TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 1 seed from the North, Washburn men's tennis will face the MIAA/GAC top seed in the South, Ouachita Baptist in the MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship on Friday at 9 a.m. in Springfield, Mo.  
  

First Serve 

• No. 9 Washburn men's tennis goes for a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship taking on No. 36 Ouachita Baptist.  

• The Ichabods will take on the Tigers at 9 a.m. on Friday from the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.  

• Washburn is 18-3 on the year after defeating No. 21 Harding 4-1 in the semifinals on Thursday.  

• Ouachita Baptist improved to 14-8 on the year after sweeping Southern Arkansas in the semifinal round on Thursday.  

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS 

• Washburn had six players earn All-MIAA/GAC honors that were released on Tuesday afternoon with a pair of individual honors as well.  

• Kirby Ronning was named MIAA/GAC Coach of the Year for a second time in his career and a second straight season.  

• Tim Hammes was named the MIAA/GAC Player of the Year as well as being named a first team selection in singles.  

• Vasek Schneider also earned first team honors in singles. 

• Tim Hammes got a clean sweep of first team recognition as he and Matthew Earle landed on the first team in doubles.  

• Vasek Schneider and Tommy Cecchetti were also members of the first team for doubles.  

• Pavlos Parson earned a second team nod in singles while Matthew Earle, Tommy Cecchetti and Zino Nahirniak were all honorable mentions in singles. 

BODS AND BITS  

• Washburn's 2024-25 roster features ten returners from a season ago with three new additions to round out the roster.   

• The Ichabods are ranked No. 9 in the latest ITA rankings.  

• Washburn was picked to finish first in the MIAA/GAC Preseason Coaches Poll.  

• The Ichabods are ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings released on April 30.  

• So far this year Washburn is 5-0 inside Topeka while going 6-2 in road matches and 7-1 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 ten victories over ranked opponents on the year. They are 10-2 overall in those matches.  

AROUND THE RANKINGS 

• In the ITA singles rankings Tim Hammes ranks No. 4 while Vasek Schneider is ranked No. 8. Pavlos Parson moves to No. 65.  

• On the doubles side Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle are once again ranked No. 1 in the nation.  

• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider move down to the No. 23 slot.  

SINGLES SETUP 

• On the year Washburn has gone 163-68 (70.6%) in singles overall and 88-24 in duals.  

• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 27 victories, he has gone 16-3 in duals, winning his last ten times out. He is 16-2 playing from No. 2 and is 6-0 playing against ranked opponents. 

• Tim Hammes has a 25-7 overall record going 14-6 in duals. He is 13-6 when playing at No. 1 and is 6-5 against ranked opponents.  

• Tommy Cecchetti has a 19-7 record on the year and has 14 victories in duals. He is 14-2 in duals with a 8-1 mark at No. 4.  

• Pavlos Parson is 21-7 on the year in singles, going 14-3 in duals overall and 11-3 from No. 3.  

• Matthew Earle is 15-12 on the year in singles competition and has gone 11-6 in duals from No. 3-6. 

• Zino Nahirniak is 12-1 on the year, all coming in duals and has won his last four times out. He is 7-1 playing at No. 6.  

• Moritz Pieper has gone 7-6 in singles play on the year with a 2-0 mark 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.  

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD 

• The Ichabods have gone 75-39 (65.8%) across their doubles matches this season and are 43-14 in duals.  

• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 22-6 record together, going 12-5 in duals all at No. 1. They are 2-2 against ranked opponents.  

• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have the most victories together of any duo, going 24-7 overall with an 17-3 mark in duals from No. 2.  

• Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper have posted a 7-3 record together all coming at No. 3.  

• Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper have won the last four times together for a 5-3 record as a duo, going 3-0 from No. 3.  

• Tommy Cecchetti has a team-high 25 doubles victories with a 25-9 record. 

• Matthew Earle is just behind with a 24-9 mark.  

Last Time Out 

Washburn 4, Harding 1 (May 1, 2025) 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- No. 9 Washburn will play for a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship after defeating No. 21 Harding 4-1 on Thursday afternoon in the semifinals. The Ichabods will face No. 36 Ouachita Baptist at 9 a.m. on Friday.   

It was the Bisons (15-6) who took an advantage early in doubles with Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle falling in a ranked dual with No. 17 ranked Cas de Ruiter and Adrian Solorzano, 6-2. Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider were able to even up the opening stage, working a quick 6-1 win on court two. Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper closed out the first point for Washburn (18-3), with a 6-3 win at No. 3 to take a 1-0 lead.   

Singles competition was led off by Matthew Earle on court six as he won a pair of 6-2 sets in just over an hour. Tim Hammes fell behind in a top-10 battle with No. 10 Cas de Ruiter with a 6-3 decision in the first set. He battled back to win 6-1 in the second before falling 6-1 in the third as Harding got on the board on court one.   

Pavlos Parson worked a quick 6-2 win in his opening set at No. 4 before setting up match point with a 6-3 victory in the second. Vasek Schneider blanked No. 22 Adrian Solorzano 6-0 in the first set at No. 2. The dual went into a third set after Solorzano bounced back to win 6-2 in the second. Schneider returned to first-set form with another 6-0 sweep in the third set to clinch a semifinal victory.   

Tommy Cecchetti came away with a 7-6(4) tiebreaking victory in his first set at No. 4 and led 5-1 in the second when the match was decided. Zino Nahirniak led deep in the first set, 6-6 (4-2) in a tiebreaker at No. 5 at the conclusion of 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 171-57 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 OUACHITA BAPTIST TIGERS 

• Ouachita Baptist has a 14-8 overall record after defeating Southern Arkansas 4-0 in the MIAA/GAC Semifinals on Thursday.  

• Last season the Tigers went 13-8 on the year and 3-1 in conference play. They lost to Washburn in the semifinals of the MIAA/GAC Tournament and fell to Southern Arkansas in the first round of NCAA Regional action. 

• On the singles side of the ITA rankings Phil Exner is slotted No. 2. Ramon Strassmann is ranked No. 62 nationally.  

• In doubles, Phil Exner and Ramon Strassmann are ranked No. 5 together.  

HEAD COACH JAKE SHOEMAKE 

• Is in his first season as the head coach of the Ouachita Baptist men's tennis program.  

• Shoemake lettered for the Tiger tennis team while earning a bachelor's degree in business administration. During his time as an undergraduate, he and the Tigers won three consecutive AIC championships in 1992, 1993, and 1994. 

• Most recently, from 2018 until his hire as head coach at Ouachita, Shoemake was the head tennis pro and manager at the Bella Vista (Arkansas) Property Owners Association, where he oversaw the entire tennis program at the Kingsdale Tennis Center. 

HISTORY WITH OUACHITA BAPTIST 

• Washburn leads the all-time series over Ouachita Baptist 8-3.  

• The Ichabods are 4-1 against the Tigers in neutral court locations.  

• The series began on March 17, 2002 with a 7-1 win for Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark.  

• Earlier this season Washburn won a 7-0 match over the Tigers in Edmond, Okla. on March 16.  

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD 

• The NCAA Central Region Championships will be held between May 9-11. With a win Washburn would clinch a spot.