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Washburn women's tennis vs Nebraska-Kearney MIAA Semifinals May 4, 2024.
Kyle Manthe/Assistant Director Athletic Communications

No. 14 Ichabods host No. 34 Griffons on Saturday for spot in NCAA National Championships

5/10/2024 5:56:00 PM

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 14 Washburn women's tennis will play for a third straight NCAA National Championships appearance on Saturday hosting MIAA foe No. 34 Missouri Western at the Washburn Tennis Complex at 3 p.m. 

FIRST SERVE

  • Washburn women's tennis enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Central Region and they will host the No. 3 seed and No. 34 nationally ranked Missouri Western State. The Griffons defeated No. 6 Southeastern Oklahoma State in Topeka on May 9. 
  • The Ichabods are 19-5 on the year after falling 4-2 to Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals. 
  • The Griffons are 18-3 on the year after defeating the No. 40 Savage Storm  4-2 on Friday. 
  • The Ichabods are No. 14 in the latest 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. 


SINGLES SITUATION

  • Washburn has one player ranked on the singles side of the latest ITA rankings with Maja Jung at No. 6 .
  • For the season the Ichabods are 117-76 (60.6%) in singles matches and are 80-54 in duals. 
  • Maja Jung leads the team with an 27-6 record, she has a 20-3 record from No. 1 and has won her last nine matches. 
  • Renske Ubachs is 18-12 in singles competition and has gone 13-8 from No. 2.
  • Peyton Koper is 10-12 on the year playing between two and five and has gone 3-2 at No. 3. 
  • Isabella Martensson is 13-9 overall and has gone 4-0 when playing at No. 6.  
  • Martine Carroll is 12-12 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 10-10 overall in singles with a 5-0 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 at No. 7.
  • On the year the Ichabods have gone 75-29 (72.1%) on the year with a 51-18 record in duals. 
  • Jung and Schmid have the most wins together with an 22-8 record as a duo and they have gone 14-5 together at No. 1. 
  • Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs have a 20-7 record together and have gone 14-6 from No. 3. 
  • Peyton Koper and Isabella Martensson have gone 14-6 together overall this season at 13-6 from No. 2. 
  • Jung has a team-high 24 victories in doubles followed by Ubachs with 23. Shelley and Schmid each have 22. 

LAST TIME OUT

Nebraska-Kearney 4, Washburn 2 (May 4, 2024) 

EDMOND, Okla. -- No. 13 Washburn's run in the MIAA Tournament came to an end to No. 17 Nebraska-Kearney in the semifinals with a 4-2 loss on Saturday afternoon after a three hour rain delay. The Ichabods will determine their fate in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, May 6.  

In doubles play Washburn (19-5) struck first with Peyton Koper and Isabella Martensson winning 6-2 at No. 2. On the top court No. 4 Maja Jung and Lara Schmid fell 6-3 to No. 39 Narindra Ranaivo and Melisa Becerra as the Lopers (19-4) evened doubles action up. After falling behind 4-1, Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs rallied to tie their No. 3 dual at five. Nebraska-Kearney won the final two games to take the doubles point with a 7-5 win.  

Less than an hour into singles action play was hauled due to rain before resuming over three hours later. Before the delay Schmid had won her first set 6-0 at No. 6. She came back to finish off the second with another sweep to put the Ichabods on the board. The Lopers regained the lead as Koper fell in two sets at No. 4, 6-2 and 6-0. Martine Carroll lost her opening set 6-2 to No. 44 Gamboa and fell 6-3 in the second.  

No. 5 Jung lost her opening set 6-3 to No. 28 Jazmin Zamorano but rallied to win 6-4 in the second and carried the momentum into a 6-1 win in the third at No. 1 to stay alive. At No. 2, Ubachs came up just short in a tiebreaker for the first set, losing 7-5. She bounced back with a 6-2 win in the second but fell 6-1 in the third to finish off the match. Martensson lost a first set tiebreaker at No. 4 before winning 6-2 in the second and led 4-2 in the third when the match was decided.  

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 134-50 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 #25

ABOUT THE MISSOURI WESTERN STATE GRIFFONS

  • Missouri Western is 18-3 on the year after defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State 4-2 in the opening round of the NCAA Central Regional on May 10. 
  • The Griffons are 8-2 in true road matches away from the Noyes Tennis Courts this season. 
  • Last season Missouri Western went 15-7 overall and 5-3 in the MIAA advancing to the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament and to the NCAA National Championships. 
  • MWSU is ranked No. 34 in the latest ITA rankings. 
  • Two players are ranked by the ITA in singles with Anya Chavez at No. 42 and Christina Granero Boj checking in at No. 63. 
  • The Griffons have gone 75-25 (75.0%) in singles matches this season. 
  • Maria Saez is 17-0 this season in singles with a 9-0 record at No. 5. 
  • Christina Granero Boj is 13-1 in singles play this season all coming between No. 4 and No. 6. 
  • Anya Chavez is 11-4 overall all coming at No. 1. 
  • In doubles action Missouri Western has gone 30-20 (60.0%).
  • Casas Blas and Maria Saez are 10-1 together this season with a 7-0 record from No. 2. 
  • Greta Langiu and Anya Chavez are 6-5 together this season all coming at No. 1.

GRIFFONS STAFF 

  • Alejandro de la Torre is in his 3rd season as the head coach at Missouri Western 
  • comes to the Griffons afrer two seasons at NCAA Division II St. Mary's University in Texas where he served as a graduate assistant in 2020 before being elevated to an assistant coach.
  • In his first season MWSU reached its first ever MIAA Championship match, last year he helped MWSU reach the Sweet 16

HISTORY WITH MISSOURI WESTERN STATE

  • Wednesday will be the 37th match between Washburn and Missouri Western with the Ichabods leading the all-time series 33-3.
  • The series began on April 15, 1991 with a 9-0 win for Washburn in Topeka. 
  • Washburn is 11-1 against the Griffons in Topeka. 
  • The Ichabods won 4-3 over Missouri Western in St.Joseph earlier this season. 


MILESTONE MARKERS

  • Maja Jung is three singles victories away from 90 in her career.
  • Lara Schmid needs three more doubles victories to reach 50.
  • Isabella Martensson is five singles victories away from 40 in her career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

  • With a win on Saturday Washburn would advance to the NCAA National Championships beginning on May 20 in Altamonte Springs, Fla. 
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