TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn men's tennis will play at the Washburn Tennis Complex for the first time this season on Tuesday against William Jewell College beginning at 1 p.m. 

FIRST SERVE

• No. 6 Washburn men's tennis returns after a month away from home to host William Jewell College on March 19 at 1 p.m.
• The Ichabods are 7-3 on the year after a 4-1 win over No. 9 UT Tyler in Wichita Falls on March 10. 
• The Cardinals are 4-8 on the year after losing a 6-1 match on the road to Southern Arkansas on March 16. 
• The Ichabods set a new program high mark and are ranked No. 6 in the latest 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 five players ranked in the latest ITA singles rankings with Sebastian Pjontek at No. 9, Tim Hammes checking in at No. 13, Santiago Rendon ranked 22, Pavlos Parson at No. 52 and Tommy Cecchetti entering at No. 56. 
• For the season the Ichabods are 90-44 (67.2%) in singles matches and are 35-20 in duals. 
• Rendon leads the team with 14 wins and has a 14-5 overall record this season. he is 6-2 at No. 3.
• Pjontek has an 11-7 record on the year with an 2-2 record from No. 2.
• Tim Hammes is 10-3 overall with a 3-1 record after moving to No. 1.  
• Tommy Cecchetti has gone 3-0 from the No. 5 spot and is 12-4 overall. 
• Parson carries an 10-5 mark in singles play from four different postitions. 
• Moritz Pieper has a 8-1 record on the singles side and is 1-0 at No. 6.
• Daniel Bird has posted a 7-2 record this season with a 1-0 record at No. 4. 
• Matthew Earle is 8-5 on the year and has gone 2-0 at No. 4. 

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• Washburn has two doubles duos ranked in the latest ITA doubles ranking with Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon ranked No. 4 and Hammes and Sebastian Pjontek entering the rankings at No. 49. 
• On the year the Ichabods have gone 36-27 (59.6%) on the year with a 13-14 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 Matthew Earle are 4-5 together from No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 14-10 doubles record, he is 4-6 at No. 1. 
• Rendon has the second most wins with a 11-7 record, going 4-1 at No. 3. 
• Bird is tied for third on the squad with nine doubles wins, he is 9-6 on the year. 
• Rendon and Pavlos Parson are 4-1 together, winning their last three matches. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 4, UT Tyler 1 (March 10, 2024) 

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – No. 13 Washburn won its second match over a top-20 team in three days, sweeping singles play to defeat No. 9 UT Tyler Texas 4-1 on Sunday morning. The Ichabods return home and face William Jewell College on March 19.  

The Patriots started the match strong in doubles competition, taking a 6-3 win at No. 2 over No. 33 Matthew Earle and Daniel Bird. At No. 1 Tim Hammes and Sebastian Pjontek also fell 6-3, giving UT Tyler the first point of the match. Pavlos Parson and Santiago Rendon were leading 5-4 on court three when the point was decided.  

Washburn got rolling in singles play starting at No. 4 with No. 69 Tommy Cecchetti winning in two sets, 6-2 and 6-1. No. 22 Rendon followed closely behind at No. 3, winning 6-3 and 6-1. Playing on court two No. 4 Pjontek won a first set tiebreaker 7-6(1) and followed with a 6-3 win in the second set to bring up match point.  

No. 60 Parson quickly finished off the match, winning 6-3 in the first set and securing the victory with a 6-4 win in the second set. On the first court No. 15 Hammes won his first set 6-2 and was tied 6-6 in the second with No. 30 Joaquin Bianchi when the match was finished. Earle also won his first set 6-3 at No. 6 and was leading 4-3 in the second when the match was left unfinished.  

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 111-46 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 #11

ABOUT THE WILLIAM JEWELL CARDINALS

• William Jewell is 4-8 on the year after losing 6-1 to Southern Arkansas on March 16. 
• The Cardinals are 1-2 in road matches this year. 
• Last season William Jewell went 9-17 overall with a 1-3 mark in the GLVC. 

CARDINALS STAFF 

• Ben Ford is in his first season as the head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at William Jewell. 
• Spent 22 years as a private tennis coach mentoring more than 30 All-Metro players, nine state champions, one NCAA Division I national champion and five world ranked players
• Played collegiately at Emporia State University, leading the team in wins three times

HISTORY WITH WILLIAM JEWELL

• Washburn and WJC have faced off 19 times in program history with the Ichabods winning all 19. 
• The series began on May 10, 1970 in Liberty, Mo. with a 7-2 win for Washburn. 
• The Ichabods are 8-0 against the Cardinals in Topeka. 
• The last match between the two came on February 4, 2023 with Washburn winning 7-0.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Daniel Bird is three singles victories away from 50 and five away in doubles. 
• Tim Hammes needs four singles victories to reach 50 in his career. 
• Sebastian Pjontek is two doubles wins away from reaching 50. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• Washburn heads on the road to face Harding on Friday, March 22 in Searcy, Ar. 
• 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.