TOPEKA, Kan. -- For the first time in program history the No. 9 Washburn Ichabod men's tennis team is heading to the NCAA National Semifinals on Friday, May 23 where they will face No. 7 UT Tyler at 8 a.m. CST from Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla. 
 

First Serve

• No. 9 Washburn men's tennis enters unchartered territory making the program's first ever appearance in the National Semifinals taking on No. 7 UT Tyler. 
• The No. 7 seed Ichabods will face the No. 3 seed Patriots at 8 a.m. CST on Friday, May 23 in Atlamonte Springs, Fla. inside Sanlando Park. 
• Washburn improved to 22-3 on the year after defeating No. 3 Barry 4-3 in the Elite Eight on Wednesday for a 12th straight victory. 
• UT Tyler moved to 24-2 on the year after defeating Azusa Pacific 4-3 in the National Quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon. 

TOURNAMENT TIME

• Washburn is making its 19th appearances in the NCAA Tournament. 
• The Ichabods are 17-18 all-time in the tournament. After a win on Wednesday they are 1-1 in the National Quarterfinals. 
• A live stream of the semifinals will be availiable on the ncaa.com under the men's tennis DII live video tabs. 

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 10-1 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 13 victories over ranked opponents on the year. They are 13-2 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 176-72 (71.0%) in singles overall and 100-28 in duals. 
• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 30 victories, he has gone 19-3 in duals, winning his last 13 times out. He is 19-2 playing from No. 2 and is 6-0 playing against ranked opponents.
• Tim Hammes has a 27-8 overall record going 16-7 in duals. He is 15-7 when playing at No. 1 and is 7-6 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti has a 22-7 record on the year with 17 victories in duals. He is 17-2 in duals with a 11-1 mark at No. 4. 
• Pavlos Parson is 23-8 on the year in singles, going 16-4 in duals overall and 13-4 from No. 3. 
• Matthew Earle is 17-13 on the year in singles competition and has gone 13-7 in duals from No. 3-6. He is 4-2 playing at No. 6. 
• Zino Nahirniak is 13-2 on the year, all coming in duals. He is 7-1 playing at No. 6 and 4-1 at No. 5. 
• Moritz Pieper has gone 7-6 in singles play on the year going 2-0 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 82-44 (65.1%) across their doubles matches this season and are 50-19 in duals. 
• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 23-9 record together, going 13-8 in duals all at No. 1. They are 3-3 against ranked opponents. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have the most victories together of any duo, going 28-7 overall with an 21-3 mark in duals from No. 2 winning the last nine times out. 
• Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper are 7-5 together on the year with a 5-2 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 29-9 record on the year. 
• Vasek Schneider is just behind him at 28 doubles victories and a 28-7 record. 

Last Time Out

Washburn 4, Barry 3 (May 21, 2025)

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- No. 9 Washburn is heading to the final four for the first time in program history after knocking off the No. 3 seed in the nation and No. 2 seed in the tournament, Barry on Wednesday afternoon. The Ichabods will square off with No. 7 ranked and No. 3 seed UT Tyler at 8 a.m. CST on Friday, May 23.  

Doubles play began with Washburn (22-3) claiming the advantage early with Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper winning 6-3 at No. 3. The Bucs (21-4) evened up the opening stage with Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes falling 7-5 on court one. At No. 2, Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider battled the entire way against No. 36 Gabriele Felline and Tim Riedel. They trailed 5-6 but were able to even up the dual at six games each. In the tiebreaker they pulled away for a 7-3 win to put the Ichabods up 1-0.  

Barry was able to even the score at one with a win over Zino Nahirniak at No. 5 by 6-1 and 6-2 scores. Pavlos Parson jumped ahead early over No. 33 Yan Kodjoed to work a 6-4 first set victory on court three. He continued to cruise with a 6-3 win in the second to pull back in front. Matthew Earle fell in a pair of sets at No. 6, 6-3 and 6-2 as the match was evened up again.  

Washburn men's tennis vs Southern Arkansas - NCAA Central Regional finals May 9, 2025.

After falling 6-2 in his first set at No. 2, Vasek Schneider turned around for a 6-1 win in the second set. In the third he fell behind early but was able to mount a comeback late to win 6-4 and bring up match point. Tim Hammes also fell in a quick first set, losing 6-1 to No. 38 Riccardo Trione. He forced a third set after coming away with a 7-6(4) tiebreaker victory in the second. He was knotted at 3-3 on the top court in the third before the final three games went to the Bucs, tying the match once again.  

On court four Tommy Cecchetti jumped out to an early lead in his first set before it was tied up at six games all. He did the same in the tiebreaker, and did not relinquish the lead, winning 7-5 to take the first. The second set went to Barry, 6-3. The third set went back and forth with ties at three, four and five games each. After serving himself to a 6-5 lead Cecchetti broke the Bucs serve to win 7-5 and provide the match clincher.  

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 175-59 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 UT TYLER PATRIOTS

• UT Tyler has won three matches in a row and are 24-2 on the year after defeating Azusa Pacific in the National Quarterfinals on Wednesday. They defeated Edinboro in the Round of 16 and Midwestern State in the first round. 
• Last season the Patriots went 21-6 overall, advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals before falling 4-1 to Flagler.
• They are ranked No. 7 in the latest ITA rankings from April 30. 
• This year they are 12-1 playing at the Summers Tennis Center with a 4-0 road record and are 8-1 in neutral court matches. 
• UT Tyler is 96-32 (75.0%) overall in singles play with a 2-4 record against nationally ranked opponents. 
• Four players are ranked for the Patriots in singles. Carel Wessel is slotted at No. 7, Artiom Dorofeev is ranked No. 17, Daniil Felker at No. 69 and Jordi Garcia at No. 74. 
• Artiom Dorofeev leads the team with 19 victories he is 19-2 overall with a 11-1 mark at No. 2. 
• Malo Polesquen is 18-4 on the year playing at four spots, he has a 10-3 record at No. 5. 
• Carel Wessell and Daniil Felker are ranked No. 6 in the nation in doubles. 
• In doubles competition the Patriots have gone 51-16 (76.1%) in duals with a 1-1 record against ranked opponents. 
• Malo Poulesquen and Artiom Dorofeev have a 14-5 record together going 11-5 at No. 2. 
• Carel Wessel and Daniil Felker are 14-4 together all coming at No. 1. They have won the last five times out. 

HEAD COACH CHRIS BIZOT

• Coach Chris Bizot recently completed his second season back at UT Tyler in the 2023-2024 season after previously serving as the head men's and women's coach from 2005-2016 before moving to conference foe Angelo State to serve as the head women's coach for their newly revived program from 2017-2022.
• Bizot holds a career record of 555-250 over 17 years of head coaching experience.  He has accumulated several coaching awards including 18 ASC Division Coach of the Year, one LSC Coach of the Year, four ITA Region Coach of the Year awards. 

HISTORY WITH UT TYLER

• Washburn leads the all-time series with UT Tyler 1-0
• The one meeting came last season and was a 4-1 neutral court win over the Patriots on March 3, 2024. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson each picked up singles victories in the match. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tommy Cecchetti is six victories away from reaching 50 career singles victories. 
• With seven more wins Pavlos Parson will reach 50 singles wins at Washburn. 
• Tim Hammes needs is two doubles victories away from 75 in his career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• With a win, Washburn would advance into the National Championship match against the winner of Valdosta State and Lubbock Christian at 12 p.m. CST on Saturday.