TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 4 Washburn men's tennis will face Biola Univeristy for the first time on Monday at 3 p.m. in La Mirada, Cali. as they begin a three-match trip to California. 

First Serve

• No. 4 Washburn men's tennis begins its trip to California facing Biola. 
• The Ichabods will face the Eagles at 3 p.m. (CST) on Monday, March 3 in La Mirada, Cali. at the Biola Tennis Center. 
• Washburn is 6-1 on the year and 1-0 inside the MIAA/GAC after defeating Augustana 6-1 last Sunday. 
• Biola is 2-3 on the year after falling 4-3 to Concordia last time out. They will face No. 11 Azusa Pacific before taking on the Ichabods. 

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 remained at No. 4 in the latest ITA poll. 
• 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 3-0 in road matches and 2-1 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. 
• Monday's match will be the first ever meeting between the Ichabods and Biola. 

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 105-51 (67.3%) in singles overall and 29-7 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is tied for the team-lead with 16 wins. He is 16-5 on the year with a 5-2 record in duals, coming from No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Tim Hammes  also has 16 victories. He has a 16-2 record while going 5-1 in duals at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 11-5 record and has won a team-high six matches in a row. He is 6-0 on the year in duals from three different positions. 
• Pavlos Parson is 9-5 on the year in singles, going 2-1 at No. 3 in duals. 
• Matthew Earle is 8-8 on the year in singles competition and has gone 4-2 in duals from No. 3-5.
• Zino Nahirniak is 4-0 since joining the team for the spring, all coming at No. 6. 
• 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 6-6 in singles play on the year with a 1-0 mark at No. 6.
• Tobias Berning has gone 2-1 in singles this year, all in duals going 2-0 from No. 5. 

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• The Ichabods have gone 44-31 (58.7%) across their doubles matches this season and are 12-6 in duals. 
• After winning the ITA Cup Doubles National Championship, Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle are 14-3 together on the year and 4-2 from No. 1. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have posted a 12-6 mark in doubles action together. They have gone 5-2 at No. 2. 
• Zino Nahirniak and Pavlos Parson are 2-2 together in doubles play, both coming at No. 3. 
• Graham Faris and Daniel Harkin went 4-2 playing together at fall tournaments. 
• Matthew Earle leads the way with 16 doubles victories as he carries a 16-6 record into the spring. 
• Tim Hammes is second on the team with a 14-3 doubles mark for the year. 

Last Time Out

Washburn 6, Augustana 1 (February 23, 2025)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- No. 4 Washburn began conference play Sunday morning with a 6-1 win over Augustana in South Dakota. The Ichabods return home for their final exhibition of the season next Friday against Pratt CC.  

Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider led off doubles play with a 6-4 win at No. 2. Augustana (3-1, 1-2) evened up doubles knocking off Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes 6-4 at No. 1. Pavlos Parson and Zino Nahirniak needed an extra game but pulled away to clinch doubles for Washburn (6-1, 1-0 MIAA) with a 7-5 win.  

Singles play began with Tim Hammes winning at No. 2 in less than an hour with 6-1 and 6-2 wins. Tommy Cecchetti followed with a two-set win at No. 3, 6-3 and 6-2. The Vikings got on the board at No. 1. After splitting the first two sets 6-2 and 6-3, Vasek Schneider fell 6-1 in the third.  

Tobias Berning provided the match-clinching point from No. 5, winning 6-2 in the first set and pulling away for a 7-6(4) tiebreaking win in the second. Matthew Earle survived a long first set, winning 7-6(10) and carried the momentum into a 6-2 win in the second from No. 4. Moritz Pieper began his dual with a 6-2 win at No. 6. He finished out the match winning 7-6(4) in a tiebreaker.  

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 146-54 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 BIOLA EAGLES

• Biola is 2-3 on the year after falling 4-3 to Concordia last time out. They will face No. 11 Azusa Pacific before taking on Washburn. 
• Last season the Saints went 16-9 overall and won one match in the PacWest Conference Tournament. They fell in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament 4-1 to Hawaii Pacific. 
• On the year Biola is 17-13 (56.7%) in singles play overall. 
• Alejandro Flores Monteverde has gone 5-0 on the year in duals, with a 4-0 mark from No. 1. 
• Thiago Canessa is 4-1 on the year playing from the final two spots in the lineup. 
• In doubles play the Eagles are 5-6 overall. 
• Patricio Larrea and Santino Serrallonga are 2-2 together this season all coming at No. 2. 

HEAD COACH DAVID GOODMAN

• Is in his 11th season as the head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at Biola. 
• Went 101-94 with the men in his first 10 seasons while going 89-100 with the women. 
• Goodman returned to BU after serving as head coach for his alma mater, Azusa Pacific University. At Azusa Pacific, he was the women's tennis coach from 2014 to 2016.

HISTORY WITH BIOLA

• Monday's match will be the first ever meeting between Washburn and Biola. 

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. 
• Tim Hammes is six doubles wins away from reaching 70 career victories. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Washburn will wrap up its trip to California taking on Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. 
• 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.