TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis enters the MIAA/GAC Championship Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and will take on the second seed from the GAC No. 29 Ouachita Baptist in the semifinals on Thursday at 10 a.m. in Edmond, Okla. 

FIRST SERVE

• No. 9 Washburn men's tennis begins its MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship defense as the No. 1 overall seed and will face the No. 2 GAC seed in No. 29 Ouachita Baptist in Edmond, Okla. at 10 a.m. on May 2. 
• The Ichabods finished the regular season 17-4 overall and went 5-0 in the MIAA/GAC North Division to capture the Regular Season Division Championship. 
• Ouachita Baptist is 13-6 on the year after going 3-1 in the MIAA/GAC South Division during the regular season and winning 4-0 over Nebraska-Kearney in the quarterfinals. 
• The Ichabods are No. 9 in the ITA rankings. 
• With a win WU would move into the Championship match on Friday, May 3 at 9 a.m. 
• 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. 

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS

• Washburn had seven players recieve All-MIAA/GAC recognition in awards released by the conference on Tuesday. 
• Tommy Cecchetti was named the Freshman of the Year in the conference, Daniel Bird earned the Sportsmanship Award and Kirby Ronning was named the Coach of the Year. 
• On the singles side Santiago Rendon was a first-team selection at No. 3, Pavlos Parson at No. 4, Tommy Cecchetti at No. 5 and Daniel Bird at No. 6. 
• Tim Hammes was a second team selection at No. 1 singles. 
• In doubles Sebastian Pjontek and Daniel Bird were a first team selection at No. 2 while Pavlos Parson and Santiago Rendon earned first team honors at No. 3. 
• Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes were an honorable mention at No. 1 doubles. 

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 139-61 (69.5%) in singles matches and are 84-37 in duals. 
• Santiago Rendon leads the team with 22 wins and has a 22-7 overall record this season. he is 11-3 at No. 3.
• Tim Hammes is 16-7 overall with a 8-5 record after moving to No. 1.  
• Tommy Cecchetti has gone 6-2 from the No. 5 spot and is 20-6 overall. 
• Sebastian Pjontek has an overall record of 15-12 on the year with a 6-6 mark from No. 2. 
• Pavlos Parson carries an 18-7 mark in singles play from four different positions with a 5-0 record at No. 4. 
• Daniel Bird has posted a 15-2 record this season with a 6-0 record at No. 6 and has won his last 10 matches overall. 
• Matthew Earle is 11-7 on the year and has gone 2-0 at No. 4. 
• Moritz Pieper has a 11-1 record on the singles side and is 3-0 at No. 6.

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 58-29 (66.7%) on the year with a 35-16 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. 
• Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson are 11-2 together, with an 10-2 record from No. 3. 
• Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes are 7-1 together this season all coming from No. 1. 
• Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 21-11 doubles record, he is 11-7 at No. 1. 
• Rendon has the second most victories overall with 19 followed by Bird with 17. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 7, Nebraska-Kearney 0 (April 26, 2024) 

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn finished out its regular season with a senior day sweep over Nebraska-Kearney on Friday morning at Genesis Tennis Center. The Ichabods capture the MIAA/GAC North Division Regular Season Title with the win and will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament next week.  

The North Division Championship is the first in the regular season for the Ichabods since the 2020-21 season, the first full season since the league split into divisions.  

Doubles play began on the top court with No. 22 Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle securing a 6-4 win over No. 11 ranked Aaron Osmond and Tom van den Dungen to give Washburn (17-4, 5-0 MIAA/GAC) an edge over the Lopers (13-10, 3-2 MIAA/GAC). Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson followed closely behind with a 6-3 win at No. 3 to take the first point of the match. No. 39 Sebastian Pjontek and Daniel Bird led 4-2 at No. 2 when the point was decided.  

No. 69 Parson began singles play with a two-set win at No. 3 by scores of 6-3 and 6-2. After cruising to a 6-1 first set win on the first court No. 10 Hammes won 6-4 in the second to set up match point. Tommy Cecchetti clinched the match with a swift 6-2 win in the first set and a 6-4 victory in the second set at No. 5.  

Washburn continued to add to its total in the second half of singles play. No. 26 Pjontek won his opening set 6-3 at No. 2 and went to a third set after falling 6-4 in the second. In the deciding third set he came back from an early deficit to win 7-5. No. 43 Rendon took a 6-2 opening set win at No. 4 and worked a 6-4 victory in the second set to add another point. Bird closed out the match at No. 6 with a pair of 6-2 set victories to secure the fourth sweep of the season for the Ichabods.  

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 131-49 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 #22

ABOUT THE OUACHITA BAPTIST TIGERS

• Ouachita Baptist is 13-6 on the year after defeating No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the MIAA/GAC Championship Tournament. 
• The Tigers are 3-0 in neutral court matches this season. 
• Last season Ouachita Baptist went 12-11 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA/GAC South, advancing to the semifinals of the MIAA/GAC Tournament and to the NCAA Central Region Championship. 
• In the latest ITA rankings the Tigers are ranked No. 29. 
• Ouachita Baptist has three players ranked on the singles side with Alex Blanchar at No. 12, Phil Exner at No. 18 and Fernando Docters slotting in at No. 64. 
• Alex Blanchar and Phil Exner are tied for the team lead in singles with 21 on the year. Blanchar is 21-5 overall and 11-2 from No. 1. 
• Exner is 21-8 with a 10-3 mark at No. 2. 
• Fernando Docters is 17-6 on the year overall with a 12-4 record from No. 3. 
• In doubles Alex Blanchar and Phil Exner are ranked No. 5 while Ramon Strassmann and Fernando Docters are just behind them at No. 9. 
• Blanchar and Exner have a 24-7 record together this season while going 11-4 at No. 1. 
• Strassmann and Docters are 15-9 overall and have a 4-4 record at No. 2. 

TIGERS STAFF 

• Craig Ward is in his 34th season as the head men's tennis coach at Ouachita Baptist. 
• he has more than 300 victories to his coaching credit and has led the program to 18 national tournament apperances
• He was named the 2022 ITA Central Region Coach of the Year, was named the Coach of the Decade in the Gulf South Conference and is in the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame. 

HISTORY WITH OUACHITA BAPTIST

• Thursday will be the 10th meeting between Washburn and Ouachita Baptist all-time with the Ichabods leading the series 6-3.
• The first match was on March 17, 2022 and was a 7-1 win for the Tigers in Arkadelphia, Ar. 
• Washburn is 2-2 against OBU in neutral court matches. 
• Earlier this season the Ichabods won 4-3 over Ouachita Baptist in Topeka on April 6. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tim Hammes needs two doubles victories before reaching 50 in his career. 
• Sebastian Pjontek is four wins in singles away from reaching the 50-win mark. 
• Matthew Earle is one doubles win away from reaching 30 in his career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• If Washburn wins its semifinal match they would advance to the Championship match on Friday, May 3 at 9 a.m. against the winner of Harding and Northwest Missouri/Southeastern Oklahoma State