TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 7 Washburn men's tennis will face another ranked conference opponent this time at home as they host No. 28 Emporia State to the Washburn Tennis Complex at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. 

First Serve

• No. 7 Washburn men's tennis gets set for the turnpike tussle facing No. 28 Emporia State. 
• The Ichabods will welcome the Hornets to the Washburn Tennis Courts at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9. 
• Washburn is 12-3 on the year and 2-0 inside the MIAA/GAC after defeating Nebraska Kearney on the road last time out. 
• Emporia State moved to 9-4 overall and 1-1 inside the MIAA/GAC North Division after losing 4-3 to Nebraska Kearney on April 4.

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 5-2 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 seven victories over ranked opponents on the year. They are 7-2 overall in those matches. 

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 136-64 (68.0%) in singles overall and 60-20 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 22 victories, he has gone 11-3 in duals, winning his last four times out. He is 11-2 playing from No. 2 and is 4-0 playing against ranked opponents.
• Tim Hammes has a 20-6 overall record going 9-5 in duals. He is 8-5 when playing at No. 1 and is 2-4 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 17-6 record on the year with a team-high 12 victories in duals. He is 12-1 in duals with a 7-0 mark at No. 4. 
• Pavlos Parson is 16-6 on the year in singles, going 7-2 at No. 3 in duals. He has won his last six times out.
• Matthew Earle is 11-11 on the year in singles competition and has gone 7-5 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 3-3 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 60-37 (61.9%) across their doubles matches this season and are 28-12 in duals. 
• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 18-5 record together, going 8-4 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 19-7 overall with an 12-3 mark in duals from No. 2. 
• Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper have posted a 5-2 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 20 doubles victories.
• Vasek Schneider follows just behind with 19 on the year. 

Last Time Out

Washburn 4, Nebraska Kearney 3 (April 5, 2025)

KEARNEY, Neb. -- No. 7 Washburn battled back from an early hole to defeat No. 43 Nebraska Kearney on the road Saturday afternoon and stay unbeaten in conference play. The Ichabods will come back to Topeka next week taking on Emporia State on Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m.  

The Lopers (9-13, 1-3 MIAA/GAC) gained an advantage right away with Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper falling 6-0 at No. 3 doubles. Washburn (11-3, 2-0 MIAA/GAC) evened up the first stage of the match with Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes coming back from an early deficit to win 6-3 on the top court. Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider were unable to complete the same comeback, falling 6-4 at No. 2 as Nebraska Kearney claimed the first point of the match.  

They went up 2-0 to begin singles play with Tobias Berning falling 6-2 in a pair of sets at No. 6. Tommy Cecchetti cruised to a 6-0 win in his opening set at No. 4 before putting the Ichabods on the board with a 7-5 win in the second. Vasek Schneider worked a 6-3 win in his first set but would go to a third after losing 6-2 in the second. He flipped the score in the third, winning at No. 2 to even up the match.  

Matthew Earle went to an extra game in his opening set at No. 5 but came away with the 7-5 win. He worked quicker in the second, winning 6-4 to bring up match point. After falling 6-3 in the first set at No. 3 Pavlos Parson bounced back with 6-1 and 6-2 victories, clinching the match for Washburn. Nebraska Kearney got another point as Tim Hammes fell 7-5 at No. 1 in the third set after splitting the first two sets, 6-4 and 3-6 with No. 46 Jip Mens.  

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 160-56 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 EMPORIA STATE HORNETS

• Emporia State is 9-4 overall on the year and 1-1 inside the MIAA/GAC North Division after losing 4-3 to Nebraska Kearney on April 4 last time out. 
• Last season the Hornets went 10-8 overall and 1-3 in conference play, missing out on the MIAA/GAC Tournament. 
• This year they are 6-0 playing at the Kossover Family Tennis Complex/Milton Courts, 1-2 on the road and 2-2 in neutral court matches. 
• The Hornets are 50-20 (71.4%) overall in singles play. 
• Anton Sarunic is ranked No. 16 nationally in singles by the ITA. 
• Alexis Mattenberger has the most victories on the team going 9-3 overall on the year. 
• Anton Sarunic is 7-1 on the year in duals all coming at No. 1. 
• Emporia State are 22-17 (56.4%) on the year in doubles play during duals. 
• Alexis Mattenberger and Gwendal Mazuay are 8-5 together on the year playing at all three positions. 

HEAD COACH JOHN BLACKBURN

• John Blackburn is in his second season as Director of Tennis and the Head Men's Tennis Coach at Emporia State. 
• Blackburn just finished his eighth season as the head coach at NCAA Division III Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. He has gone 117-58 overall with a 54-4 record in conference play.
• Prior to his time at Methodist, Blackburn was the head women's coach at Eastern Illinois University from 2005 to 2015. He was the head men's coach from 2005-13 before becoming the Director of Tennis and coaching the women only from 2013-15.

HISTORY WITH EMPORIA STATE

• Washburn leads the all-time series with Emporia State 76-29.
• The Ichabods are 43-12 against the Hornets in Topeka. 
• The series began on April 10, 1948 with a 6-0 win at home for Washburn. 
• The last eight meetings have gone to the Ichabods including a 6-1 road win last season. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

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

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Washburn takes a break from conference play to face Southeastern Oklahoma State in Sunday, April 13 in Oklahoma City, 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.