TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn men's tennis opens MIAA/GAC conference competition on Wednesday morning hosting Augustana at 9 a.m. inside the Genesis Tennis Center. 

FIRST SERVE

• No. 6 Washburn men's tennis heads begins conference play against Augustana University on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. 
• The Ichabods are 10-3 on the year after a 5-2 win on the raod over Southwest Baptist. 
• The Vikings enter the match with a 4-7 record after losing 7-0 to UT Tyler on March 14. 
• 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 102-50 (67.1%) in singles matches and are 47-26 in duals. 
• Santiago Rendon leads the team with 16 wins and has a 16-6 overall record this season. he is 8-3 at No. 3.
• Tim Hammes is 12-4 overall with a 5-2 record after moving to No. 1.  
• Tommy Cecchetti has gone 4-0 from the No. 5 spot and is 15-4 overall. 
• Sebastian Pjontek has an overall record of 12-9 on the year with a 3-4 mark from No. 2. 
• Pavlos Parson carries an 11-6 mark in singles play from four different positions. 
• Moritz Pieper has a 9-1 record on the singles side and is 2-0 at No. 6.
• Daniel Bird has posted a 9-2 record this season with a 2-0 record at No. 6. 
• Matthew Earle is 8-6 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 43-27 (61.4%) on the year with a 20-14 record in duals. 
• Hammes and Rendon are tied for 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 7-1 together on the year and have gone 2-0 at No. 2. 
• Rendon and Pavlos Parson are 7-1 together, winning their last six matches. 
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 16-10 doubles record, he is 6-6 at No. 1. 
• Rendon has the second most wins with a 14-7 record, going 7-1 at No. 3. 
• Bird is tied for third on the squad with 11 doubles wins, he is 11-6 on the year. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 5, Southwest Baptist 2 (March 23, 2024) 

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- No. 6 Washburn built an early lead and was able to pick up its sixth win in a row Saturday afternoon defeating Southwest Baptist 5-2. The Ichabods return to home for their first conference match on Wednesday, March 27 against Augustana.  

In doubles competition Washburn got started on the top court with Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle taking a quick 6-1 win over No. 16 ranked Youssef Nabil and Ilyes Khelifi of the Bearcats. Pavlos Parson and Santiago worked at 6-4 win at No. 3 to give the Ichabods the doubles point. Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek led 5-4 at No. 2 when the point was decided.  

Singles action also started on the top court as No. 14 Hammes moved quickly to pick up a pair of 6-3 set victories. No. 28 Rendon won his first set 6-3 from No. 3 and carried the momentum to a 6-1 win in the second set to bring up match point. Southwest Baptist got on the board with Earle falling 6-2 in his first set at No. 6 and coming up just short in a 7-4 tiebreaker in the second.  

Playing on court four No. 56 Parson took an early advantage winning 6-2 in the first set and battled for a 7-5 match deciding victory in the second. No. 63 Tommy Cecchetti won 6-2 in his first set at No. 4, fell 6-3 in the second but finished strong winning the super tiebreaker 10-3 to earn the Ichabods' fifth point. No. 10 Pjontek took his first set to a tiebreaker at No. 2 but came up just short, losing 7-5. He battled back to win 6-3 in the second before falling 10-9 in the super tiebreaker.  

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 115-46 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 #14

ABOUT THE AUGUSTANA VIKINGS

• Augustana is 4-7 on the year after falling 7-0 to UT at Tyler on March 14.
• The Vikings are 0-1 in true road matches this season. 
• Last season they went 8-10 overall and 0-3 in the MIAA/GAC South and did not qualify for the MIAA/GAC Tournament. 
• Augustana has one player ranked in the singles rankings with Henry Dornbusch coming in at No. 74. 
• The Vikings have gone 28-37 in singles matches this season (43.1%).
• Henry Dornbusch leads the team with a 6-4 record all coming at No. 1. 
• Sebastian Garcia and Jose Velasco each have a 5-4 record this year. 
• In doubles Harding has gone 17-16 overall (51.5%) .
• Henry Dornbusch and Thomas Kano are 7-4 this season together at No. 1. 
• Clayton Poppenga and Jose Velasco are 5-2 playing from No. 3. 

VIKINGS STAFF 

• Marc Kurtz is in his 20th season as the head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at Augustana. 
• has compiled a 294-55 record on the women's side and a 102-167 on the men's side
• Kurtz is the tennis director at GreatLife Fitness Center in Sioux Falls, where he is a certified tennis professional with the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA)
• earned four letters competing in tennis in the top three single positions and top two doubles for Montana State University-Billings.
• Assistant coach Jared Hofer and volunteer assistant Mitch Barr complete the coaching staff

HISTORY WITH AUGUSTANA

• Wednesday will be the 5th all-time meeting between Washburn and Augustana with the Ichabods leading the series 4-0. 
• Last season Washburn won 7-0 over the Vikings in Sioux Falls, SD. 
• The Ichabods are 2-0 against Augustana in Topeka. 
• The first match between the two teams came on March 31, 2006 in Rock Island, Ill. and was a 5-0 win for Washburn. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Daniel Bird is one singles victory away from 50 and three away in doubles. 
• Tim Hammes needs two singles victories to reach 50 in his career and six away from reaching that mark in doubles. 
• Santiago Rendon is four doubles victories away from notching 50 at Washburn and six in singles. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• The Ichabods stay in the MIAA taking on Northwest Missouri State on the road at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 30. 
• 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.