TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 7 Washburn men's tennis returns to MIAA/GAC North Division action on Saturday as they head on the road to face Nebraska Kearney at 2 p.m.

First Serve

• No. 7 Washburn men's tennis returns to conference play taking on No. 43 Nebraska Kearney. 
• The Ichabods will face the Lopers at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 5 at the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center. 
• Washburn is 11-3 on the year and 1-0 inside the MIAA/GAC after defeating Southern Arkansas 5-2 at home last time out. 
• Nebraska Kearney defeated William Jewell 5-1 last time out, moving to 8-12 overall and 0-2 in the conference. They will face Emporia State on Friday 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 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 2-0 inside Topeka while going 4-2 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. 

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• In the ITA singles rankings Tim Hammes ranks No. 3 while Vasek Schneider is ranked No. 8. Pavlos Parson moves up to No. 50. 
• On the doubles side Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle are ranked No. 2 in the nation. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider also remain in the same spot at No. 7. 

SINGLES SETUP

• On the year Washburn has gone 132-62 (68.0%) in singles overall and 56-18 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 21 victories, he has gone 10-3 in duals, winning his last four times out. He is 10-2 playing from No. 2 and is 4-0 playing against ranked opponents.
• Tim Hammes has a 20-5 overall record going 9-4 in duals. He is 8-4 when playing at No. 1 and is 2-3 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 16-6 record on the year with a team-high 11 victories in duals. He is 11-1 in duals with a 6-0 mark at No. 4. 
• Pavlos Parson is 15-6 on the year in singles, going 6-2 at No. 3 in duals. He has won his last five times out.
• Matthew Earle is 10-11 on the year in singles competition and has gone 6-5 in duals from No. 3-5.
• Zino Nahirniak is 8-1 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 3-2 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 59-35 (62.8%) across their doubles matches this season and are 27-10 in duals. 
• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 17-5 record together, going 7-4 in duals all at No. 1. They are 1-1 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have the most victories together of any duo, going 19-6 overall with an 12-2 mark in duals from No. 2. 
• Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper have posted a 5-1 record together all coming at No. 3. 
• Graham Faris and Daniel Harkin went 4-2 playing together at fall tournaments. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has 20 doubles victories, most on the team. 
• Vasek Schneider and Matthew Earle are just behind him with 19 victories in doubles. 

Last Time Out

Washburn 5, Southern Arkansas 2 (March 29, 2025)

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn returned from an eleven-day break to work a 5-2 win over Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. The Ichabods are off for a week before facing Nebraska Kearney on the road next Saturday at 2 p.m.  

Doubles play began on court two with Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider working a ranked win over No. 46 Mathys Pinoit and Niklas Muller, 6-3. Moritz Pieper and Zino Nahirniak followed closely behind, securing the doubles point for Washburn (11-3) with a 6-3 win at No. 3. Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle led 5-4 over the No. 1 pair for the Muleriders (10-7) when the point was decided.  

Southern Arkansas was able to even the match up to begin singles with Tobias Berning falling 6-0, 6-1 after winning the opening set 6-4 at No. 5. Tommy Cecchetti battled back after losing the first set 6-0 to win 7-5 in the second and 6-2 in the third at No. 4. Pavlos Parson took his first set at No. 3 into a tiebreaker and battled through the long set, winning 12-10 in the tiebreak. He carried the momentum into a 6-0 second set victory.  

Vasek Schneider fell 6-3 in his first set at No. 2 but was able to bounce back, winning 6-3 in the second and 6-2 in the third to provide the match-clinching point. Zino Nahirniak split the first two sets, 6-4, 2-6 before winning 6-3 in the third to add another point to the tally from court six. Tim Hammes played extra games in all three sets at No. 1, with the first going in favor of No. 72 Mathys Pinoit, 7-5. Hammes rallied for a 7-6(2) tiebreaking win in the second before coming out on the other end of a third set tiebreaker, 7-6(6) to conclude the match.  

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 158-56 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 NEBRASKA KEARNEY LOPERS

• Nebraska Kearney is 8-12 on the year and 0-2 in the MIAA/GAC North Division. Last time out they defeated William Jewell 5-1. They will take on Emporia State on Friday before facing the Ichabods. 
• Last season the Lopers went 13-11 overall and 2-2 in conference play, falling in the first round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament. 
• This year they are 5-4 playing in Kearney, 2-5 on the road and 1-3 in neutral court matches. 
• The Lopers are 56-60 (48.3%) in singles duals this season. 
• Jip Mens is ranked ranked No. 46 nationally in singles by the ITA. 
• Mens leads the team with a 15-4 singles record, he is 10-2 when playing at No. 2. 
• Andy Brisdon is 10-7 on the year playing at four different positions. 
• Nebraska Kearney is 33-26 (55.9%) overall in doubles play on the year in duals. 
• Adrian Constatin and Tom van den Dungen are ranked No. 33 in the latest ITA doubles rankings. 
• The duo are 6-5 together this season, all coming at No. 1. 

HEAD COACH SCOTT SHAFER

• Scott Shafer joined the UNK tennis program in the summer of 2013. He served as the top assistant to head coach Jake Saulsbury for six years before being elevated to head coach in the summer of 2019.  
• A two-time MIAA Women's Coach of the Year and the 2024 ITA Central Region Women's Coach of the Year, Shafer enters the 2024-25 season with a women's dual record of 60-42 (18-14 conference) and men's mark of 13-11.
• Shafer, a USPTA teaching pro, also spent time in Madison, Wisc., where he worked at Cherokee Country Club, Hawks Landing G.C. and served as Tennis Director at Shorewood.

HISTORY WITH NEBRASKA KEARNEY

• Washburn leads the all-time series with Nebraska Kearney 17-9. 
• The Ichabods are 3-6 against the Lopers on the road. 
• The series began on April 20, 1986 with a 5-4 win for Nebraska Kearney at home. 
• Last season Washburn claimed a 7-0 victory over the Lopers in the only meeting coming in Topeka on April 26. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tim Hammes is three doubles wins away from reaching 70 career victories. 
• With two more singles victories Tommy Cecchetti will reach 40 for his career. 
• Pavlos Parson needs five victories to reach 40 career singles wins with Washburn. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Washburn returns home to face Emporia State on Wednesday, April 9 at the Washburn Tennis Complex beginning at 2 p.m. 
• 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.