TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 9 nationally ranked and the top seed in the central region Washburn men's tennis is hosting the No. 4 seed Southern Arkansas for a trip to the NCAA National Championships on Friday, May 9 at the Washburn Tennis Complex with first serve at noon.
First Serve
- No. 9 Washburn men's tennis hosts a third straight NCAA Central Regional as they take on Southern Arkansas.
- The Ichabods will face the Muleriders in Topeka at 12 p.m. on Friday, May 9 at the Washburn Tennis Complex with at trip to the NCAA National Championships on the line.
- Washburn is 19-3 on the year after defeating Ouachita Baptist 4-0 to claim a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament title on May 2.
- Southern Arkansas is 12-10 on the year after falling 4-0 to Ouachita Baptist in the semifinal round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament.
TOURNAMENT TIME
- Washburn is making a 19th appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Ichabods are the top seed in the NCAA Central Region are are hosting a regional finals match for a third straight season.
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 5-0 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
SINGLES SETUP
- On the year Washburn has gone 166-68 (70.9%) in singles overall and 90-24 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 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 19-7 record on the year with 14 victories in duals. He is 14-2 in duals with a 8-1 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 15-12 on the year in singles competition and has gone 11-6 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 77-40 (65.8%) across their doubles matches this season and are 45-15 in duals.
- Tim Hammes and Matthew Earle have a 23-6 record together, going 13-5 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 25-7 overall with an 18-3 mark in duals from No. 2.
- Zino Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper have posted a 7-3 record together all coming at No. 3.
- Pieper and Pavlos Parson are 6-3 together all coming at No. 3.
- Tommy Cecchetti leads the team in doubles victories with a 26-9 record on the year.
- Matthew Earle and Vasek Schneider are just behind him with 25 victories each.
Last Time Out
Washburn 4, Ouachita Baptist 0 (May 22, 2025)
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.
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 172-58 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 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS
- Southern Arkansas is in the tournament after falling in its last time out, 4-0 to Ouachita Baptist in the semifinal round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament. The loss moved them to 12-10 on the year.
- Last season the Muleriders went 14-8 overall and 2-2 inside the MIAA. They advanced to the NCAA Round of 16.
- This year they are 4-2 at home, 4-4 on the road and 4-4 in neutral court matches.
- On the singles side of the ITA rankings Mathys Pinoit is ranked No. 46 while Tim Fischer is close behind with a No. 45 ranking.
- Southern Arkansas is 20-26 (43.5%) overall in singles play.
- In doubles competition the Muleriders have gone 11-17 (39.3%) on the year in duals.
HEAD COACH GREG OWEN
- Is in his eighth season as the head coach for the men's and women's tennis programs at Southern Arkansas.
- Owen comes to SAU from Seward County Community College (Liberal, Kan.) where he was into his third season as head men's and women's tennis coach.
- A native of Henryetta, Okla., Owen played collegiately for a season at Seminole State College (Seminole, Okla.) and then his final three seasons at GAC-rival Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Durant, Okla.).
HISTORY WITH SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
- Southern Arkansas leads the all-time series over Washburn 4-3.
- The Ichabods are 1-1 against the Muleriders in Topeka.
- The series began on February 15, 2019 with a 4-3 win for Southern Arkansas in Midlothian, Texas.
- Washburn claimed a 5-2 win over Southern Arkansas earlier this season at the Washburn Tennis Complex on March 29.
MILESTONE MARKERS
SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD
- With a win, Washburn would advance into the NCAA National Championships held in Altamonte Springs, Fla. between May 20-24.
