TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 11 Washburn women's tennis begins the spring season officially this weekend as they take on Illinois Springfield and McKendree.
First Serve
- No. 11 Washburn women's tennis officially begins the spring season with road matches against Illinois Springfield and McKendree.
- The Ichabods will face the Prairie Stars at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Springfield, Il. They will take on the Bearcats the next morning at 8 a.m.
- Washburn is ranked No. 11 in the preseason ITA rankings.
- Last time the Ichabods were on the court was an exhibition match against Cowley County CC at home on Jan. 25.
- Both teams will also be officially beginning the season this weekend as they enter with 0-0 records.
BODS AND BITS
- Washburn's 2024-25 roster features five returners from a season ago with four new additions to round out the roster.
- The Ichabods were ranked No. 11 nationally in the first ITA poll of the season.
- Washburn was picked to finish first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
- Last season the Ichabods went 8-1 in matches in Topeka, 6-3 on the road and 6-2 in neutral court matches.
- Washburn is coming off a 20-6 season where they went 6-2 in the MIAA and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16.
AROUND THE RANKINGS
SINGLES SETUP
- On the year Washburn has gone 55-21 (72.4%) in singles duals overall.
- Maddie Shelley leads the team in singles victories with nine. She has gone 9-1 on the year.
- Jasel Bailey posted an 8-1 record in the fall, winning her last five times out.
- Isabella Martensson went 6-2 in the fall with wins in her last three duals.
- Isabella Pensavalle is 6-2 heading into the spring on a three dual winning streak.
- Both Saajida Razick and Daniela Tijaro went 6-2 in their first collegiate action in the fall.
- Leo Floeth posted a 6-3 mark in her first semester of action after joining the Ichabods.
- Renske Ubachs went 3-3 across tournaments in the fall.
- Payton Koper missed out on fall action with an injury.
DOUBLES DOWNLOAD
Last Time Out
Washburn Invitational (Oct. 27, 2024.)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The fall season for Washburn women's tennis came to a close with day two of the Washburn Invitational on Sunday. The Ichabods wrapped up the first part of the season with five total draw victories including in all four singles draws.
Beginning with Flight 1 of singles Daniela Tijaro bounced back from losing her first set 6-3 to reverse the score in the second and win the super tiebreaker 10-8 to claim the title.
Saajida Razick worked quickly from Flight 2 with a 6-2 first set victory before sweeping her second set 6-0 to claim the title.
After Jasel Bailey and Isabella Martensson both reached the finals match in Flight 3 each played different opponents in an adjusted schedule. Bailey won tiebreakers in both sets, 7-6(5) in the first and 7-6(4) in the second to finish out her slate of matches with a victory. Martensson was also able to win in two sets 6-3, 6-4.
In Flight 4, Issabella Pensavalle also had a two set victory by scores of 6-4 and 6-2 to make it a clean sweep of all four singles flights for Washburn.
In doubles play Isabella Martensson and Saajida Razick worked a 6-4 victory in their semifinals match to begin the action. In the finals they breezed to a 6-1 win to claim the Flight 1 title.
From Flight 2, Issabella Pensavalle and Jasel Bailey were able to advance to the finals with a 6-2 victory over a Missouri Western duo. In the finals they were defeated 6-1 to round out the final dual of the tournament.
Head Coach Kirby Ronning
- Ronning is in year five 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 136-52 combined record with Washburn.
- Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year three times. He earned the award on both the men's and women's side in the 2022-23 season and repeated as the men's winner after 2023-24.
- 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 Maja Jung and Santiago Rendon begin their first season on the Ichabod coaching staff while Kurt Reid enters his sixth season with both programs as a volunteer assistant.
- Reid started his collegiate tennis career at Tulsa (1977-78) before transferring to Washburn for the 1978-79 season.
- A Topeka-native, Reid played tennis at Topeka West High School and was elected to the Topeka West Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
- Maja Jung joins the coaching staff after finishing her four-year playing career at Washburn with the second most total victories of any player in women's program history.
- Santiago Rendon also moves from playing to the sidelines after wrapping up three seasons with the Ichabods headlined by an ITA Cup Doubles National Championship in fall of 2023.
OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT
ABOUT THE ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD PRAIRIE STARS
- Illinois Springfield enters the match 0-0 on the season after losing 6-1 in an exhibition to Illinois State last time out on Jan. 26.
- Last season the Prairie Stars went 6-8 overall and 1-4 inside the GLVC, missing out on the GLVC Tournament.
PRAIRIE STARS STAFF
- Ross Graham enters his third season as the head men's and women's tennis coach in 2024-25.
- Graham is a native of of Atlanta, Ill., coached at Springfield High from 1998 to 2017
- He is a 1993 graduate of Illinois State University who became the director of tennis at the Springfield Racquet and Fitness Center that same year.
HISTORY WITH ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
- Washburn leads the all-time series with Illinois Springfield 3-0 and are 2-0 on the road.
- The last meeting came on Feb. 11, 2023 in Springfield and was a 5-2 win for the Ichabods.
ABOUT THE MCKENDREE BEARCATS
- McKendree will begin the spring season this weekend entering with a 0-0 record. Last time on the court was an exhibition win over William Woods 7-0 on Jan. 25.
- Last season they went 8-11 overall and 3-2 inside the GLVC, ending the season in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament.
BEARCATS STAFF
- Chance Joost is in his first season as the head coach at McKendree for the men's and women's tennis programs.
- Joost spent the previous five seasons as the head coach at William Woods University.
- He is a Tecumseh, Kan. native and graduate from Washburn in 2015 after playing three seasons for the Ichabods. From 2014-16 he was an assistant coach with the Ichabods to begin his coaching career.
HISTORY WITH MCKENDREE
- Washburn leads the all-time series over McKendree 4-0 and are 1-0 in road matches.
- The last meeting between the two came on Feb. 22, 2020 and was a 6-1 win for the Ichabods in Topeka.
MILESTONE MARKERS
- Isabella Martensson is nine singles victories away form reaching 50 in her career.
- Maddie Shelley is five singles wins away from reaching 30 career victories.
- Renske Ubachs is seven doubles victories away from 40 victories in her career.
SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD
- Washburn will return to Topeka for the first official home match of the year against Midwestern State on Feb. 8 at 11 a.m.
- MIAA play will begin on March 27 when the Ichabods host Newman at the Washburn Tennis Complex.
- The regular season concludes with senior day for Washburn hosting Arkansas-Fort Smith on April 26 at 1 p.m.
- The MIAA Tournament will be held in Springfield, Mo. from May 2-4.
