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MTEN Notes 5-3
Kyle Manthe/Assistant Director Athletic Communications

No. 9 Washburn set for Championship match with Harding

5/2/2024 9:11:00 PM

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis will play for its second straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship on Friday morning against No. 41 Harding at 9 a.m.  

FIRST SERVE 

  • No. 9 Washburn men's tennis will have a battle of the No. 1 seeds in the MIAA/GAC Championship on Friday morning in Edmond, Okla. with first serve at 9 a.m. 

  • The Ichabods are 18-4 on the year after winning 4-1 over No. 29 Ouachita Baptist in the semifinal round.  

  • No. 41 Harding is 15-7 on the year after a 4-0 sweep over Southeastern Oklahoma State in the semifinal round.  

  • The Ichabods are No. 9 in the ITA rankings.  

  • With a win WU would clinch its spot in the NCAA Central Region Tournament. In the last set of rankings they held the top spot in the region.  

  • 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.  


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 142-62 (69.6%) in singles matches and are 87-38 in duals.  

  • Santiago Rendon leads the team with 23 wins and has a 23-7 overall record this season. he is 11-3 at No. 3. 

  • Tim Hammes is 17-7 overall with a 9-5 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 15-13 on the year with a 6-7 mark from No. 2.  

  • Pavlos Parson carries an 19-7 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 60-29 (67.4%) on the year with a 37-16 record in duals.  

  • Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek have the most wins together of any Ichabod pair with an 13-1 mark together. They are 8-0 at No. 2 and are on an eleven 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 8-1 together this season all coming from No. 1.  

  • Hammes leads all Ichabods with an 22-11 doubles record, he is 12-7 at No. 1.  

  • Rendon has the second most victories overall with 20 followed by Bird with 18.  


LAST TIME OUT 

Washburn 4, Ouachita Baptist 1 (May 2, 2024)  

EDMOND, Okla. -- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis advanced to its second straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship on Thursday morning after defeating No. 29 Ouachita Baptist 4-1. The Ichabods will take on the No.1 seed out of the GAC, Harding at 10 a.m. on Friday morning.   

The No. 1 seed Washburn (18-4) took an early advantage in doubles with No. 22 Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle winning 6-2 at No. 1 over No. 5 Alex Blanchar and Phil Exner. The Ichabods took the point over the Tigers (13-7) with No. 39 Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek pulling away late to win 7-5 over No. 9 Aaron Osmond and Ramon Strassmann on court two. Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson trailed 6-5 at No. 3 when the point was decided.   

Ouachita Baptist, the No. 2 GAC seed, got on the board to begin singles play with No. 18 Exner defeating No. 26 Pjontek in two sets on court two, 6-3 and 6-4. No. 10 Hammes came up short his first set on the top court against No. 12 Blanchar 6-4. In the second he battled back from an early deficit to win a tiebreaker 7-6(3) to even the dual. He carried the momentum to a 6-2 third set win to regain the advantage for Washburn.   

At No. 3, the Tigers also took the first set with No. 69 Parson falling 6-2. He rallied in the second set to win 6-3 over No. 64 Docters and continued to roll into a 6-2 third set win to set up match point. No. 43 Rendon led early in his first set at No. 4 before going into a tiebreaker. He regained control to take the tiebreaker 7-3 before rolling into a 6-3 second set match-clinching win.   

Playing at No. 5, Tommy Cecchetti breezed to a 6-1 win in the first set and narrowly trailed 4-5 in the second when the match was decided. Bird took his first set to an extra point at No. 6 before coming up short, 7-5. He led 2-1 in the second set when the match was completed.   


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 132-49 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 #23 

ABOUT THE HARDING BISONS 

  • Harding is 15-7 on the year after defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State 4-0 in the tournament semifinals.  

  • The Bison are 2-2 in neutral court matches this season.  

  • Last season Harding went 11-9 overall, advancing to the first round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament where they lost to the Ichabods 4-0.   

  • In the latest ITA rankings the Bison are ranked No. 41.  

  • Harding has two players ranked in the ITA singles rankings with Teodor Zlatar at No. 40 and Cas de Ruiter checking in at No. 59.  

  • On the season the Bison are 100-63 (61.3%) in singles matches.  

  • Teodor Zlatar leads the team in singles victories with 15, he is 15-5 on the season and 5-1 at No. 1.  

  • Cas de Ruiter is 14-9 while going 7-2 from No. 3.  

  • In doubles Harding has gone 51-35 (59.3%) this season.  

  • The Bison have one doubles duo ranked with de Ruiter and Zlatar ranked No. 3 in the nation. They have gone 12-3 together this season with a 5-1 mark at No. 1.  

  • Caleb Foose and Jaydon van Vreden are 12-9 together this season while going 7-3 together at No. 3.  

  • Strassmann and Docters are 15-9 overall and have a 4-4 record at No. 2.  

BISONS STAFF  

  • David Redding is in his ninth season has head men's and women's tennis coach in 2023-24 

  • joined the Bison from Dallas, where he was the director of tennis at the Northwood Club beginning in 1989 

  • was a member of the Harding tennis team from 1979-83. 

HISTORY WITH HARDING 

  • Washburn and Harding have faced off seven times in program history with the Ichabods leading the series 5-2.  

  • When playing in Edmond, Washburn is 2-0 against the Bison. 

  • The Ichabods won 4-3 over Harding earlier in the season in Searcy, Ar. 


MILESTONE MARKERS 

  • Tim Hammes needs one more doubles victory before reaching 50 in his career.  

  • Sebastian Pjontek is four wins in singles away from reaching the 50-win mark.  

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD  

  • With a win Washburn clinches its spot in the NCAA Central Region Tournament which begins on May 13.  

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