SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis completed its title defense on Friday morning, capturing a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship defeating No. 36 Ouachita Baptist 4-0 playing indoors due to rain. The Ichabods now clinch a spot in the NCAA Central Region Tournament and will find out their placement on Monday, May 5 at 8 p.m. with the NCAA selection show.
It was the Tigers (14-9) who jumped out to an advantage in doubles, defeating Moritz Pieper and Pavlos Parson 6-2 on court three. Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes pulled away late for a 6-4 top-10 win over No. 10 Phil Exner and Ramon Strassmann at No. 1 to even doubles up. Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider stayed to form, winning 6-3 at No. 2 and clinching the first point of the match for Washburn (19-3).
Zino Nahirniak completed his first duel of the tournament to lead off singles action, winning 6-1 in a pair of sets at No. 5 in under an hour of play. Pavlos Paron followed just behind him, winning the first seven games of his duel including a 6-0 first set before taking the second set 6-3 to bring up match point from court three.
Tim Hammes fell behind early on the top court in his battle with No. 1 Phil Exner. He dug out of the early hole and played an extra game in the first set, taking it 7-5. After falling behind once again in the second he was unable to finish the dual, falling 6-4. In the third he jumped out to an early lead and would hold on for a 6-3 championship-clinching set.
Vasek Schneider led 3-1 in his third set at No. 2 when the match was decided, Tommy Cecchetti was also in the third set, trailing 4-3. Matthew Earle won a tiebreaker in his first set and was one game away from winning in the second when the fourth point was won.
A third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship gives the Ichabods the six titles overall, including regular season titles pre 2020 season. In the tournament era of the MIAA/GAC combining Washburn has won three of five tournament titles.
Doubles competition:
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Earle, Matthew/Hammes, Tim (WU) def. Exner, Phil/Strassmann, Ramon (OBU) 6-4
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Cecchetti, Tommy/Schneider, Vasek (WU) def. Buss, Moritz/Lagger, Elias (OBU) 6-3
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Aebi, Yarin/Osmond, Aaron (OBU) def. Parson, Pavlos/Pieper, Moritz (WU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles competition:
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Hammes, Tim (WU) def. Exner, Phil (OBU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
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Schneider, Vasek (WU) vs. Strassmann, Ramon (OBU) 6-4, 4-6, 3-1 UF
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Parson, Pavlos (WU) def. Lagger, Elias (OBU) 6-0, 6-3
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Cecchetti, Tommy (WU) vs. Buss, Moritz (OBU) 6-1, 2-6, 3-4 UF
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Nahirniak, Zino (WU) def. Aebi, Yarin (OBU) 6-1, 6-1
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Earle, Matthew (WU) vs. Osmond, Aaron (OBU) 7-6(3), 5-4 UF
Order of finish: 5, 3, 1
