TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 35 Washburn men's tennis heads back to Oklahoma to take on No. 18 Cameron University this Thursday in a match that was rescheduled from early March. 

Ichabod Breakdown

• Washburn finishes its quick Oklahoma road swing with a Thursday contest against Cameron University in Lawton at 2 p.m. 
• The Ichabods are 10-6, 2-1 on the season after a 4-3 neutral court loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Sunday. 
• The Aggies enter Thursday's match at 8-3 on the seaon. 
• The Ichabods are 1-11 all-time against Cameron, losing the last 10 matches.
• Washburn is ranked 35nd nationally in the latest ITA Coaches Poll. 
• 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 eight players from last seasons roster and add one transfer and one freshman. 

Washburn who's who

• Washburn enters the match at 10-6 with a 2-1 record in conference play
• The Ichabods are 4-3 in road matches this season
• Washburn is ranked No. 35 in the latest ITA Rankings
• In singles, Tim Hammes is also ranked No. 35
• Sebastian Pjontek is slotted in at No. 49, he has won his last five singles matches
• Santiago Rendon leads the Ichabods with a 15-8 singles record, he has gone 3-0 from No. 2 and is 2-1 at No. 4. 
• Daniel Bird is 14-6 in singles and has gone 11-4 in duals, at No. 4 he has gone 6-2
• Hammes has an 9-6 mark at No. 1 singles
• The Ichabods have a winning record at every singles position except for No. 5
• Washburn has won 54.4% of its singles matches going 74-62
• Rendon and Hammes are ranked No. 14 nationally in doubles
• Miquel Perez and Pjontek are slotted at No. 16 in the nation
• Hammes and Pjontek are ranked No. 31 together 
• Rendon and Hammes have a 12-2 record in doubles together going 9-2 from No. 2
• Bird and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji have gone 9-4 together with a 3-0 record at No. 2
• Perez and Pjontek are 3-1 together against nationally ranked opponents
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with a 18-5 doubles record, he has gone 13-2 in duals
• As a team the Ichabods have won 63.8% of doubles matches, going 44-25 on the year
• In duals Washburn has won 58.3% of singles matches and 71.1% of doubles

Last time on the court

• Washburn lost a 4-3 neutral court contest to Southeastern Oklahoma State
• The Ichabods took two of three doubles matches to win the doubles point
• Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon won 6-2 at No. 2, Sebastian Pjontek and Miquel Perez won a close 7-5 contest at No. 1 to clinch the point 
• Hammes and Pjontek each won singles matches as well from the No. 1 and No. 2 positions respectively
• All four remaining Ichabods from No. 3 - No. 6 fell in singles play

Milestone markers

• Miquel Perez and Sebastian Pjontek are both 5 doubles wins away from 40 in their careers.
• Pjontek is four singles victories away from reaching 30 career wins
• Santiago Rendon needs three singles wins for 25 in his time at Washburn
• Noah Neideck needs one more singles victory to reach 10 career wins

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 81-37 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
• Volunteer assistant Kurt Reid and graduate assistant Raul-Alin Dicu round out the men's coaching staff

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 #17 - at Cameron University

The Cameron Case

• Cameron University is 8-3 so far on the season after dropping a 4-3 home match to the University of Texas at Tyler on Monday 
• The Aggies are 3-2 at home on the season and prior to the loss had won four straight matches
• Cameron is ranked No. 18 in the latest ITA Poll
• Thomas Almeida is ranked No. 28 nationally in singles
• Baptiste Mercier leads Cameron with a 10-1 singles record, he has gone 9-0 this season from No. 3 and has won his last ten matches
• Kristian Kubik is 9-1 on the year with an 8-1 mark from No. 4
• Almeida is 6-2 on the season all at No. 1 where he has won his last four matches
• As a team the Aggies have won 73.2% of singles matches, going 41-15
• Almeida and Thomas Cardona are ranked No. 21 together in doubles
• Joao Duleba and Mercier are slotted at No. 33 nationally together
• Kubik leads Cameron in doubles with a 9-1 record overall all at No. 3
• Kubik and Emili Seelbach have an 8-0 record together in doubles
• Duleba and Mercier have gone 6-2 together this season all at No. 2
• The Aggies have won 71% of doubles matches with a 22-9 mark

The Aggies Staff

• Josh Cobble is in his seventh season as head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at Cameron. Cobble led both Aggie squads to the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2016
• Cobble spent seven years as the head coach at Cowley College where he led the Tigers men's and women's tennis teams to region titles in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, the men's team made it three straight region titles
• Graduate assistant Oscar Toro rounds out the staff

History with Cameron

• Washburn and Cameron have faced off 12 times in program history with the Aggies leading the all-time series 11-1
• The Ichabods lone win was a 5-2 decision in Topeka on March 6, 1997
• The first match between the two teams came on March 25, 1995 and was a 4-3 loss for Washburn
• The Ichabods are 0-1 on the road against Cameron
• The last time the two teams played was on February 8, 2020 in a 6-1 win for the Aggies in Springfield, Mo.  

Schedule spring forward

• Thursday's match against Cameron is the final stop on a two-match road trip to Oklahoma before returning to Topeka. 
• Wasburn's final home match will be on April 11 against Newman. 
• 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 Men's MIAA Tournament will take place from April 19-21
• NCAA Regionals are scheduled to begin May 6