ichabods got two set singles victories from Smagina, Torres and Isabella Martensson at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 respectively
• Jung fell at No. 2 singles, the remaining two singles matches were left unfinished
• It was Washburn's fourth win in a row 

Milestone markers

• Maja Jung is two doubles victories away from 50 in her career and three singles wins away from 60
• Sonia Smagina needs 4 singles victories for 30 this season and 3 doubles for 25
• Isabella Martensson is three singles wins away from 25 in her career
• Casie Curry is two doubles victories away from 20 in her Ichabod 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 91-39 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.

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 #21 vs No. 38 Missouri Western State

Guide to the Griffons

• Missouri Western State is 13-5 after a 4-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA tournament semifinals
• The Griffons are 1-1 in neutral court matches this season
• MWSU is ranked No. 38 in the latest ITA Rankings
• Isabella MacGibbon is ranked No. 42 overall in singles
• Anya Chavez slots in at No. 56 in the singles rankings
• Lusia Casas Blas was named the MIAA freshman of the year
• Casas Blas is 15-2 in singles from the bottom three positions and is 8-1 from No. 4
• Chavez has a 12-4 singles record, she is 10-1 at No. 2 
• MacGibbon is 10-7 in singles play from No. 1 and No. 2
• Missouri Western has won 72.5% of singles matches going 69-26
• Anais Peralta Criado is 11-6 in doubles with a 7-5 mark at No. 2
• MacGibbon is 9-8 playing mostly at No. 2
• As a team the Griffons have won 56.3% of doubles matches, going 27-20 overall

Missouri Western State Staff

• The Griffons are led by Alejandro de la Torre in his second season in St. Joseph
• In his first season MWSU reached its first ever MIAA Championship match
• De la Torre comes to the Griffons afrer two seasons at NCAA Division II St. Mary's University in Texas where he served as a graduate assistant in 2020 before being elevated to an assistant coach.

History with the Griffons

• Washburn and Missouri Western State have played 34 times in program history with the Ichabods leading the series 31-3
• This season the Ichabods defeated the Griffons 5-2 in Topeka, winning doubles and getting singles victories from Sonia Smagina, Maja Jung, Casie Curry and Isabella Martensson
• Washburn is 4-1 against MWSU in neutral court matches
• Last season two two teams played twice, with the Ichabods winning in St. Joseph in the regular season and the Griffons winning 4-3 in the MIAA semifinals

Schedule spring forward

• With a victory Washburn would play in the MIAA Championship match on Sunday, April 23 at 10 a.m.
• NCAA Regionals are scheduled to begin May 6