TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 23 Washburn women's tennis will face two conference opponents on the road this week beginning with No. 30 Central Oklahoma on Friday followed by No. 43 Northeastern State on Saturday at 2 and 3 p.m. respectively. 

Ichabod Breakdown

• No. 23 Washburn heads on a two match trip to Oklahoma for matches against No. 30 Central Oklahoma on Friday and No. 43 Northeastern State on Saturday. 
• The Ichabods are 10-5 on the year after defeating Emporia State 7-0 on senior day, March 30.
• The Bronchos 7-7, 2-2 on the season while the Riverhawks enter the week at 8-5, 3-1.
• Washburn is ranked 23rd nationally in the latest ITA Tennis Rankings
• 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 enters the week with a 10-5 record overall and a 4-1 record in the MIAA
• The Ichabods are 4-3 in road matches this season 
• Washburn has won its last two matches, both in conference play
• The Ichabods are ranked No. 23 nationally in the latest ITA Rankings, moving up from No. 29 the week before 
• Sonia Smagina is ranked No. 2 nationally in singles for the second straight week 
• Maja Jung is slotted in at No. 24 on the singles rankings 
• Smagina leads Washburn with a 21-2 singles record and has gone 12-1 in duals all from No. 1 
• Jung has gone 17-5 in singles this season with a 12-3 duals record, she has gone 9-2 from No. 2
• Marta Torres has gone 10-9 this season with a 3-1 record at No. 2 
• Isabella Martensson is 9-6 in singles this season and has gone 4-1 from No. 5
• The Ichabods have won 60.9% of singles matches this season, going 78-50
• Smagina and Jung are ranked No. 16 nationally in doubles 
• Smagina and Lara Schmid are just behind at No. 18 but have not played together for most of the spring due to injuries 
• Jung and Smagina have won 10-2 together in doubles, all in duals and all at No. 1 
• Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle have gone 8-2 together in singles at No. 2 and No. 3
• Torres and Casie Curry are both 14-5 in doubles this season with a 7-3 record together 
• Washburn has won 76.6% of its doubles matches this year, going 49-15

Last time on the court

• Washburn defeated Emporia State in a home conference match 7-0 for its second straight win
• All three Ichabod doubles pairings won, by scores of 6-1, 6-3 and 6-2
• Casie Curry and Sonia Smagina were recognized before the match for senior day
• All six Ichabods, Curry, Smagina, Maja Jung, Marta Torres, Isabella Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle went 2-0 on the day with singles victories 
• Four of the six singles matches were ended in only two sets 

Milestone markers

• Isabella Martensson is one singles victory away from 20 in her career
• Sonia Smagina is four singles wins away from 25 this season
• Marta Torres is two doubles victories away from 50 in her career, she is also three singles wins away from 40 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 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
• Ronning played for Bethel University (Minn.) for four seasons and was honored with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Sportsmanship award two times.

Schedule spring forward

• After this weeks matchups Washburn will have one remaining MIAA match which will come against Newman in the team's home finale on April 11. 
• 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 Women's MIAA Tournament will take place from April 21-23
• NCAA Regionals are scheduled to begin May 6 and run through May 9.

Opponent Quick Scout
Match #16 - at No. 30 Central Oklahoma

Book on the Bronchos

• Central Oklahoma enters the match with a 7-7 record after a 4-3 road loss to No. 44 Nebraska at Kearney
• The Bronchos are 4-0 in home matches and have gone 2-2 in MIAA play
• Central Oklahoma is ranked No. 30 in the latest ITA rankings
• Three Bronchos lead with seven singles victories this season
• Nefeli Zafeiri is 7-5 with all of her action coming at No. 3
• Karyna Yurchenko is 7-6 this season from the bottom three positions
• Tizia Brocks is also 7-6, with a 6-5 mark from No. 6
• Central Oklahoma has won 49.4% of its singles matches, going 39-40
• Blythe Buntrock and Nikki Boyar are ranked No. 4 nationally in doubles with a 11-3 record together from No. 1 
• Zafeiri and Komada are also 11-3 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3
• The Bronchos have won 70% of doubles matches going 28-12

Central Oklahoma Staff

• The Bronchos are led by Joe Vann in his second season as head coach
• Vann led Central Oklahoma to its best season in school history. The Bronchos won a school record 24 matches. UCO won the regular season MIAA title before winning the MIAA postseason championship last season
• The Bronchos finished as national runners-up
• Vann came to UCO from UT Tyler, where he spent four years as the assistant coach for both men's and women's programs
• Graduate Assistant Fleur Eggink rounds out the coaching staff

History with the Bronchos

• Washburn and Central Oklahoma have played 18 times in history with the Bronchos leading the all-time series 14-4
• The Ichabods are 1-7 against UCO on the road and 1-8 in conference 
• The Bronchos have won the last six matches including a 4-0 win against Washburn last season in the NCAA Championships to end the Ichabods season
• The first match between the two was a 9-0 loss for the Ichabods in Topeka on April 12, 1998.

Match #17 - at No. 43 Northeastern State

Northeastern State Notes

• The RiverHawks enter the week with a 8-5 record after a 5-2 home loss to Arkansas Tech on Wednesday
• Northeastern State has a 3-1 MIAA record and will face Northwest Missouri on Friday before matching up against the Ichabods
• NESU has a 5-3 home record
• The RiverHawks are ranked No. 43 nationally in the ITA rankings
• Emilia Cosatto is ranked No. 16 nationally in singles with a 20-5 record overall, she has gone 10-3 from No. 1 in duals 
• Mari Marti Sandra is 17-5 overall with a 9-2 record in duals
• Karremans Roos has a 14-8 record in singles and has played in four spots
• In singles the RiverHawks have won 62.5% of its matches going 90-54
• Cosatto and Alisha Moldakhemetova are ranked No. 40 in doubles 
• Four RiverHawks lead with 10 doubles wins 
• Leah Gonzales-Edwards are 10-5 with a 4-1 record at No. 3
• NESU has won 56.6% of its doubles matches going 30-23 

RiverHawks Staff

• Tim McLane is in his third season as head coach of Northeastern State
• McLane came to Tahlequah in December 2020 from USC Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.), where he was the head coach for both men's and women's tennis programs for two seasons
• Prior to assuming the head coach position at USC Upstate, McLane was the program's top assistant for two seasons

History with Northeastern State

• Washburn and the RiverHawks have played 19 times in program history with Northeastern State leading the all-time series 16-3
• The Ichabods have won the last three matches against the RiverHawks
• Last season Washburn won 7-0 against NESU in Topeka on April 23, 2022.
• In Tahlequah, Washburn is 1-6 all-time 
• The first match between the two was a 6-3 RiverHawks win on March 3, 2000.