TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 3 Washburn men's tennis finishes out its time on the west coast as they face Hawaii Pacific. 
 

First Serve

• The Ichabods will face the Sharks at 12 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, March 8 in Azusa, Cali. 
• Washburn is 7-2 on the year and 1-0 inside the MIAA/GAC after falling 4-1 to No. 11 Azusa Pacific on Tuesday night. 
• Hawaii Pacific is 3-1 on the year after falling 4-3 to Point Loma last time out on March 3. 

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 moved up to No. 3 in the latest ITA rankings, a new program high mark. 
• 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 4-1 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. 
• Thursday's match will be the third meeting between the Ichabods and Hawaii Pacific. 

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• In the ITA singles rankings Tim Hammes moved up to No. 3 in the latest poll. 
• Vasek Schneider also moved up, to No. 8, in the latest ITA singles rankings. Pavlos Parson is now slotted at No. 62. 
• On the doubles side Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle are ranked No. 2 in the nation. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider are just outside the top-10 at No. 12. 

SINGLES SETUP

• On the year Washburn has gone 112-54 (67.5%) in singles overall and 36-10 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is tied for the team-lead with 17 wins. He is 17-7 on the year with a 6-3 record in duals, he is 6-2 at No. 2. 
• Tim Hammes  also has 17 victories. He has a 17-3 record while going 6-2 in duals at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 12-5 record and has won a team-high seven matches in a row. He is 7-0 on the year in duals from three different positions. 
• Pavlos Parson is 10-6 on the year in singles, going 3-2 at No. 3 in duals. 
• Matthew Earle is 9-8 on the year in singles competition and has gone 5-2 in duals from No. 3-5.
• Zino Nahirniak is 5-0 since joining the team for the spring, all coming at No. 5 and No. 6. 
• Moritz Pieper has gone 6-6 in singles play on the year with a 1-0 mark at No. 6.
• Tobias Berning has gone 3-1 in singles this year, all in duals going 2-0 from No. 5. 
• 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. 

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• The Ichabods have gone 47-34 (58.0%) across their doubles matches this season and are 15-9 in duals. 
• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have the most wins of any duo with a 15-4 record together. They are 5-3 in duals at No. 1. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have posted a 14-6 mark in doubles action together. They have gone 7-2 at No. 2. 
• Zino Nahirniak and Pavlos Parson are 2-3 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 17 doubles victories as he carries a 17-7 record into the spring. 
• Both Tim Hammes and Tommy Cecchetti are second on the team with 15 victories. 

Last Time Out

Azusa Pacific 4, Washburn 1 (March 4, 2025)

AZUSA, Cali. -- No. 4 Washburn fell 4-1 Tuesday evening to No. 11 Azusa Pacific on the road in game two of its California road trip. The Ichabods will finish the week against Hawaii Pacific on Thursday at 12 p.m. CST.  

Doubles competition began on the top court with Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes falling 6-1 at No. 1 for Washburn (7-2). Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider were able to even up doubles play with a 6-2 win at No. 2. Moritz Pieper and Zino Nahirniak battled at No. 3 before falling 6-4 as the Cougars (8-1) won the first point.  

Azusa Pacific added another point to begin singles with Tim Hammes losing a ranked battle to No. 26 Soeren Grandke 6-3 in a pair of sets. Tommy Cecchetti put the Ichabods on the board, winning 6-4 in the first set before falling just short in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5) in the second. He rallied for a 6-3 victory in the third to close out the dual at No. 4.  

Pavlos Parson responded from losing 6-1 in the first set to win 7-6(5) in the second at No. 3. The third set went in favor of the Cougars' No. 44 ranked David James Brownlee 6-3 to bring up match point. Playing at No. 2, Vasek Schneider split his first two sets, both 6-3 scores. In the third he went into an extra game and a tiebreaker before falling 7-6(7) as Azusa Pacific clinched the match.  

Zino Nahirniak led 3-0 in the second set at No. 5 after winning his first set 6-3.  

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 149-55 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 HAWAII PACIFIC SHARKS

• Hawaii Pacific is 3-1 on the year after falling for the first time, 4-3 to Point Loma on Monday, March 3. 
• Last season the Sharks went 13-6 on the year and 6-1 in the PacWest. They lost in the championship match of the PacWest Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16. 
• On the year Hawaii Pacific is 23-18 (56.1%) in singles play. 
• In doubles competition the Sharks have a 13-7 (65.0%) record. 

HEAD COACH DANIEL POLLOCK

• Is in his first season as the women's tennis coach at HPU and is also serving as the interm head coach of the men's team. 
• At Johns Hopkins University from 2021 to 2024, he was honored as the ITA National Coach of the Year and Southeast Regional Coach of the Year in 2023
• During his time at the University of Maryland from 2019 to 2021, Pollock played a key role in developing the program's first Big-10 Freshman of the Year and mentoring two nationally ranked singles players

HISTORY WITH HAWAII PACIFIC

• Hawaii Pacific leads the all-time series with Washburn 2-0. 
• Both matches have been in neutral court locations. 
• The last meeting came on March 13, 2022 and was a 4-2 win for the Sharks. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Matthew Earle needs two more doubles victories to reach 50 in his career. 
• Tim Hammes is five doubles wins away from reaching 70 career victories. 
• With six more singles victories Tommy Cecchetti will reach 40 for his career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Washburn will stay on the road as they face Harding on March 15 in Edmond, Okla. 
• 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.