TOPEKA, Kan. -- After a week on the road No. 15 Washburn men's tennis is back at home for a solo match against MSU Denver on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. in the Genesis Tennis Center.
FIRST SERVE
- No. 15 Washburn men's tennis returns to Topeka for a weekend match against Metropolitan State University of Denver on Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. in the Genesis Tennis Center.
- The Ichabods are 1-2 on the year after a 4-1 neutral court loss to No. 8 Wayne State (MI) on Saturday.
- The Roadrunners enter the match with a 3-1 record after defeating Newman 5-2 in a neutral court match on Feb. 3. They will face Northwest Missouri State on Friday before taking on WU.
- Saturday will be the 13th all-time meeting between the Ichabods and Indianapolis with the Washburn leading the series 8-4.
- The Ichabods are ranked No. 15 in the lates ITA rankings.
- Washburn went 17-8 in 2022-23 with a 3-1 record in the MIAA during the regular season. They won the MIAA Championship Tournament and advanced to the NCAA National Championships.
- The Ichabods return eight players from last season's roster while adding four freshmen and one transfer to complete the roster.
SINGLES SITUATION
- Washburn has three players ranked in the latest ITA singles rankings with Sebastian Pjontek at No. 10, Santiago Rendon just behind at No. 11 and Pavlos Parson checking in at No. 30.
- For the season the Ichabods are 65-30 (68.4%) in singles matches and are 10-6 in duals.
- Rendon leads the team with nine wins and has a 9-3 overall record this season. he is 1-1 at No. 3 and 1-1 at No. 4.
- Pjontek has an 8-3 record on the year with an 0-2 record at No. 1.
- Parson carries an 8-2 mark in singles play with a 1-1 record at No. 2.
- Moritz Pieper has a 7-1 record in singles matches after tournament play.
- Tim Hammes is 6-2 on the year and is 1-0 at both No. 1 and No. 3.
- Daniel Bird has posted a 5-2 record this season with a 1-0 record at No. 4.
- Matthew Earle is 5-2 on the year and has gone 1-0 at No. 5.
- Tommy Cecchetti has gone 2-0 from the No. 6 spot and is 7-3 overall.
DOUBLES DOWNLOAD
- Washburn has one doubles duo ranked in the latest ITA doubles ranking with ITA Cup champions Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon ranked No. 1 in the nation.
- On the year the Ichabods have gone 26-19 (57.8%) on the year with a 3-6 record in duals.
- Hammes and Rendon have the most wins of any Ichabod pair with a 7-6 record together, they have gone 1-2 at No. 1.
- Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek are 5-1 together all coming in tournament play.
- Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 11-6 doubles record, he is 1-2 at No. 1.
- Rendon has the second most wins with a 7-6 record, also going 1-2 at No. 1.
- Sebastian Pjontek and Tommy Cecchetti are 1-2 together on the year with a 1-1 record at No. 2.
- Ivan Ivanov and Daniel Harkin are both 4-1 on the year in doubles, all in tournaments.
LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State 4, Washburn 1 (Feb. 10, 2024)
INDIANAPOLIS, Il. -- No. 15 Washburn ended its trip to Illinois with a loss after falling 4-1 to No. 8 Wayne State University on Saturday afternoon. The Ichabods take on MSU – Denver on Saturday, Feb. 17 in Topeka.
In doubles action the Warriors (3-0) got a win on the top court to start things off with Santiago Rendon and Tim Hammes falling 6-2. Washburn (1-2) lost the doubles point after Matthew Earle and Daniel Bird lost 6-3 at No. 2. Sebastian Pjontek and Tommy Cecchetti kept a close match early but lost 6-4 at No. 3 to complete a sweep of doubles for Wayne State.
After losing the opening set 6-3 at No. 1, Pjontek worked to force a tiebreaker in the second but came up just short losing 8-6 in the tiebreaker and 7-6 in the set. Rendon also lost 6-3 in his opening set at No. 4 and forced a tiebreaker in the second set, but would also lose, 7-3.
Cecchetti lost his opening set 6-4 but was able to win the next two 6-2 and 6-0 to get Washburn on the board. Hammes worked extra to capture a 7-5 first set victory but lost each of the next two sets 6-4 in the match clinching point for Wayne State at No. 2.
Pavlos Parson won his first set in a 7-2 tiebreaker, dropped the second 6-4 and was leading 2-1 in the third when the match was left unfinished. Earle also won his first set, 7-5, before losing the second and had just gotten underway in the third when the match was finished.
HEAD COACH KIRBY RONNING
- Ronning is in year four as the head coach of the men's and women's tennis teams at Washburn
- Has led both teams to the NCAA Tournament in every season at the helm with a 10-43 combined record with Washburn.
- Was named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year on both the men's and women's side after the 2022-23 season.
- Prior to joining the Ichabods Ronning spent four seasons as the assistant coach at Azusa Pacific from 2016-2022
- As a player, he played for four years at Bethel University (Minn.). Ronning received his bachelor's degree in Business from Bethel in 2014 and earned his master's degree in Physical Education at Azusa Pacific in May 2020.
THE ASSISTANTS
- Graduate assistants Sofia Smagina and Casie Curry begin their first season on the Ichabod coaching staff while Kurt Reid and Raul-Alin Dicu enter their fifth and second seasons respectively.
- Kurt Reid enters his fifth 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.
- Reid, a Topeka-native, played tennis at Topeka West High School and was elected to the Topeka West Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
- Dicu enters his second season with Washburn and his first as a volunteer assistant after serving as a graduate assistant in 2022-23.
- Dicu finished his five-year career with Washburn in 2022 with a 56-45 singles record and 53-41 doubles mark. He is in the top-20 in singles and doubles wins in program history
- Former All-American Sofia Smagina joins the coaching staff after wrapping up one of the best seasons in Ichabod tennis history in 2022-23.
- Finished as the runner-up at the ITA Cup in singles and was named the MIAA Player of the Year while going 30-3 in singles and 26-5 in doubles in her one season at Washburn. Joined the Ichabods as a transfer from Kansas.
- Casie Curry rounds out the coaching staff as a graduate assistant after spending one season with Washburn in 2022-23.
- Curry received All-MIAA recognition in both singles and doubles while going 16-11 and 22-6 respectively. She joined the Ichabods after transferring from Midwestern State.
OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT - MATCH #4
ABOUT THE MSU DENVER ROADRUNNERS
- MSU Denver is 3-1 on the year after a 5-2 neutral court win over Newman on Feb. 3.
- The Roadrunners are 1-0 in true road matches this season and have a 2-1 record in neutral locations.
- Last season MSU Denver went 15-5 overall on the year, the top record by percentage in the Pacific West Conference.
- The Roadrunners have one player ranked by the ITA on the singles side with Juho Kantola checking in at No. 46.
- MSU Denver has gone 24-24 in singles matches this season (50.0%) and are 13-11 in duals.
- Kantola leads the Roadrunners with an 8-3 record on the year and is 2-1 from No. 2.
- Jeanloup Auzlas is 5-3 overall in singles and has gone 3-0 at No. 1 this season.
- Alejandro Jimenez is 5-3 on the year with a perfect 4-0 mark at No. 4.
- In doubles MSU Denver has gone 11-8 overall (57.9%) and 7-5 in duals.
- Alessandro Munoz and Reid Rainwater are 3-0 together this year all at No. 3.
- Marco Jalallan and Kantola are 2-1 together this year at No. 1.
ROADRUNNERS STAFF
- Bruno Campos is in his first season as MSU Denver's head coach for men's and women's tennis after being hired in August, 2023.
- had been the head coach at Midland (Neb.) of the NAIA since the 2018-19 season was named the GPA women's coach of the year in 2022 and 2023
- As a player, Campos led Bethany (Kan.) to the NAIA National Tournament in 2015 and 2016
- Assistant coaches David Kijak and former Ichabod Kinsey Fields round out the Roadrunners coaching staff.
- Fields played for Washburn between 2018-22 where she compiled a career record of 46-22 in doubles and 21-11 in singles.
HISTORY WITH MSU DENVER
- Washburn and Indianapolis have faced off 12 times in program history with the Ichabods leading the series 8-4.
- The first match came on April 2, 1998 and was a 6-3 win for Washburn in Topeka.
- The Ichabods are 8-2 against the Roadrunners in Topeka.
- March 8, 2008 was the last match between the two teams and was a 5-2 win for Washburn at home.
MILESTONE MARKERS
SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD
- Washburn takes a weeklong trip to Florida beginning Monday, Feb. 26 against Florida Southern College at 2 p.m. CST.
- The Ichabods begin MIAA play on March 28 against Augustana in Topeka.
- Senior day for Washburn will take place on April 26 against Nebraska-Kearney.
- The men's MIAA Tournament will take place in Edmond, Okla. from May 1 to May 3.
