TOPEKA, Kan. -- A champion will be crowned on Saturday afternoon in Altamonte Springs, Fla. at Sanlando Park and No. 9 Washburn men's tennis will be one of two teams going for the title as they face No. 1 Valdosta State at noon CST.  
 

First Serve 

• No. 9 Washburn men's tennis will make its program debut in the National Championship match as they take on No. 1 Valdosta State.  

• The No. 7 seed Ichabods will face the No. 1 seed Blazers at 12 p.m. CST on Saturday, May 24 from Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.  

• Washburn improved to 23-3 on the year with a 4-0 sweep over No. 7 UT Tyler in the Semifinals on Friday.  

• Valdosta State continued its undefeated season, moving to 25-0 with a 4-0 sweep over the No. 4 seed, Lubbock Christian on Friday morning.  

TOURNAMENT TIME 

• Washburn is making its 19th appearances in the NCAA Tournament.  

• The Ichabods are 18-18 all-time in the tournament. After a win on Friday they are 1-0 in the National Semifinals 

• A live stream of the championship match will be available for all six courts on the ncaa.com under the men's tennis DII live video tabs. Enter an email to gain access.  

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 11-1 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 14 victories over ranked opponents on the year. They are 14-2 overall in those matches.  

• With 23 victories and counting Washburn has a new program record for most victories in a single season.  

• The Ichabods are the first team from the Central time zone since Drury in 2002 to appear in the men's National Championship match.  

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 179-72 (71.3%) in singles overall and 103-28 in duals.  

• Vasek Schneider is the team leader with 31 victories, he has gone 20-3 in duals, winning his last 14 times out. He is 20-2 playing from No. 2 and is 7-0 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 24-8 on the year in singles, going 17-4 in duals overall and 14-4 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 14-2 on the year, all coming in duals. He is 7-1 playing at No. 6 and 5-1 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 84-45 (65.1%) across their doubles matches this season and are 52-20 in duals.  

• Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 24-9 record together, going 14-8 in duals all at No. 1. They are 4-3 against ranked opponents.  

• Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider have the most victories together of any duo, going 29-7 overall with an 22-3 mark in duals from No. 2 winning the last ten times out.  

• Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper are 7-6 together on the year with a 5-3 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 30-9 record on the year.  

• Vasek Schneider is just behind him at 28 doubles victories and a 29-7 record.  

Last Time Out 

Washburn 4, UT Tyler 0 (May 23, 2025) 

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- No. 9 Washburn will play for the first national championship in program history on Saturday after defeating No. 7 UT Tyler in a 4-0 sweep on Friday morning in the National Semifinals. The Ichabods will face the No. 1 seed, Valdosta State at 12 p.m. CST on Saturday for the title.  

After falling behind early, Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider led off the match winning a 6-3 dual at No. 2 doubles to give Washburn (23-3) the advantage. The Patriots (24-3) evened doubles play up, winning 6-3 on court three over Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper. Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle trailed 5-6 in a top-10 battle with No. 6 Daniil Felker and Carel Wessel but battled back to tie it at six. They jumped ahead 6-0 in the tiebreaker and won 7-2 to secure the first point of the match.  

Pavlos Parson got singles play started, cruising to a 6-1 win in his first set at No. 3. He followed with a 6-3 victory in the second set to put another point on the board. On court two Vasek Schneider pulled away late for a 6-4 win in the first set over No. 7 Carel Wessel. He carried the momentum into a 6-1 second set win to bring up match point for the Ichabods.  

In the first set at No. 5, Zino Nahirniak fell behind early and was unable to come back, dropping the set 6-3. He bounced back to win six consecutive games in the second for a sweep. It was more of the same as he extended the streak of games to 12 with a second 6-0 sweep in the third set to clinch 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 176-59 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 VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS 

• Valdosta State continued its undefeated season moving to 25-0 with a 4-0 win over Lubbock Christian in the Friday semifinals. They defeated West Florida 4-1 to win the Gulf South Conference Tournament earlier in the season.  

• Last season the Blazers won the National Championship with a 26-3 overall record. They defeated Flagler College 4-3 in the championship match.  

• They are ranked No. 1 in the latest ITA rankings from April 30.  

• This year they are 10-0 playing at the VSU Tennis Courts, 4-0 on the road and 11-0 in neutral court matches.  

• Valdosta State is 99-16 (86.1%) in singles matches this season going 12-4 against ranked opponents.  

• On the singles side of the ITA rankings Takeshi Taco is ranked No. 2 in the nation with Boruch Skierkier just behind him at No. 3. Edgar Destouet is ranked No. 20 nationally as well.  

• Edgar Destouet is undefeated on the year going 24-0 overall. He is 16-0 at No. 3.  

• Boruch Skierkier is 17-1 on the year playing all at No. 1 and No. 2. He has gone 8-0 on the top court.  

• Takeshi Taco is 15-1 on the year and 3-0 against ranked opponents. He is 13-1 playing at No. 1.  

• On the doubles side of the ITA rankings Takeshi Taco and Saveam Van Wijk are ranked No. 5 together. Edgar Destouet and Arthur Bord are also in the top-10 at No. 8.  

• In doubles competition the Blazers have gone 49-13 (79.0%) in duals with a 10-1 record against ranked opponents.  

• Arthur Bord and Edgar Destouet are 18-3 this season in doubles going 12-3 at No. 2 with wins the last nine times out.  

• Takeshi Taco and Xaveam Van Wijk are 15-2 together all coming at No. 1. They are 4-0 against ranked opponents.  

HEAD COACH JOHN HANSEN 

• Valdosta State head men's and women's tennis coach John Hansen has coached the Blazers for over 50 years in his storied career 

• Over his career with the red and black, Hansen guided both the men's and women's teams to three national championships, three runner-up finishes and three top four finishes.  He has guided the teams to a combined 26 South Atlantic and Gulf South Conference championships 

HISTORY WITH VALDOSTA STATE 

• Valdosta State leads the all-time series with Washburn 1-0.  

• The one meeting came on March 11, 2021 and was a 4-0 win for the Blazers in Valdosta, Ga.  

MILESTONE MARKERS 

• Tommy Cecchetti is six victories away from reaching 50 career singles victories.  

• With six more wins Pavlos Parson will reach 50 singles wins at Washburn.  

• Tim Hammes needs is one doubles victory away from 75 in his career.  

• Vasek Schneider set a new program record with a 31st singles victory on the year in the National Semifinals.  

• Tommy Cecchetti became the fifth Ichabod to win 30 doubles duals in a season with his 30th victory on Friday.