TOPEKA, Kan. -- For a second straight match No. 9 Washburn defeated No. 41 Harding in sweeping fashion, this time to advance to the NCAA National Championships for a second straight season after the 4-0 Monday afternoon in the Genesis Tennis Center. The Ichabods will begin play in Altamonte Springs, Fla. beginning on Tuesday, May 21.
Early on in doubles play all three Washburn (20-4) teams trailed. No. 43 ranked Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek were the first to bounce back, winning 6-3 from No. 2 to gain the advantage for the point. Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson followed closely behind with a 6-4 win from No. 3 to take the first point of the match. No. 10 Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle were locked into a 5-5 dual with No. 3 ranked Cas de Ruiter and Teodor Zlatar of the Bisons (15-9) when the point was decided.
Tommy Cecchetti led off his dual in singles with a 6-0 sweep in his first set at No. 5. He built an early lead in the second set and held on through an extra game, winning 7-5 to give the Ichabods a second point. On the top court No. 13 Hammes cruised to a 6-1 first set win over No. 40 ranked Zlatar. In the second set Zlatar evened the dual up with a 6-3 win. Hammes was able to flip the scores in his favor in the third to set up match point.
No. 42 ranked Rendon went back and forth early in his first set before pulling away late to win 6-4 from No. 4. In the second he traded the first two games of the dual before winning the final five in a row to win his dual and the match while also punching Washburn's ticket to nationals.
No. 34 Pjontek was trailing 4-2 in the third set after he had split the first two sets at No. 2 each by scores of 6-2. No. 69 Parson was tied at three in the second set with No. 59 de Ruiter after falling in the first set. Bird was all squared away at one in the third set after he and his opponent had each won one of the first two sets 6-3.
Doubles competition:
-
Earle, Matthew/Hammes, Tim (WU) vs. de Ruiter, Cas/Zlatar, Teodor (HU) 5-5 UF
-
Bird, Daniel/Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) def. Folse, Caleb/van Vreden, Jaydon (HU) 6-3
-
Parson, Pavlos/Rendon, Santiago (WU) def. Mikkelsen, Cian/Gayme, Florian (HU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles competition:
-
Hammes, Tim (WU) def. Zlatar, Teodor (HU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
-
Ortiz, Dani (HU) vs. Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) 2-6, 6-2, 4-2 UF
-
de Ruiter, Cas (HU) vs. Parson, Pavlos (WU) 6-2, 3-3 UF
-
Rendon, Santiago (WU) def. D'Arrigo, Edoardo (HU) 6-4, 6-1
-
Cecchetti, Tommy (WU) def. Mikkelsen, Cian (HU) 6-0, 7-5
-
Bird, Daniel (WU) vs. Folse, Caleb (Hu) 6-3, 3-6, 1-1 UF
Order of finish: 5, 1, 4
