TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis hosts Nebraska-Kearney on Friday at 9 a.m. at Genesis Tennis Center to wrap up the regular season and play for sole possession of the MIAA/GAC North Regular Season Championship. Senior day celebrations will take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Topeka Country Club. 

FIRST SERVE

• No. 9 Washburn men's tennis gets set for its senior day match against Nebraska-Kearney at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 26 at the Genesis Tennis Center. Senior day recognition will come on Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m. at the Topeka Country Club. 
• The Ichabods are 16-4 on the year and 3-0 in the MIAA/GAC after a 6-1 road win over Emporia State on Wednesday. 
• Nebraska-Kearney is 13-9 on the year and 2-1 in the MIAA/GAC North after falling 6-1 on the road to Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday.
• The Ichabods moved to No. 9 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. 

TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS

• Washburn has already clinched a share of the MIAA/GAC North Division Regular Season Championship but can gain sole possession of the title with a win over the Lopers. 
• Winning on Friday would also give Washburn the No. 1 seed in the MIAA/GAC Tournament as the only undefeated team in both divisions. 
• A loss to UNK would create a three-way tie at the top of the North Division with the Lopers and Northwest Missouri State.

THANK YOU SENIORS!

• On Saturday morning the three Ichabod seniors, Daniel Bird, Sebastian Pjontek and Daniel Bird will be recognized. 
• Daniel Bird has been with Washburn tennis for four seasons and has a 54-18 career record in singles while going 52-20 in doubles. His singles winning percentage is 8th best in program history. 
• Sebastian Pjontek has been a four-year member of the Ichabod tennis team and has a career 45-29 record in singles play while posting a 54-31 mark in doubles. He became the third Ichabod to win the ITA Central Region Singles Championship in the fall. 
• Santiago Rendon has been with Washburn tennis for three seasons and has career records of 49-22 in singles and 48-18 in doubles. He and Tim Hammes won the first ever ITA National Championship for doubles in program history in the fall. 

SINGLES SITUATION 

• Washburn has four players ranked in the latest ITA singles rankings with Tim Hammes at No. 10, Sebastian Pjontek checking in at No. 26, Santiago Rendon ranked 43 and Pavlos Parson rounding out the group at No. 69. 
• For the season the Ichabods are 133-61 (68.6%) in singles matches and are 78-37 in duals. 
• Santiago Rendon leads the team with 21 wins and has a 21-7 overall record this season. he is 11-3 at No. 3.
• Tim Hammes is 15-7 overall with a 7-5 record after moving to No. 1.  
• Tommy Cecchetti has gone 5-2 from the No. 5 spot and is 19-6 overall. 
• Sebastian Pjontek has an overall record of 14-12 on the year with a 5-6 mark from No. 2. 
• Pavlos Parson carries an 17-7 mark in singles play from four different positions with a 5-0 mark at No. 4. 
• Moritz Pieper has a 11-1 record on the singles side and is 3-0 at No. 6.
• Daniel Bird has posted a 14-2 record this season with a 5-0 record at No. 6 and has won his last nine matches overall. 
• Matthew Earle is 11-7 on the year and has gone 2-0 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. 13, Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes at No. 22, Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek moving to No. 39. 
• On the year the Ichabods have gone 56-29 (65.9%) on the year with a 33-16 record in duals. 
• Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek have the most wins together of any Ichabod pair with an 12-1 mark together. They are 7-0 at No. 2 and are on a ten match winning streak. 
• Rendon and Pavlos Parson are 10-2 together, with an 9-2 record from No. 3. 
• Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes are 6-1 together this season all coming from No. 1. 
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 20-11 doubles record, he is 10-7 at No. 1. 
• Rendon and Bird are tied for the second most victories on the squad with 17 while Pjontek followed just behind at 16 on the year. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 6, Emporia State 1 (April 24, 2024) 

EMPORIA, Kan. -- No. 9 Washburn finished its road slate of matches with a 6-1 win over Emporia State on Wednesday afternoon. The Ichabods return home for senior day on Friday, April 26 at 9 a.m. against Nebraska-Kearney.  

Doubles play began at No. 2 with No. 39 Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek working a swift 6-1 win in less than half an hour of action. Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson were close behind, winning 6-3 at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point. On the top court, No. 22 Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes' duel was left unfinished with the Ichabods (16-4, 4-0 MIAA) leading 5-3.  

The Ichabods led off singles play at No. 3 as No. 69 Parson won 6-0 in both sets, finishing his duel in under an hour. Tommy Cecchetti fell in his first set 6-3 but responded, winning 6-0 in each of the next two sets to bring up match point from No. 4. Playing on the first court No. 26 Pjontek lost a first-set tiebreaker to No. 50 Anton Sarunic and fell 6-3 in the second set for the Hornets (10-8, 1-3 MIAA) to get on the board.  

After falling in the first set 6-3, No. 10 Hammes won 6-3 in the second and 6-2 in the third to clinch the match from No. 2. Playing at No. 5, Earle won his opening set 6-4 then fell 4-6 in the second. In the super tiebreaker third set he was able to pull away late to win 10-7 and add another point. Moritz Pieper fell in a first-set tiebreaker 7-4 then won 6-4 in the second set at No. 6. He didn't lose the second tiebreaker opportunity, winning 13-11 to finish out the match.  

After winning 6-3 in his opening set No. 9 Hammes and No. 47 Ole Valkyser went into a tiebreaker in the second. Valkyster pulled away in the longest tiebreaker for any Ichabod so far this season, 15-13, to force a third set. In the third Hammes fell 6-4 and Southern Arkansas was able to finish off the match.  

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 129-48 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 #21

ABOUT THE NEBRASKA AT KEARNEY LOPERS

• Nebraska-Kearney is 13-9 on the year and 2-1 in the MIAA/GAC North after a 6-1 loss to Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday. 
• The Lopers are 2-4 in road matches away from the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center.
• Last season the Lopers did not exist. 
• UNK has one player ranked in the ITA singles ranking with Maksym Kulish at No. 47. 
• Nebraska-Kearney is 66-56 (54.1%) in singles this season. 
• Andy Brisdon has a 13-4 singles record to lead the squad, he is 8-4 from No. 6. 
• Jip Mens is 12-8 in singles with a 7-6 mark at No. 2. 
• Tom Van Den Dungen and Aaron Osmond are ranked No. 11 in the nation in doubles. 
• The Lopers are 39-22 (63.9%) in doubles this season. 
• Dungen and Osmond are 16-4 at No. 1 this season. 
• Andy Brisdon and Jakub Strzeleckl are 8-4 at No. 3 and 11-6 overall together this season.  

LOPERS STAFF 

• Scott Shafer is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Nebraska-Kearney tennis program.
• joined the UNK tennis program in the summer of 2013. He served as the top assistant to head coach Jake Saulsbury for six years before being elevated to head coach
• also spent time in Madison, Wisc., where he worked at Cherokee Country Club
• Assistant coach Caleb Diller and student assistant Mia Sherikulova round out the staff

HISTORY WITH NEBRASKA-KEARNEY

• Friday will be the 26th meeting all-time between Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney with the Ichabods leading the series 16-9.
• The first match was on April 20, 1986 and was a 5-4 win for the Lopers in Kearney. 
• The Ichabods are 11-2 at home against Nebraska-Kearney. 
• The two teams have not played since May 1, 2018 with UNK shutting down its men's tennis programs between 2019-23. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tim Hammes needs two doubles victories away from reaching 50 in his career. 
• Santiago Rendon is one victory away from 50 victories in singles and two away from the mark in doubles. 
• Matthew Earle is one doubles win away from reaching 30 in his career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• The men's MIAA Tournament will take place in Edmond, Okla. from May 1 to May 3.