TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn men's tennis continues its fall season heading to the Cornhusker State this weekend for the Omaha Invite beginning Oct. 4. 

First Serve

• Washburn men's tennis heads on the road this week to the Omaha Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha. 
• The tournament will run from Saturday, Oct. 3 through Sunday, Oct. 4. 
• The Ichabods are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and and an appearance in the National Championship match. 
• Last season Washburn also won a program record 23 matches, going 23-4 and won a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship. 
• Washburn's 2025-26 roster features 10 players with five seniors, two juniors and three freshmen. 

Singles Statistics

• Through two tournaments in the new year Washburn has gone 59-35 (62.8%) in singles matches. 
• Pavlos Parson has a team-high 10 victories going 10-2 on the season after winning the ITA Central Region Singles Championship.
• Benjamin Fock has gone 9-1 on the year in singles play. 
• Yuto Miyagawa has posted a 9-2 record through three tournaments. 
• Moritz Pieper has won his last five times out to give him a 9-3 record on the year. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 7-4 on the year in singles action. 
• Tommy Cecchetti is 3-4 so far on the new year.  
• Graham Faris has played in two tournaments going an even 3-3 on the year. 
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji is 4-6 so far in singles. 
• Mason Fair has gone 3-6 on the year and 3-2 in the last five duals. 
• Petr Leipner has started his freshman season 2-4. 

Doubles Download

• On the year Washburn has gone 20-16 (55.6%) in doubles. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Pavlos Parson have gone 6-2 together in doubles. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak are off to a 5-3 start together. 
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Graham Faris have posted a 4-3 mark together. 
• Moritz Pieper and Mason Fair are also 3-2 on the year so far. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Petr Leipner are 2-5 together on the year. 

LAST TIME OUT

TOPEKA, Kan. -- For a third straight season the Ichabods have won the ITA Central Region Singles Championship with Pavlos Parson coming from behind to win the title on Sunday afternoon.  

Pavlos Parson follows Tim Hammes in 2024 and Sebastian Pjontek in 2023 as central region singles champions. He will automatically qualify for the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga. From Oct. 16-19.  

In the semifinal round Zino Nahirniak fell in two sets to Harding's Adrian Solorzano, 6-2 and 7-5. In another All-Washburn battle on the other side, Yuto Miyagawa took the first set from Parson, 7-5. Parson recovered to win 6-2 in the second set and took the 10-point tiebreaker, 10-2.  

In the championship match, Solorzano won the first set 6-4. Parson took the first game of the second set and held the lead from there, flipping the score to win 6-4. In the third set Parson jumped out to a 4-1 lead and did not relinquish control, winning 6-2 to clinch the title.  

Head Coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in year six 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 176-60 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year four times and the MIAA Coach of the Year twice. 
• 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

• Kurt Reid enters year seven as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ichabods. 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. 
• Graduate assistant Santiago Renton is entering his 2nd season as part of the Washburn coaching staff.  
• He moved 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. 
• Vasek Schneider joins the Washburn coaching staff as a graduate assistant for 2025-26 after finishing his playing career with the Ichabods in 2024-25. 
• Schneider was an All-American in singles and set a program record with 32 singles victories in his lone season in Topeka going 32-7 overall. 

FALLING FORWARD

• Next up the Ichabods who qualify will play in the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga. from Oct. 16-19. 
• The fall season will come to a close back at home for the Washburn Invitational beginning Oct. 24 and running through Oct. 25 at the Kossover Tennis Center.