TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 14 nationally ranked Washburn women's tennis will travel to Altamonte Springs, Fla. as the No. 10 seed in the NCAA National Championships where they will face the No. 7 seed in No. 21 ranked Wayne State (MI) in the round of 16 at 12 p.m. CST from Sanlando Park. 

FIRST SERVE

• Washburn women's tennis enters the NCAA National Championships as the No. 10 seed overall and will face the No. 7 seed and No. 21 nationally ranked Wayne State (MI) on Monday, May 20 at 12 p.m. CST at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla. 
• The Ichabods are 20-5 on the year after defeating No. 34 ranked Missouri Western State 4-1 in the NCAA Central Region tournament on May 11.
• The Warriors are 20-5 on the season after defeating No. 24 Tiffin 4-1 in the NCAA Midwest Regionals. 
• The Ichabods are No. 14 in the latest ITA rankings. 
• With a win WU would move into the National Quarterfinals on May 21. 
• 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 120-77 (60.9%) in singles matches and are 83-55 in duals. 
• Maja Jung leads the team with an 28-6 record, she has a 21-3 record from No. 1 and has won her last ten matches. 
• Renske Ubachs is 19-12 in singles competition and has gone 14-8 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 11-5 on the year, with a 3-2 record at No. 5. 
• Lara Schmid is 11-10 overall in singles with a 6-0 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 77-29 (72.6%) on the year with a 53-18 record in duals. 
• Jung and Schmid have the most wins together with an 23-8 record as a duo and they have gone 15-5 together at No. 1. 
• Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs have a 21-7 record together and have gone 15-6 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 25 victories in doubles followed by Ubachs with 24. Shelley and Schmid each have 23. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 4, Missouri Western 1 (May 11, 2024) 

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 14 Washburn women's tennis is heading to the NCAA National Championships for a third straight season after defeating No. 34 Missouri Western 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Washburn Tennis Complex. The Ichabods will begin play in Altamonte Springs, Fla. on Monday, May 20.  

Washburn (20-5) created its first advantage in doubles play beginning with No. 7 ranked Maja Jung and Lara Schmid winning 6-1 at No. 1 to gain the edge. Maddie Shelley and Renske Ubachs took an early lead and pulled away late to win 6-3 and clinch the first point of the match from court three. Peyton Koper and Isabella Martensson were all tied 5-5 at No. 2 when the point was decided.  

Schmid started off singles play from No. 6 with a 6-2 win in her first set. She continued rolling through the second, sweeping for a 6-0 victory. The Griffons (18-4) got on the board as Shelley fell in a pair of 6-2 sets at No. 5 to make it 2-1. Playing on the top court No. 5 ranked Jung won her opening set 6-2 over No. 42 Anya Chavez. In the second set she trailed four games to none before reeling off six straight to take the second set 6-4 and bring up match point.  

Playing from No. 2, Ubachs was all knotted up at five games each in her first set before she pulled away in the final two, taking her first set. In the second she gained an early lead and didn't relinquish it, winning the final two games to clinch the match with a 6-3 win and send the Ichabods to nationals.  

Koper was in the middle of her third set at No. 3 after falling 7-4 in a first set tiebreaker. Martensson had just evened her dual from No. 4 at one set each after a 6-4 win in the second set 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 136-50 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 #26

ABOUT THE WAYNE STATE WARRIORS

• Wayne State is 20-5 on the year and are on a 12 match winning streak after defeating No. 24 Tiffin 4-1 in the Midwest Regionals on May 11. 
• The Warriors are 4-3 in neutral court matches this season. 
• Last season Wayne State went 24-4 and 6-1 inside the GLIAC, advancing to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA National Championships where they fell 4-0 to Hawaii Pacific. 
• The Warriors are ranked No. 21 in the latest ITA Rankings and are seeded No. 7 at the Championships. 
• WSU has gone 140-43 in singles matches this season (76.5%) with a 99-31 (76.2%) record in duals. 
• Anais Ruyssen is the only player on the squad ranked on the singles side of the ITA rankings at No. 49. 
• Malak Arafat leads Wayne State with a 27-7 record in singles, she is 14-6 playing at No. 2. 
• Martyna Szpakowska is 24-3 on the year with a 17-1 record from the No. 4 spot. 
• Anals Ruyssen has gone 19-8 on the year with a 15-7 mark at No. 1. 
• In doubles the Warriors have gone 76-36 overall (67.9%) with a 49-21 record in duals. 
• Anais Ruyssen and Marta Komar are ranked No. 25 in the ITA doubles rankings. The pair leads the Warriors with a 26-11 record together overall while going 15-8 at No. 1. 
• Malak Arafat and Martyna Szpakowska are 18-2 together this season with a 16-2 record from No. 2. 

WARRIORS STAFF 

• Sheila Snyder enters her 35th season as the head women's tennis coach at Wayne State. 
• Three-time GLIAC Coach of the Year (1994, 2014, 2019)
• Currently ninth in NCAA D2 Women's Tennis history with 434 coaching victories
• Played basketball and tennis at Wayne State. Began her career as a graduate assistant with the Warriors in 1987.

HISTORY WITH WAYNE STATE

• Monday's match is the second match this season and all-time between Washburn and Wayne State with the Ichabods winning the only previous game
• Washburn defeated the Warriors 4-1 in a neutral court match in Indianapolis on February 10, 2024 this season. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

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

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• The winner of the match between Washburn and Wayne State will face the winner of No. 2 Nova Southeastern and No. 15 Indiana (PA) at 3 p.m. CST on May 21.