TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn men's tennis takes the court for its first dual match of the season this Saturday against McKendree at 3:30 p.m. inside the Genesis Tennis Center. 
 

First Serve

• The spring season begins for No. 6 Washburn men's tennis as they face off against McKendree. 
• The Ichabods will play host to the Bearcats on Saturday, Jan. 31 inside Genesis Tennis Center beginning at 3:30 p.m.
• Saturday's match is the first dual match of the season for Washburn.
• McKendree is 2-0 entering the spring season. They will face Oakland City University on Thursday before taking on the Ichabods this weekend.

BODS AND BITS 

• Washburn's 2025-26 roster returns seven players from last season while adding four freshmen to complete the roster.
• The Ichabods are ranked No. 6 in the first ITA rankings of the year. 
• Washburn was picked to finish first in the MIAA/GAC Preseason Coaches Poll. 
• The Ichabods are coming off a historic 2024-25 season where they went 23-4 and 5-0 in the MIAA/GAC North. They won a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA National Championship for the first time in program history.
• Last season Washburn went 6-0 in home matches, 6-2 on the road and 11-2 in neutral court battles. 
• The Ichabods went 14-4 against ranked opponents last season. This year they are slated to face eight ITA-top 25 ranked opponents based on preseason rankings.

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• Three players for the Ichabods rank in the first ITA singles ranking of the season. 
• Pavlos Parson leads the group with a No. 8 national ranking. Benjamin Fock is slotted at No. 36 while Yuto Miyagawa rounds out the group at No. 40.

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 70-39 (64.2%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson is tied for a team-high with 12 singles victories going 12-3 on the year. 
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 12-1 mark, giving him the highest winning percentage in singles on the squad. 
• Yuto Miyagawa is also tied for a team-high with 12 victories going 12-2 on the year. 
• Moritz Pieper has gone 10-5 so far in singles competition. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 7-4 on the year in singles action. 
• Tommy Cecchetti is 3-4 so far on the new year.  
• Graham Faris has played in two tournaments going an even 3-3 on the year. 
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji is 4-6 so far in singles. 
• Mason Fair has gone 3-6 on the year and 3-2 in the last five duals. 
• Petr Leipner has started his freshman season 4-5. 

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• On the year Washburn has gone 22-20 (52.4%) in doubles matches. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Pavlos Parson have gone 6-2 together in doubles. They have the most victories of any duo this season.
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak are off to a 5-3 start together on the year. 
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Graham Faris have posted a 4-3 mark together. 
• Moritz Pieper and Mason Fair are also 3-3 on the year so far. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Petr Leipner are 2-5 together on the year. 

Last Time Out

Valdosta State 4, Washburn 2 (May 24, 2025)

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- Three separate rain or lightning delays and nearly six hours after the match began No. 9 Washburn's season came to an end with a 4-2 National Championship loss to No. 1 Valdosta State on Saturday evening. The Ichabods end the historic season for the program with a 23-4 record.  

The top-seeded Blazers (26-0) jumped ahead in doubles play at No. 3, defeating Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper 6-2 to take the advantage. Playing on the top court Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes fought in a top-five battle with No. 5 Takeshi Taco and Saveam Van Wijk. After the dual was tied 4-4 the final two games went to Valdosta State to take the doubles point. Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider led 5-4 on court two for Washburn over No. 8 Edgar Destouet and Arthur Bord and were leading 30-15 in the game when the point was decided. 

In singles play the first court featured a top-five battle between No. 4 Tim Hammes and No. 2 Takeshi Taco. Hammes fell in the first set 6-1 before bouncing back to reverse the score in the second and force a third set. In the third he fell behind early and was unable to make up the ground, losing 6-1. Finishing just behind him was Zino Nahirniak on court five who put the Ichabods on the board with a pair of 6-3 victories.  

Court two also had a meeting of top-10 opponents with No. 8 Vasek Schneider taking on No. 3 Boruch Skierkier. Schneider fell behind 4-0 early in the first set but was able to battle back, winning six straight games for a 6-4 win in the first set. The second set went back-and-forth with ties at 2-2, 3-3- and 4-4 before Schneider claimed two straight games to win 6-4 and tie the match at two.  

Pavlos Parson dropped a first set at No. 3, 6-2. In the second set he bounced back with an early lead to win 6-3 and force a third set. In the third No. 20 Edgar Destouet went in front 4-1 over Parson before winning 6-2. Playing at No. 6, Matthew Earle built an early lead and was able to work a 6-4 victory in his first set of play. In the second set the score went in the other direction 6-3. He fell behind early in the third set, and trailed 5-2 when the final delay of the match for lightning was called, lasting over two hours. After play resumed the final game went to Valdosta State as they clinched the set 6-2 and the match 4-2.  

After falling in his first set at No. 4, 6-4, Tommy Cecchetti battled back for a 6-3 win in the second set and was tied 1-1 in the third when the point and match were decided.  

Head Coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in year six 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 176-60 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year four times and the MIAA Coach of the Year twice. 
• 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

• Kurt Reid enters year seven as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ichabods. 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. 
• Graduate assistant Santiago Renton is entering his 2nd season as part of the Washburn coaching staff.  
• He moved 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. 
• Vasek Schneider joins the Washburn coaching staff as a graduate assistant for 2025-26 after finishing his playing career with the Ichabods in 2024-25. 
• Schneider was an All-American in singles and set a program record with 32 singles victories in his lone season in Topeka going 32-7 overall. 

OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT 

ABOUT THE MCKENDREE BEARCATS

• McKendree is 2-0 on the year after two duals in the fall. They will face Oakland City University before facing the Ichabods. 
• Last season they went 8-16 overall and 3-2 inside the GLVC, losing in the first round of the GLVC Tournament. 
• This year they are 1-0 playing at home in O'Fallon, Il. while going 1-0 in road matches. 

BEARCAT COACHING STAFF

• Chance Joost is in his second season as the head coach at McKendree for the men's and women's tennis programs. 
• Joost spent the previous five seasons as the head coach at William Woods University. 
• He is a Tecumseh, Kan. native and graduate from Washburn in 2015 after playing three seasons for the Ichabods. From 2014-16 he was an assistant coach with the Ichabods to begin his coaching career. 
• Graduate assistant Jacob Williams rounds out the coaching staff.

HISTORY WITH MCKENDREE

• Washburn leads the all-time series over McKendree 5-0.
• The Ichabods are 1-0 against the Bearcats playing in Topeka. 
• The series began on Feb. 6, 2016 with a 7-2 win for Washburn in Springfield, Mo.
• The most recent meeting came last season on Feb. 2 and was a 6-1 win for the Ichabods on the road in O'Fallon, Il.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tommy Cecchetti is three victories away from reaching 50 career singles victories. 
• Zino Nahirniak needs three singles victories until he has 25 career wins.
• Pavlos Parson is six doubles victories away from having 40 career doubles victories.

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Next up Washburn continues a busy weekend facing Cowley County CC in an exhibition match on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. in Topeka.
• The first MIAA/GAC match will come next against Augustana on Feb. 7 at home. 
• Senior day for Washburn takes plan on April 18 with a 10:30 a.m. match against Northwest Missouri. 
• The MIAA/GAC Championship Tournament takes place in Springfield, Mo. at the Cooper Tennis Complex from April 29-May 1.