TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 5 Washburn women's tennis ends its time in the Sunshine State against another top-five ranked team as they take on No. 4 Saint Leo at 2 p.m. CST on Thursday.  
  

FIRST SERVE 

• No. 5 Washburn women's tennis wraps up its trip to Florida with a top-five match on Thursday at 2 p.m. CST against No. 4 Saint Leo.  

• The Ichabods are 6-0 on the year after a 4-3 win over Rollins College on the road on Feb. 27.  

• The Lions will enter the match with a 4-2 record after two straight losses, the last on Feb. 25 to No. 5 West Alabama, 4-1.  

• Thursday will be the third meeting all-time between the Ichabods and Saint Leo with the Lions leading all-time 3-0. 

• The Ichabods tied a program high mark ranked No. 5 in the latest ITA Rankings.  

• Washburn went 18-7 in 2022-23 with a 6-2 record in the MIAA during the regular season. They won the MIAA Championship Tournament and advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.  

• The Ichabods return six players from last season's roster while adding three freshmen and one transfer to complete the roster.  

SINGLES SITUATION 

• Washburn has one player ranked in the ITA Singles rankings with Maja Jung checking in at No. 3. She was named the MIAA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week on Wednesday afternoon.  

• For the season the Ichabods are 59-34 (63.4%) in singles matches and are 22-12 in duals.  

• Maja Jung leads the team with an 13-3 record, she has a 6-0 record from No. 1.  

• Maddie Shelley is 8-1 on the year and has gone 2-1 from No. 6.  

• Renske Ubachs is 7-6 in singles competition and has gone 3-2 from No. 2. 

• Isabella Martensson is 4-2 overall with a 2-0 record at No. 6.  

• Peyton Koper is 5-4 on the year, winning her last two matches both at No. 4. She was named the MIAA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week on Wednesday.  

• Martine Carroll is 6-4 in singles matches this season. 

• Issabella Pensavalle and Daphney Koutsofta have both gone 4-1 on the year.  

• Lara Schmid is 4-6 on the year and Cadence Lynn has gone 4-5.  

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD 

• The Ichabods have one doubles duo in the ITA Doubles rankings with Maja Jung and Lara Schmid ranked No. 8.  

• On the year the Ichabods have gone 38-15 (71.7%) on the year with a 14-4 record in duals.  

• Jung and Schmid have the most wins together with an 13-4 record as a duo and they have gone 5-1 together at No. 1.  

• Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs have a 7-2 record together and have gone 5-1 from No. 3.  

• Peyton Koper and Isabella Martensson have gone 4-2 together at No. 2 this season.  

• Koper and Cadence Lynn have gone 5-1 together in doubles.  

• Jung and Schmid both lead the team with 13 overall wins in doubles this season.  

• Ubachs has an 10-3 record and Shelley is 9-3 on the year.  

LAST TIME OUT 

Washburn 4, Rollins 1 (Feb. 27, 2024)  

WINTER PARK, Fla. -- No. 9 Washburn won its second consecutive 4-3 match on Tuesday afternoon in the second leg of its trek across South Florida defeating Rollins College. The Ichabods take on No. 5 Saint Leo on Thursday to complete the road trip.   

In doubles play the Tars (2-3) got out to an early advantage with No. 8 Lara Schmid and Maja Jung falling for the first time this season together 6-2 at No. 1. Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs evened the match up with a 6-4 win at No. 3. Isabella Martensson and Peyton Koper followed suit with a 6-4 win on court two, giving Washburn (6-0) the first point of the match.   

Rollins evened the match up with Shelley falling in two sets, 6-1 and 6-0 from No. 6. Playing from No. 5, Martensson won her first set 6-0 but fell 6-2 and 6-1 in the ensuing two sets, giving the Tars the lead. Koper put the Ichabods on the board in singles play winning 6-4 in her first set and 6-3 in the second from No. 4.   

Ubachs won her opening set 6-4 at No. 2 and took the second to an extra point before falling 7-5. She quickly bounced back for a 6-2 win in the third set to set up match point. On the top court No. 3 Jung also won her first set, 6-4, but fell 6-1 in the second. She played the third just like the first, coming away with a 6-4 win and match-clinching point. Playing at No. 3, Schmid won her opening set 7-5 but fell 6-2 and 6-4 in the final two sets, leaving the match at 4-3.   

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 106-43 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 Miller Zeiders 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.  

• Zeiders enters his second season with Washburn and his first as a volunteer assistant after serving as a graduate assistant in 2022-23.  

• Zeiders joins the Ichabods after a four-year career at Washburn from 2018-22 where he went 11-3 in singles and 9-6 in doubles.  

• 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 #7 

ABOUT THE SAINT LEO LIONS 

• Saint Leo is 4-2 on the year but have lost each of the last two matches, most recently on Feb. 25 against West Alabama, 4-1.  

• The Lions are ranked No. 4 in the nation in the latest ITA Rankings.  

• Saint Leo is 2-0 inside the Saint Leo Tennis Center this season.  

• Last season Saint Leo went 21-6 overall and 6-3 inside the SSC.  

• The Saints have gone 187-100 in singles matches this season (65.2%), they are 110-45 in duals as well.  

• In doubles Saint Leo has gone 96-54 overall (64.0%) with a 62-24 record in duals. 

LIONS STAFF  

• Graduate assistant coach Yang Lee leads the Saint Leo tennis program in her first season  

HISTORY WITH SAINT LEO 

• Washburn and Saint Leo have faced off three times with the Lions winning all three encounters.  

• Last season Saint Leo took a 6-1 victory over the Ichabods on March 20 in Saint Leo, Fla.  

MILESTONE MARKERS 

• Maja Jung is five doubles victories away from reaching 70 in her career.  

• Lara Schmid needs one more singles victory to reach 20 at Washburn 

• Issabella Pensavalle is one doubles win away from 20 in her career.  

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD  

• Washburn heads south again this time to Texas where they will play three matches beginning with Cameron University on Friday, March 8.  

• The Ichabods begin MIAA play on March 30 against Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo.  

• Senior day for Washburn will take place on April 27 against Fort Hays State.  

• The women's MIAA Tournament will take place in Edmond, Okla. from May 3 to May 5.