TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 18 Washburn men's tennis begins its NCAA postseason journey at home at 1 p.m. on Saturday against No. 24 Ouachita Baptist in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Championship. The winner will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Orlando, Fla. on May 11. 

Ichabod Breakdown

• No. 2 Washburn faces No. 3 Ouachita Baptist in the first round of the NCAA Central Regional Tournament on Saturday, April 19 at 1 p.m. at the Washburn Tennis Complex.
• The Ichabods qualified for the tournament for the 17th time in program history after winning its fourth MIAA/GAC Championship with a 4-0 win over Northwest Missouri State.
• Washburn enters the tournament at 16-7 overall, winning its last six matches
• No. 24 nationally ranked Ouachita Baptist is 12-10 on the year
• The Ichabods are ranked No. 18 in the latest ITA Rankings.
• Washburn had seven players named to All-MIAA/GAC conference teams last week.
• The Ichabods finished in second place in the MIAA/GAC regular season.
• 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 tournament with a 16-7 record after winning the MIAA Championship Tournament
• The Ichabods are the No. 2 seed in the Central Region and will host the first round of postseason play, they are 6-1 at home this season
• Washburn has won six straight matches
• The Ichabods are ranked No. 18 nationally in the latest ITA Rankings
• In singles, Tim Hammes is ranked No. 15 in the nation with a 14-7 record at No. 1 in duals
• Sebastian Pjontek moved up to No. 37, this season he is 13-6 overall and 10-5 at No. 2
• Santiago Rendon is ranked No. 68, he leads Washburn with a 21-8 singles record, he is 4-0 at No. 5
• Daniel Bird has a 19-7 singles record and has gone 9-2 from No. 4
• The Ichabods have won 59.3% of singles matches this season going 99-68
• Pjontek and Miquel Perez are ranked No. 7 nationally in doubles, they are 8-3 together this season at No. 1 and are 4-1 against ranked opponents
• Hammes and Rendon are No. 12 together in the nation, they are 17-4 together and 13-4 at No. 2
• Hammes and Pjontek are ranked No. 36 together in doubles
• Bird and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 13-6 together this season, going 3-0 at No. 2 and 10-6 from No. 3
• Washburn has won 65.1% of doubles matches, going 56-30 this season

Last time on the court

• No. 2 Washburn defeated No. 1 Northwest Missouri State 4-0 to capture the fourth MIAA/GAC Championship in program history
• Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon won 6-2 at No. 2 doubles and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Daniel Bird won 6-4 at No. 3 to clinch the point 
• Hammes and Bird each went 2-0 on the day, winning singles. Hammes provided the match-clinching point at No. 1 
• Sebastian Pjontek won a three-set ranked battle at No. 2 to complete the scoring 

Milestone markers

• Daniel Bird is one singles victory away from 40 in his career
• Miquel Perez and Sebastian Pjontek are both two doubles victories away from 40 in their careers
• Santiago Rendon needs two more singles wins for 30 in his Ichabod career
• Tim Hammes is five 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 93-39 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 #24 - vs Ouachita Baptist

Tale of the Tigers

• Ouachita Baptist is 12-10 on the year after a 4-2 loss to Northwest Missouri State in the MIAA/GAC Tournament semifinals
• The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the Central Region and are ranked No. 24 in the latest ITA Rankings
• Ouachita has lost 3 of its last 4 overall and is 5-4 on the road
• Phil Exner is ranked No. 3 nationally in singles, he is 25-5 overall this season and 13-2 at No. 2
• Alex Blanchar is ranked No. 16 in singles, he is 19-7 on the year with a 12-3 mark at No. 1
• Aaron Osmond is 14-10 in singles with a 7-4 record at No. 6
• In doubles, Blanchar and Exner are ranked No. 6 together nationally, they are 20-9 overall and 12-7 at No. 1
• Osmond and Fernando Docters are 13-11 together this season with a 7-11 record at No. 2 after going 6-0 in tournament play

Ouachita Baptist Staff

• Craig Ward is in his 33rd season at the helm of the Ouachita Baptist men's tennis program
• In that time he has compiled a 319-145 record and has led the program to 18 national tournament apperances
• He was the 2022 ITA Central Region Coach of the Year and the MIAA/GAC Coach of the Year 
• He won the Coach of the Decade in the Gulf South Conference and is in the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame 
• Ouachita Baptist has reached two final fours and had 14 top-ten finishes in his time with the Tigers

History with the Tigers

• Washburn and Ouachita Baptist have played each other seven times in program history with the Ichabods leading 4-3
• This season Washburn defeated Ouachita Baptist 4-0 in Arkadelphia on April 14
• Last season the Ichabods and Tigers played twice, first a 4-0 win for Washburn in Topeka, the second time Ouachita Baptist ended the Ichabods' season with a 4-3 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament
• The first match between the two teams took place on March 17, 2002 and was a 7-1 win for the Tigers
• Both teams are 2-2 against each other in neutral court matches

Schedule spring forward

• If Washburn wins its opening round matchup against Ouachita Baptist they will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Orlando, Fla. beginning May 11