TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis returns home for its final homestand taking on Newman on Tuesday at the Washburn Tennis Complex beginning at 1 p.m. 

First Serve

• No. 7 Washburn men's tennis wraps up the regular season beginning with a midweek meeting against Newman. 
• The Ichabods will take on the Jets at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22 at the Washburn Tennis Complex.
• Washburn is 14-3 on the year and 4-0 inside the MIAA/GAC after defeating No. 49 Northwest Missouri State 5-2 last time out. 
• Newman fell to 6-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play after losing a fifth straight match, 6-1 to Harding last time out. 

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 are ranked No. 7 in the latest ITA rankings. 
• Washburn was picked to finish first in the MIAA/GAC Preseason Coaches Poll. 
• So far this year Washburn is 3-0 inside Topeka while going 6-2 in road matches and 5-1 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. 
• The Ichabods have nine victories over ranked opponents on the year. They are 9-2 overall in those matches. 

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• In the ITA singles rankings Tim Hammes ranks No. 5 while Vasek Schneider is ranked No. 8. Pavlos Parson moves to No. 52. 
• On the doubles side Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle are back in the top spot at No. 1 in the nation. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider move to the No. 18 spot. 

SINGLES SETUP

• On the year Washburn has gone 145-67 (68.4%) in singles overall and 69-23 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 24 victories, he has gone 13-3 in duals, winning his last seven times out. He is 13-2 playing from No. 2 and is 4-0 playing against ranked opponents.
• Tim Hammes has a 22-6 overall record going 11-5 in duals. He is 10-5 when playing at No. 1 and is 4-4 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 18-7 record on the year with tied for a team-high 13 victories in duals. He is 13-2 in duals with a 8-1 mark at No. 4. 
• Pavlos Parson is 17-7 on the year in singles, going 10-3 in duals overall and 8-3 from No. 3. 
• Matthew Earle is 12-12 on the year in singles competition and has gone 8-6 in duals from No. 3-6.
• Zino Nahirniak is 10-1 on the year, all coming in duals. He is 7-1 playing at 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 3-3 in singles this year, all in duals going 2-1 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 65-38 (63.1%) across their doubles matches this season and are 33-13 in duals. 
• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 20-5 record together, going 10-4 in duals all at No. 1. They are 2-1 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have the most victories together of any duo, going 21-7 overall with an 14-3 mark in duals from No. 2. 
• Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper have posted a 6-3 record together all coming at No. 3. 
• Graham Faris and Daniel Harkin went 4-2 playing together at fall tournaments. 
• Matthew Earle and Tommy Cecchetti are tied for the team-lead with 22 doubles victories.
• Vasek Schneider follows just behind with 21 on the year. 

Last Time Out

Washburn 5, Northwest Missouri 2 (April 19, 2025)

MARYVILLE, Mo. -- No. 7 Washburn worked a third straight ranked victory on Saturday morning taking down No. 49 Northwest Missouri State 5-2 in the final road contest of the regular season. The Ichabods return home next Tuesday to face Newman.  

The Bearcats (12-8, 4-1 MIAA/GAC) got out to a quick start, gaining an advantage as Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper fell 6-1 from No. 3. Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle swept their dual at No. 1, 6-0 to even up doubles play. Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider clinched the first point of the match for Washburn (13-4, 4-0 MIAA/GAC) with a 6-3 win on court two.  

Singles play began with a clean sweep for Vasek Schneider at No. 2 as he did not drop a game in either set. Tim Hammes followed closely behind, winning 6-2 in the first set at No. 1 and 6-1 in the second over No. 21 Dominik Wijntjes to bring up match point. Zino Nahirniak provided the clinching point, winning 6-1 and 6-2 sets from court five.  

Northwest Missouri got on the board with a point at No. 4 after Tommy Cecchetti fell 7-5 and 6-3 in two sets. Matthew Earle added a point, winning 6-3 in his first set at No. 6 before coming away with a 7-6(3) tiebreaking win in the second set. The match wrapped up on court three with Pavlos Parson losing 7-5 and 6-3 sets to make it 5-2.  

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 164-57 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 NEWMAN JETS

• Newman lost 6-1 on the road to Harding last time out, falling to 6-10 overall and 1-5 inside the MIAA. 
• Last season they went 10-12 overall and 2-7 inside the MIAA, missing out on the MIAA Tournament. 

HEAD COACH BRADY MATTHEWS

• Is in his 1st season as the head men's and women's tennis coach at Newman. 
• Spent one season as an assistant coach at Cowley County CC. 
• Before joining Cowley College, Brady Matthews was an assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

HISTORY WITH NEWMAN

• Washburn leads the all-time series over Newman 15-1. 
• The Ichabods are 12-0 against the Jets in Topeka. 
• The series began on April 19, 1976 with a 8-1 win for Washburn at home. 
• Last season the Ichabods swept the only meeting, winning 7-0 in Wichita on April 4. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tim Hammes is three singles victories away from reaching 80 in his career. 
• Pavlos Parson needs three victories to reach 40 career singles wins with Washburn. 
• Vasek Schneider is one singles victory away from reaching 25 in his first season in Topeka. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• 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.