TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 8 Washburn men's tennis will play for a National Championship on Sunday in the finals of the ITA National Indoor Championship against No. 6 West Florida at 1:30 p.m.  

First Serve 

• The No. 8 seeded Washburn will take on the No. 7 seed and No. 6 nationally ranked University of West Florida in the championship round. 

• The Ichabods will face the Argonauts at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16 in Indianapolis, In.  

• Washburn is 5-0 on the year after sweeping No. 7 Rollins College in the semifinals of the tournament.  

• The Ichabods enter the spring ranked No. 8 in the ITA Preseason poll. 

• West Florida is 3-0 on the year after defeating No. 4 Barry 4-3 in the semifinal round on Saturday.  

ITA DII NATIONAL INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP 

• This is the first season that either Ichabod tennis squad has qualified for the National Indoor Championship. 

• Qualification was determined by the top-7 ranked teams in the final ITA poll of the previous season, with one spot reserved for the host school, Indianapolis.  

• Live streaming and live scoring of the matches can be found on the tournament home page on the ITA site as well as linked through the Washburn schedule page.  

BODS AND BITS  

• Washburn's 2024-25 roster features ten returners from a season ago with four new additions to round out the roster.   

• The Ichabods were ranked No. 8 nationally in the first ITA poll of the season. 

• Washburn was picked to finish first in the MIAA/GAC Preseason Coaches Poll.  

• So far this year Washburn is 1-0 inside Topeka while going 2-0 in road matches and 2-0 in neutral court contests.  

• Washburn is coming off a 20-5 season where they went 4-0 in the MIAA/GAC North, won the MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16.  

AROUND THE RANKINGS 

• In the ITA singles rankings Tim Hammes begins the spring ranked No. 5.  

• Vasek Schneider is tabbed at No. 15 and Pavlos Parson is ranked No. 33 nationally.  

• On the doubles side Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have the No. 1 national ranking after winning the ITA Cup. 

• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider are just outside the top-10 at No. 11.  

SINGLES SETUP 

• On the year Washburn has gone 100-47 (68.0%) in singles duals overall.  

• Vasek Schneider leads the team with 16 victories on the year, he has posted a 16-4 overall record and has a team-high streak of nine straight victories. He is 5-0 from No. 2.  

• Tim Hammes has 15 wins, second most on the squad, he has gone 15-2 on the year with a 4-1 record in duals all at No. 1.  

• Tommy Cecchetti has posed a 10-5 record in singles action and has a 5-0 record in duals from No. 4 and No. 5. He has won his last five outings.  

• Matthew Earle is 7-7 on the year in singles competition and has gone 3-1 in duals from three different positions. 

• Pavlos Parson is 9-4 on the year in singles, going 2-0 at No. 3 in duals.  

• Zino Nahirniak is 4-0 on the year, all coming at No. 6 in duals.  

• Marco Romano is 10-4 on the year in singles, all coming in the fall.  

• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji compiled a 7-1 mark in singles action during the fall.  

• Ivan Ivanov is 6-2 in singles play, winning his last three matches.  

• Moritz Pieper has gone 5-6 in singles play on the year.  

• Tobias Berning has played in both dual matches, going 1-1.  

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD 

• The Ichabods have gone 42-28 (60.0%) across their doubles matches this season.  

• After winning the ITA Cup Doubles National Championship, Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle are 14-1 together on the year and 4-0 from No. 1.  

• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have posted a 11-5 mark in doubles action together. They have gone 4-1 at No. 2.  

• Zino Nahirniak and Pavlos Parson are 1-2 together in doubles play, all coming at No. 3.  

• Graham Faris and Daniel Harkin went 4-2 playing together at fall tournaments.  

• Matthew Earle leads the way with 15 doubles victories as he carries a 15-4 record into the spring.  

• Tim Hammes is second on the team with a 13-1 doubles mark for the year.  

Last Time Out 

Washburn 4, Rollins 0 (February 15, 2025) 

INDIANAPOLIS, In. -- No. 8 Washburn punched the first ticket into the ITA National Indoor Championship match in convincing fashion, sweeping No. 7 Rollins College 4-0 on Saturday morning. The Ichabods will face the winner of the other semifinals match between West Florida and Barry.   

Doubles play started on the top court with Matthe Earle and Tim Hammes working a 6-4 win in just 30 minutes over the top duo from the Tars (3-1). Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider followed closely behind with a 6-4 win of their own at No. 2, clinching the doubles point for the Ichabods (5-0). Pavlos Parson and Zino Nahirniak led 4-3 at No. 3 when the point was decided.   

Tim Hammes also began singles play, winning his dual at No. 1 in two sets, both 6-2 to put a second point on the board. Vasek Schneider followed, quickly winning 6-1 in the first set and closing out the second with a 6-4 win at No. 2. Tommy Cecchetti closed out the match winning 6-3 in his first set and with a 6-2 match-clinching second set.   

Pavlos Parson trailed in his second set when the match was decided. Matthew Earle led in the second after winning his first and Zino Nahirniak led in the second set as well.   

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 143-53 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 WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS 

• West Florida is 3-0 on the season after defeating No. 4 Barry 4-3 in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.  

• They knocked off Flagler in the quarterfinal round.  

• Last season the Argonauts went 17-6 overall and 8-1 in the GSC. They fell in the first round of the NCAA South Regional to Barry.  

• They are ranked No. 6 in the first ITA poll of the spring.  

• On the singles side Diego Duran is ranked No. 22 in the nation and Albin Ekenros checks in at No. 43.  

• In doubles Sebastian Rendon and Diego Duran are ranked No. 2 in the nation.  

ARGONAUT STAFF 

• Derrick Racine is in his 27th season as the head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at the University of West Florida.  

• Racine won the 2003, 2005, 2012, 2014 and 2017 Division II Wilson/ITA Men's Tennis National Coach of the Year and the 2002 Division II Wilson/ITA Women's Tennis National Coach of the Year. 

• Outside the court, Racine earned a bachelor's degree from Valdosta State in finance in 1988 and later returned to earn his master's degree in physical education in 1995. 

HISTORY WITH WEST FLORIDA 

• The championship match will be the first ever meeting between Washburn and West Florida.  

MILESTONE MARKERS 

• Pavlos Parson needs one more win in singles to reach 30 career victories.  

• Matthew Earle needs three more doubles victories to reach 50 in his career.  

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• Next, Washburn will begin MIAA play on February 23 when the Ichabods face Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D. 

• 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 April 30 through May 2.