TOPEKA, Kan. -- For a third straight year Washburn men's tennis is heading to the NCAA National Championships. The No. 9 nationally ranked and No. 7 seed Ichabods will face No. 13 and No. 10 seeded Concordia University Irvine in the Round of 16 in Atlamonte Springs, Fla. on Tuesday, May 20 at 10 a.m. CST. 

First Serve

• No. 9 Washburn men's tennis enters the NCAA National Championships as the No. 7 seed where they will face the No. 13 ranked and No. 10 seed Concordia University Irvine. 
• The Ichabods will face the Golden Eagles at 10 a.m. CST on Tuesday, May 20 in Altamonte Springs, Fla. at Sanlando Park. 
• Washburn is 20-3 on the year after picking up a second straight 4-0 sweep defeating Southern Arkansas in the Central Region Championships on May 9. 
• Concordia University Irvine won a seventh straight match, defeating No. 28 Point Loma 4-1 to advance into the National Championships and move to 20-3 on the year. 

TOURNAMENT TIME

• Washburn is making a 19th appearances in the NCAA Tournament. 
• The Ichabods are 15-18 all-time in the tournament. In the NCAA National Championships they are 1-7 all-time with a 1-6 record in the round of 16. 
• The only team to advance into the national quarterfinals was the 2017-18 squad. 

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. 9 in the latest ITA rankings. 
• Washburn was picked to finish first in the MIAA/GAC Preseason Coaches Poll. 
• So far this year Washburn is 6-0 inside Topeka while going 6-2 in road matches and 8-1 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 eleven victories over ranked opponents on the year. They are 11-2 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 ranked No. 1 in the nation. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider move to No. 23. 

SINGLES SETUP

• On the year Washburn has gone 169-68 (71.3%) in singles overall and 93-24 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 28 victories, he has gone 17-3 in duals, winning his last eleven times out. He is 17-2 playing from No. 2 and is 6-0 playing against ranked opponents.
• Tim Hammes has a 26-7 overall record going 15-6 in duals. He is 14-6 when playing at No. 1 and is 7-5 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 20-7 record on the year with 15 victories in duals. He is 15-2 in duals with a 9-1 mark at No. 4. 
• Pavlos Parson is 22-7 on the year in singles, going 15-3 in duals overall and 12-3 from No. 3. 
• Matthew Earle is 16-12 on the year in singles competition and has gone 12-6 in duals from No. 3-6.
• Zino Nahirniak is 13-1 on the year, all coming in duals and has won his last five 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 79-41 (65.8%) across their doubles matches this season and are 47-16 in duals. 
• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 23-7 record together, going 13-6 in duals all at No. 1. They are 3-2 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have the most victories together of any duo, going 26-7 overall with an 19-3 mark in duals from No. 2. 
• Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper are 6-4 together on the year with a 4-1 record at No. 3. 
• Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper have posted a 6-3 record together all coming at No. 3. 
• Tommy Cecchetti leads the team in doubles victories with a 27-9 record on the year. 
• Vasek Schneider is just behind him at 26 doubles victories and a 26-7 record. 

Last Time Out

Washburn 4, Southern Arkansas 0 (May 9, 2025)

TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 9-ranked Washburn Ichabods advanced to their seventh NCAA Sweet 16 and their third-straight after blanking Southern Arkansas 4-0 in the NCAA Regional at the Washburn Tennis Complex on Friday. Washburn improves to 20-3 on the season hitting the 20-win mark for the second-straight season. Washburn will now advance into the NCAA National Championships in Altamonte Springs, Fla. between May 20-24.

The Ichabods opened the match taking the doubles point after winning at the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider topped Lluc Pasqual and Jinsel Tajima 6-3 and Moritz Pieper and Pavlos Parson defeated Frode Neumann and William Von Pongracz 6-1.

Matthew Earle put the Ichabods up 2-0 after his 6-1, 6-3 win over Lucas Ibanez Martinez in 64 minutes at No. 6 singles and Vasek Schneider sat down Frode Neumann 6-2, 6-2 staking the Ichabods to a 3-0 lead at No. 2 singles.

Tommy Cecchetti closed out the match at No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Lluc Pasqual clinching the win to send the Ichabods to Florida.

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 173-59 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 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE GOLDEN EAGLES

• Concordia University Irvine is in the National Championshps riding a seven-match winning streak including a 4-3 PacWest Tournament Championship win over No. 5 Azusa Pacific and a 4-1 win over No. 28 Point Loma in the West Regional. They are 20-3 on the year. 
• Last season the Golden Eagles went 13-11 overall losing in the semifinals of the PacWest Tennis Championships. 
• They are ranked No. 13 in the latest ITA rankings from April 30. 
• This year they are 10-2 playing in Irvine, Cali. 6-1 on the road and 4-0 in neutral court matches. 
• CUI is 90-37 (70.9%) overall in singles play with a 1-9 record against nationally ranked opponents. 
• Adam Large is 20-2 on the year to lead the team in singles victories. He has played at three spots with a 15-2 record at No. 3 with wins the last seven times out. 
• Max Renz has a 13-6 record playing at No. 4 and No. 5 with a 6-2 record on court five. 
• Felix Veyhle and Max Mueller are ranked No. 7 in the nation together in doubles by the ITA. 
• In doubles competition the Golden Eagles have gone 43-16 (72.9%) in duals with a 4-2 record against ranked opponents. 
• Felix Veyhle and Max Mueller are 13-5 on the year together all coming at No. 1. They are 4-1 in ranked duals. 
• Adam Kartzinel and Spencer Cinco are 12-4 together this season at No. 2. 

HEAD COACH MATTIS LE MONTAGNER

• Is serving as the interim head coach of the Golden Eagles after taking over in the middle of the season. 
• Graduate assistant Max Nijssen rounds out the staff.

HISTORY WITH CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE

• Washburn leads the all-time series with Concordia University Irvine 1-0. 
• The one meeting came on the road and was a 5-2 win for the Ichabods on March 10, 2022. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are both eight victories away from 50 career singles victories. 
• Tim Hammes needs is two doubles victories away from 75 in his career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• With a win, Washburn would advance into the NCAA National Quarterfinals and face the winner of the match between the No. 2 seed Barry and No. 15 Ouachita Baptist at 2 p.m. CST on Wednesday, May 21.