TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn men's tennis travels east to take on Harding at 12 p.m. on Friday and Southwest Baptist on Saturday at 1 p.m. 
 

FIRST SERVE

• No. 6 Washburn men's tennis heads on the road for matches with Harding on Friday at 12 p.m. and Southwest Baptist at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 23.
• The Ichabods are 8-3 on the year after a 6-1 home victory over William Jewell on Tuesday. 
• The Bison enter the match with an 8-5 record while the Bearcats are 3-6 on the year. 
• The Ichabods remain at No. 6 in the latest ITA ranking, tying a program high mark. 
• 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. 10, Tim Hammes checking in at No. 14, Santiago Rendon ranked 28, Pavlos Parson at No. 56 and Tommy Cecchetti rounding out the group at No. 63. 
• For the season the Ichabods are 95-45 (67.9%) in singles matches and are 40-21 in duals. 
• Rendon leads the team with 15 wins and has a 15-5 overall record this season. he is 7-2 at No. 3.
• Pjontek has an overall record of 12-7 on the year with a 3-2 mark from No. 2. 
• Tim Hammes is 10-4 overall with a 3-2 record after moving to No. 1.  
• Tommy Cecchetti has gone 3-0 from the No. 5 spot and is 13-4 overall. 
• Parson carries an 10-5 mark in singles play from four different postitions. 
• Moritz Pieper has a 9-1 record on the singles side and is 2-0 at No. 6.
• Daniel Bird has posted a 8-2 record this season with a 2-1 record at No. 5. 
• 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. 3 and Hammes and Sebastian Pjontek moving up to No. 32. 
• On the year the Ichabods have gone 39-27 (59.1%) on the year with a 16-14 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 15-10 doubles record, he is 5-6 at No. 1. 
• Rendon has the second most wins with a 12-7 record, going 5-1 at No. 3. 
• Bird is tied for third on the squad with 10 doubles wins, he is 10-6 on the year. 
• Rendon and Pavlos Parson are 5-1 together, winning their last four matches. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 6, William Jewell 1 (March 19, 2024) 

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn men's tennis won its fourth straight match Tuesday afternoon picking up a 6-1 win over William Jewell in the first match of the year at the Washburn Tennis Complex. The Ichabods head back out on the road and will take on Harding on Friday, March 22 at 12 p.m.  

Pavlos Parson and Santiago Rendon got doubles play started for Washburn (8-3) with a 6-4 win at No. 3 after trailing early. Sebastian Pjontek and Daniel Bird followed, closing out a 7-5 win on court two to clinch the first point for the Ichabods. Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes completed the sweep winning their tiebreaker 7-5 at No. 1.  

On court three No. 22 Rendon got singles started with a pair of quick 6-1 wins. The Cardinals (4-9) were able to get on the board with No. 13 Hammes falling in a first set tiebreaker 7-3 and 6-4 in the second set at No. 1. No. 9 Pjontek also lost a first set tiebreaker, 7-5, but bounced back with a quick 6-0 win in the second set and closed it out winning 6-2 in the third to set up match point.  

Playing at No. 5 Bird wasted no time clinching the match, winning 6-0 in both sets to get Washburn to four points. Moritz Pieper also won his first set 6-0 and close out his match winning 6-1 in the second set from No. 6. No. 56 Cecchetti won 6-4 in set won, fell 6-2 in the second but completed the match with a 6-0 sweep in the third set at No. 4. 

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 113-46 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 #12

ABOUT THE HARDING BISON

• Harding is 8-5 on the year after falling 4-3 to No. 13 on Wednesday morning. 
• The Bison are 5-1 at the David Elliott Tennis Center. 
• Last season they went 11-9 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA/GAC South, advancing to the first round of the conference tournament. 
• Harding has one player ranked in the singles rankings with Cas de Ruiter coming in at No. 51. 
• The Bison have gone 67-45 in singles matches this season (59.8%) and have gone 54-23 in duals. 
• Cas de Ruiter and Teodor Zlatar are tied for the team-lead in wins with nine each. Ruiter is 9-6 overall and 2-1 at No. 1, Zlatar is 9-3 with a 3-0 record at No. 3. 
• Zlatar and de Ruiter are ranked as the No. 1 doubles team in the nation by the ITA. 
• In doubles Harding has gone 36-26 overall (58.1%) and are 23-16 in duals. 
• Zlatar and de Ruiter are 8-2 together with a 1-0 record at No. 1. 
• Caleb Folse and Jaydon van Vreden are 8-6 together with a 5-1 mark at No. 3. 

GREYHOUNDS STAFF 

• David Redding is in his ninth season has head men's and women's tennis coach in 2023-24
• joined the Bison from Dallas, where he was the director of tennis at the Northwood Club beginning in 1989
• was a member of the Harding tennis team from 1979-83. He earned multiple all-district and all-conference honors, was two-time NAIA All-Academic,

HISTORY WITH HARDING

• Washburn and Harding have faced off six times in program history with the Ichabods leading the series 4-2. 
• Last season Washburn won both matchups with a 4-3 victory at home and a 4-0 sweep during the MIAA/GAC Tournament. 
• The Ichabods have never faced the Bison in Searcy. 

OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT - MATCH #13

ABOUT THE SOUTHWEST BAPTIST BEARCATS

• Southwest Baptist is 3-6 on the year after falling to Nebraska-Kearney 4-3 on March 15. 
• The Bearcats are 1-0 at the John A. Bryant Tennis Center this season. 
• Last season Southwest Baptist went 18-10 overall and were 4-0 in the GLVC. 
• SBU has gone 18-28 in singles matches this season (39.1%) all in duals.  
• Fabian Neff leads the Bearcats with a 4-4 singles record, he is 4-2 at No. 4. 
• Four players have three singles victories for Southwest Baptist. 
• Ilyes Khelifi and Youssef Nabil are ranked No. 16 in the latest ITA doubles rankings. 
• In doubles the Bearcats have gone 10-13 overall (43.5%). 
• Khelifi and Nabil are 5-2 together this season all coming at No. 1. 

BEARCATS STAFF 

• Joao Almeida is in his 3rd season as the head coach at Southwest Baptist. 
• joins the SBU Tennis coaching staff after spending two years as the assistant women's tennis coach at Fort Hays State University
• Prior to his time at FHSU, Almeida was a member of the SBU men's tennis team from 2015-19
• Volunteer assistant coach John Bryant rounds out the coaching staff 

HISTORY WITH SOUTHWEST BAPTIST

• Washburn and Southwest Baptist have met 44 times with the Bearcats leading the all-time series 30-14.
• The last match came on March 25, 2022 and was a 4-3 win for the Ichabods in Topeka. 
• Washburn is 3-12 against the Bearcats in Bolivar. 
• The first matchup came on April 5, 1991 with SBU winning 7-2 at home. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

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

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• 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.