DES MOINES, Iowa – No. 15 Washburn men's tennis began its spring season with a pair of exhibition matches, falling to Drake and Northern Illinois 4-1. The Ichabods return to Topeka for another exhibition match on Saturday, Jan. 27 against William Woods.  

Match one:  

Doubles play against the Bulldogs began with a 6-3 loss at No. 1 for Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon, Drake took the doubles point with a 6-2 win at No. 3 over Matthew Earle and Pavlos Parson. Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek were tied at four when the point was decided.  

Pjontek led off singles competition at No. 1, falling 6-3 in the first set but rebounding for a 6-4 win in the second. Jeremy Schifris won 6-1 in the third set to take the win. Playing at No. 2 Tim Hammes lost 6-2 in the first set, took a 6-3 win in the second and also lost 6-1 in the third set. Tommy Cecchetti gave Washburn its only point of the match with 6-2 and 7-5 victories from No. 6. Drake ended the match with Pavlos Parson losing two sets by 6-4 and 7-5 scores at No. 4. Santiago Rendon's match was midway through the third set when the match was decided. Rendon fell 6-3 in the first, won the second 6-1 and was leading 5-3 in the third. Bird also held a third set lead at 4-2 after losing the first set 6-4 and winning 6-3 in the second.  

Doubles Competition: 

1. Johansson, Oliver/Matic, Matija (DU) def. Hammes, Tim/Rendon, Santiago (WU) 6-3 

2. Bird, Daniel/Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) vs Clegg, Matthew/Johnson, Benjamin (DU) 4-4 uf.  

3. Bolin, Markus/Schifris, Jeremy (DU) def. Earle, Matthew/Parson, Pavlos (WU) 6-2  

Singles competition: 

1. Schifris, Jeremy (DU) def. Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1  

2. Matic, Matija (DU) def. Hammes, Tim (WU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1  

3. Rendon, Santiago (WU) vs Clegg, Matthew (DU) 3-6, 6-1, 5-3 uf.  

4. Bolin, Markus (DU) def. Parson, Pavlos (WU) 6-4, 7-5 

5. Bird, Daniel (WU) vs Dawson, Aaron (DU) 4-6, 6-3, 4-2 uf.  

6. Cecchetti, Tommy (WU) def. Ecklund, Will (DU) 6-2, 7-5    

Match 2:  

The Ichabods got off to a quick start against the Huskies in doubles play with Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek winning 6-2 at No. 1. Tommy Cecchetti and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji took the doubles point with a 6-2 win themselves at No. 3. Matthew Earle and Pavlos Parson trailed 5-4 at No. 2 when the point was decided.  

In singles play Tim Hammes led off at No. 1 and fell in two sets 6-2, 6-4. Sebastian Pjontek also lost a two-set match by scores of 6-0 and 6-1. Santiago Rendon came up short at No. 3 losing 6-3 and 6-1. Northern Illinois finished the match winning 6-2 and 6-1 against Matthew Earle at No. 4. Tommy Cecchetti won his first set 6-3 and trailed 2-3 in the second set when the match was decided. Yoshinobu Nakatsuji was trailing 4-5 in the second set when the match concluded.  

Doubles competition: 

1. Bird, Daniel/Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) def. Vollbach, Mikael/Tsai Cheng En (NIU) 6-2 

2. Earle, Matthew/Parson, Pavlos vs Koschtojan, Armin/Berdullas, Saul (NIU) 4-5 uf.  

3. Cecchetti, Tommy/Nakatsuji, Yoshinobu (WU) def. Gaztambide Arrastia, Iker/Klein, Sam (NIU) 6-2  

Singles competition:  

1. Tsai, Cheng En (NIU) def. Hammes, Tim (WU) 6-2, 6-4  

2. Vollbach, Mikael (NIU) def. Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) 6-0, 6-1 

3. Gaztambide Arrastia, Iker (NIU) def. Rendon, Santiago (WU) 6-3, 6-1  

4. Berdullas, Saul (NIU) def. Earle, Matthew (WU) 6-2, 6-1  

5. Cecchetti, Tommy (WU) vs. Koschtojan, Armin (NIU) 6-3, 2-3  

6. Klein, Sam (NIU) vs. Nakatsuji, Yoshinobu (WU) 6-1, 5-4