ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- No. 9 Washburn's season came to an end Tuesday afternoon in the round of 16 at the NCAA National Championships with a 4-3 loss to No. 20 Wayne State (MI). The Ichabods finish the season with a 20-5 record after a second straight trip to the national tournament.
In doubles play the No. 11 seeded Warriors (17-10) took advantage first as the No. 27 ranked duo Luke Laws and Dom Spicer won 6-3 at No. 2 over No. 43 ranked Daniel Bird and Sebastian Pjontek. Washburn evened up play after Santiago Rendon and Pavlos Parson matched with a 6-3 win of their own from No. 3. On the top court play went into an extra game for No. 10 Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle before the duo fell to the No.1 ranked team Cedric Drenth and Daniel Grey, 7-5.
The Ichabods evened the match up quickly in singles play as Tommy Cecchetti led off with a straight sets victory at No. 5 by scores of 6-3 and 6-1. Bird came back from an early deficit to win a 7-5 tiebreaker in his first set from No. 6 before rolling to a 6-3 win in the second, putting Washburn on top. Playing on court four No. 42 Rendon won his opening set 6-1 but fell 6-3 in each of the next two sets, making the match tied once again.
No. 69 Parson lost a 6-4 first set from No. 3 before rallying from an early deficit to tie at six games each. He took the tiebreaker 7-1 to force a third set where he would pull away late for a 6-3 victory to set up match point. No. 34 Pjontek created an early advantage with a 6-4 win in his first set at No. 2. In the second No. 14 ranked Drenth evened up the match, winning 6-3. The third set also went to the Warriors six games to four to tie the match.
On the top court No. 13 ranked Hammes won his opening set over 6-4. In the second No. 5 ranked Grey came back late to even the dual up after a 7-5 victory. The third set went into an extra game with a 5-5 tie. The first game went to Washburn before the second game and tiebreaker went to Wayne State with a 7-5 score to clinch the match.
Doubles competition:
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Drenth, Cedric/Grey, Daniel (WSU) def. Hammes, Tim/Earle, Matthew (WU) 7-5
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Laws, Luke/Spicer, Dom (WSU) def Bird, Daniel/Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) 6-3
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Rendon, Santiago/Parson, Pavlos (WU) def Mikkelsen, Emil/Steele, Joe (WSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles competition:
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Grey, Daniel (WSU) def. Hammes, Tim (WU) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5)
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Drenth, Cedric (WSU) def. Pjontek, Sebastian (WU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
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Parson, Pavlos (WU) def. Spicer, Dom (WSU) 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-3
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Kitayama, Denali (WSU) def. Rendon, Santiago (WU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
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Cecchetti, Tommy (WU) def. Hill, Benjamin (WSU) 6-3, 6-1
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Bird, Daniel (WU) def. Mikkelsen, Emil (WSU) 7-6(5), 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1
Season Notes:
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The Ichabods qualified for the NCAA Championship for a fourth straight season (with the last miss being the 2019-20 season shortened by COVID
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It was the second straight season that Washburn reached the NCAA National Championships
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It was the first season since the 1996-97 season that the Ichabods reached the 20 win mark.
