Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Washburn University Athletics

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Scoreboard

WTEN Notes 5-1
Kyle Manthe/Assistant Director Athletic Communications

No. 4 seed Ichabods face No. 5 Bronchos in MIAA Quarterfinals on Friday

5/1/2024 5:52:00 PM

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn women's tennis enters the MIAA Tournament as at No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla. on Friday, May 3 at 1 p.m. 
 

FIRST SERVE

  • No. 13 Washburn women's tennis begins its MIAA Championship Tournament defense on Friday, May 3 in Edmond Oklahoma as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seeded Central Oklahoma at 1 p.m. 
  • The Ichabods are 18-4 on the year and finished 6-2 in the MIAA after closing out the regular season with a 7-0 sweep over Fort Hays State. 
  • The Bronchos are 8-9 on the year and went 4-4 inside the MIAA, finishing in fifth place in the conference. 
  • The Ichabods enter the postseason ranked No. 13 in the ITA Rankings. 
  • Washburn went 18-7 in 2022-23 with a 6-2 record in the MIAA during the regular season. They won the MIAA Championship Tournament and advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinals for the first time in program history. 
  • The Ichabods return six players from last season's roster while adding three freshmen and one transfer to complete the roster. 

ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS

  • Washburn had six players named All-MIAA selections by the conference on Wednesday afternoon. 
  • Maja Jung was named the MIAA Player of the Year as well as a first team selection at No. 1 singles. It is the second straight season the Ichabods have the conference player of the year after Sonia Smagina won it last season. 
  • Lara Schmid was a second team selection at No. 6 singles while Renske Ubachs and Isabella Martensson were honorable mentions at No. 2 and No. 4 singles respectively. 
  • Maja Jung repeated as a first team selection with Lara Schmid at No. 1 doubles. Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs joined them on the first team at No. 3 doubles.
  • Peyton Koper and Isabella Martensson were honorable mentions at No. 2 doubles. 

SINGLES SITUATION

  • Washburn has one player ranked on the singles side of the latest ITA rankings with Maja Jung at No. 5 .
  • For the season the Ichabods are 112-71 (60.5%) in singles matches and are 75-49 in duals. 
  • Maja Jung leads the team with an 25-6 record, she has a 18-3 record from No. 1 and has won her last seven matches. 
  • Renske Ubachs is 17-11 in singles competition and has gone 12-7 from No. 2 with wins in her last five matches played. 
  • Peyton Koper is 10-10 on the year playing between two and five and has gone 3-2 at No. 3. 
  • Isabella Martensson is 12-9 overall and has gone 4-0 when playing at No. 6.  
  • Martine Carroll is 12-10 in singles matches this season with a 3-0 record at No. 4. 
  • Maddie Shelley is 11-4 on the year, with a 3-1 record at No. 5. 
  • Lara Schmid is 9-10 overall in singles with a 4-0 record at No. 6. 
  • Issabella Pensavalle has gone 4-2 this year while Daphney Koutsofta has gone 4-1.

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

  • The Ichabods have one doubles duo in the ITA Doubles rankings with Maja Jung and Lara Schmid moving up to No. 4. 
  • On the year the Ichabods have gone 72-26 (73.5%) on the year with a 48-15 record in duals. 
  • Jung and Schmid have the most wins together with an 21-7 record as a duo and they have gone 13-4 together at No. 1. 
  • Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs have a 20-5 record together and have gone 14-4 from No. 3. 
  • Peyton Koper and Isabella Martensson have gone 12-6 together overall this season at 11-6 from No. 2. 
  • Ubachs and Jung are tied for a team-high 23 doubles victories this season followed by Shelley with 22 and Schmid with 21. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 7, Fort Hays State 0 (April 27, 2024) 

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 13 Washburn wrapped up its regular season schedule with a 7-0 sweep of Fort Hays State on Saturday morning into the afternoon. The Ichabods will play in the first round of the MIAA Tournament next Friday, May 3 in Edmond, Okla.  

Doubles play for Washburn (18-4, 6-2 MIAA) started with a sweep on court three from Isabella Martensson and Issabella Pensavalle to gain the advantage. No. 4 Maja Jung and Lara Schmid took the first point of the match over the Tigers (6-15, 0-8 MIAA) with a 6-1 victory at No. 1. Renske Ubachs and Maddie Shelley completed the sweep of doubles, winning 6-1 at No. 2.  

No. 5 Jung won her opening set from No. 1 6-1 to kick off singles play and cruised to a 6-0 second set victory. Ubachs won a pair of 6-1 sets from No. 2 to set up match point. Playing on court three Martensson worked a 6-2 first set win and followed with a 6-1 win in the second to clinch the match.  

Shelley began the second round of singles action with 6-2 wins in each of her sets from No. 5. Cadence Lynn followed, winning 6-3 in her first set and sweeping 6-0 in the second for a senior day victory at No. 6. Martine Carroll took her first set to a tiebreaker but came up just short, falling 7-5. She won her second set 6-3 to force a third from No. 4. In the super tiebreaker she took a lead early and won 10-5 to secure the Ichabods' fourth sweep of the season.  

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 Miller Zeiders 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. 
  • Zeiders enters his second season with Washburn and his first as a volunteer assistant after serving as a graduate assistant in 2022-23. 
  • Zeiders joins the Ichabods after a four-year career at Washburn from 2018-22 where he went 11-3 in singles and 9-6 in doubles. 
  • 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 #23

ABOUT THE CENTRAL OKLAHOMA BRONCHOS

  • Central Oklahoma enters the tournament after a 8-9 regular season where they went 4-4 inside the MIAA finishing fifth in the conference. 
  • The Bronchos are 1-2 in neutral court matches this season. They were 5-1 at home. 
  • Last season Central Oklahoma went 10-11 overall and 5-3 in the MIAA advancing to the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament and the first round of the NCAA Central Regional Tournament. 
  • The Bronchos have gone 54-44 (55.1%) in singles matches this season. 
  • Nefeli Zafeiri is ranked No. 59 in the latest ITA singles rankings while Pete Komada is slotted at No. 69. 
  • Karyna Yurchenko is the leader in victories with a 10-7 record and is 9-7 at No. 4. 
  • Four players are tied with nine victories. Nefeli Zafeiri is 9-6 with a 5-3 mark at No. 1. 
  • In doubles action Central Oklahoma has gone 31-19 (62.0%).
  • Blythe Buntrock and Pete Komada are ranked No. 26 in the ITA doubles rankings. They are 8-7 together this season all coming at No. 1. 
  • Karyna Yuchenko and Anika Ouwejan are 11-3 together this season with a 9-3 record at No. 3 and going 2-0 from No. 2. 

BRONCHOS STAFF 

  • Joe Vann is in his 3rd season as the head coach at Central Oklahoma 
  • came to UCO from UT Tyler, where he spent four years as the assistant coach for both men's and women's programs
  • In his first season, Vann led Central Oklahoma to its best season in school history. The Bronchos won a school record 24 matches. UCO won the regular season MIAA title before winning the MIAA postseason championship
  • Graduate assistant Izumi Asano rounds out the coaching staff

HISTORY WITH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

  • Friday will be the 21st match between Washburn and Central Oklahoma with the Bronchos leading the all-time series 15-5.
  • The series began on April 12, 1998 with a 9-0 win for UCO in Topeka. 
  • Washburn is 1-8 against Central Oklahoma in Edmond. 
  • The Ichabods won the regular season matchup 4-3 in Topeka on April 12. 


MILESTONE MARKERS

  • Lara Schmid needs four more doubles victories to reach 50 at Washburn and one in singles from 25. 
  • Isabella Martensson is six singles victories away from 40 in her career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

  • If Washburn wins the opening round match over Central Oklahoma they will advance to the semifinals against No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, May 4 at 10 a.m. 
Print Friendly Version
Washburn University athletics logo