TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 13 Washburn men's tennis heads to Wichita Falls, Texas where they will take on Cameron, Midwestern State and UT Tyler over the weekend. 
 

FIRST SERVE

• No. 13 Washburn men's tennis heads to the Lone Star State for three matches beginning Friday at 9 a.m. against Cameron. 
• The road trip continues against No. 18 Midwestern State in Wichita Falls at 2 p.m. on Saturday. They finish up against No. 9 Texas at Tyler at 9 a.m. on Sunday. 
• The Ichabods are 4-3 on the year after a 5-2 loss to No. 2 Saint Leo on Feb. 29. 
• The Aggies enter the match with a 1-2 record after losing 4-2 to West Alamba on March 3. 
• MSU is 4-2 on the year coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 7 West Florida on March 3.
• UT Tyler is 6-2 on the year but are coming off a 4-1 loss to No. 19 Auburn Montgomery on March 3. 
• The Ichabods are ranked No. 13 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 five players ranked in the latest ITA singles rankings with Sebastian Pjontek at No. 4, Tim Hammes checking in at No. 15, Santiago Rendon ranked 22, Pavlos Parson at No. 60 and Tommy Cecchetti entering at No. 69. 
• For the season the Ichabods are 79-40 (64.4%) in singles matches and are 24-16 in duals. 
• Rendon leads the team with 12 wins and has a 12-4 overall record this season. he is 4-1 at No. 3.
• Pjontek has an 10-5 record on the year with an 1-1 record from No. 2.
• Tim Hammes is 8-3 overall with a 2-1 record after moving to No. 1.  
• Tommy Cecchetti has gone 3-0 from the No. 5 spot and is 10-4 overall. 
• Parson carries an 9-5 mark in singles play from four different positions. 
• Moritz Pieper has a 8-1 record on the singles side and is 1-0 at No. 6.
• Daniel Bird has posted a 5-2 record this season with a 1-0 record at No. 4. 
• Matthew Earle is 7-4 on the year and has gone 1-0 at No. 4. 

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• Washburn has three doubles duos ranked in the latest ITA doubles ranking with Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon ranked No. 3, Daniel Bird and Matthew Earle jumping up to No. 33 and Bird and Pjontek ranked No. 37. 
• On the year the Ichabods have gone 34-23 (59.6%) on the year with a 11-10 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 4-3 together from No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 13-8 doubles record, he is 3-4 at No. 1. 
• Rendon has the second most wins with a 10-7 record, going 3-1 at No. 3. 
• Bird is third on the quad with nine doubles wins, he is 9-4 on the year. 
• Rendon and Pavlos Parson are 3-1 together, winning their last two matches. 

LAST TIME OUT

Saint Leo 5, Washburn 2 (Feb. 29, 2024) 

SAINT LEO, Fla. -- The No. 13 Ichabods led early over No. 2 Saint Leo but eventually fell on the road 5-2. Washburn will head to Wichita Falls, Texas next, taking on Cameron University on March 8.  

The Lions (8-1) started doubles action off taking the early advantage with Matthew Earle and Daniel Bird falling 6-1 from No. 2 to No. 7 Nicolas Bacella and Ghali Mensour. Tim Hammes and Sebastian Pjontek evened the match up winning 6-4 at No. 1. Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson rallied from an early deficit to force a tiebreaker, winning 7-6 to put Washburn (4-3) up.  

No. 11 Rendon continued to roll in singles play, winning his opening set 6-4 and finishing off the second 6-1 from No. 3. Saint Leo got on the board as No. 36 Vincent Thiel won 6-2 and 6-3 over No. 10 Pjontek playing from No. 2. The Lions evened the match up with Tommy Cecchetti falling 6-4 and 6-3 sets from No. 4.  

 Playing on the top court Hammes won his opening set 7-5 over No. 18 Martin Soukal but fell 6-3 in the second and 6-1 in the third to set up match point for the home team. Saint Leo was able to capture the fourth point with Earle falling 6-1, 6-2 from No. 5. No. 30 Parson also fell 6-2 in both sets playing from No. 6 6-2.

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 106-45 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 #8

ABOUT THE CAMERON AGGIES

• Cameron is 1-2 on the year after losing 4-2 to the University of West Alabama on March 3. 
• The Aggies have only played neutral court matches this season with a 1-2 record. 
• Last season Cameron went 17-4 overall and 7-1 in the LSC. 
• The Aggies have one player ranked on the singles side of the rankings with Joao Duleba checking in at No. 56. 

AGGIES STAFF 

• Josh Cobble is in his 8th season as the head coach at Cameron. 
• spent seven years as the head coach at Cowley College where he led the Tigers men's and women's tennis teams to region titles in 2011 and 2012
• Assistant coach Luis Soaresrounds out the coaching staff 

HISTORY WITH CAMERON

• Washburn and Cameron have faced eachother 13 times with the Aggies in front 12-1 all-time.
• Last season the Ichabods fell 4-3 on the road in April 6. 
• Washburn has lost the last 11 matches between the two programs. 

OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT - MATCH #9

ABOUT THE MIDWESTERN STATE MUSTANGS

• Midwestern State is 4-2 on the year after a 4-0 loss to No. 7 West Florida on March 3. 
• They are ranked No. 18 in the latest ITA rankings. 
• The Mustangs have not played a home match yet this season. 
• Last season Midwestern State went 14-11 overall with a 6-2 record in the LSC. 
• Luis Diaz Argente checks in at No. 42 in the singles ITA rankings. 
• The Mustangs have gone 17-14 in singles matches this season (54.8%).
• Philip Kamara leads the team in victories with a 4-0 record coming from No. 5 and No. 6. 
• Stephen Slocombe and Luis Diaz Argente are ranked No. 13 in the nation in doubles. 
• In doubles the Tars have gone 7-9 overall (43.8%).
• Diaz Argente and Slocombe are 3-1 together this season all at No. 1. 

MUSTANGS STAFF 

• Scott Linn is in his 14th season leading both the men's and women's tennis programs at MSU.
• has guided the Mustangs to a combined 21 NCAA Tournament appearances since arriving in Wichita Falls in the fall of 2010.
• A 1995 graduate of East Central, Linn played four years and was a captain for the Tigers

HISTORY WITH MIDWESTERN STATE

• Washburn and Midwestern State have played eachother 10 times with the Mustangs leading the all-time series 7-3.
• The Ichabods are 2-3 against MSU on the road. 
• The last match came on March 5, 2022 and was a 5-2 win for Washburn on the road. 

OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT - MATCH #10

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT TYLER PATRIOTS

• UT Tyler is 6-2 on the year after a 4-1 loss to No. 19 Auburn Montgomery on March 3. 
• They are ranked No. 9 in the most recent ITA rankings. 
• The Patriots have not played a neutral court match yet this season. 
• UT Tyler has two players ranked in singles with Joaquin Bianchi at No. 30 and Egor Shestakov checking in at No. 49. 
• This season in singles the Patriots have gone 26-14 (65.0%).
• Joaquin Bianchi leads with a 6-2 record all at No. 1. 
• In doubles UT Tyler has gone 14-7 over all (66.7%). 
• Egor Shestakov and Daniil Felker are 7-1 together all coming at No. 1. 

PATRIOTS STAFF 

• Chris Bizot is in his second season as the head men's and women's coach at UT Tyler.
• previously serving as the head men's and women's coach from 2005-2016 before moving to conference foe Angelo State to serve as the head women's coach from 2017-2022.
• Assistant coach Ryan Spencer and graduate assistant Gonzalo Fernandez Gil round out the staff

HISTORY WITH TEXAS AT TYLER

• The match between Washburn and UT Tyler on Sunday will be the first meeting.

MILESTONE MARKERS

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

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• Washburn returns home to face William Jewell College on Tuesday, March 19 at 1 p.m. 
• 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.