TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn men's tennis returns home for the final time this fall as they host the Washburn Invite at Kossover Tennis Center on October 2-3 starting with doubles competition at 9 a.m. on Friday morning. 
 

First Serve

• Washburn men's tennis returns home for the second edition of the Washburn Invite. 
• The thrid tournament of the fall for the Ichabods will begin Friday, Oct. 2 and run through Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Kossover Tennis Center.
• Washburn is 1-0 on the year in duals after defeating Creighton 5-2 on the final day of the Creighton Invite last weekend.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 20-6 season overall in 2025-26 while going 5-0 in the MIAA/GAC North Division. They won a fourth straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinals.
• Washburn's 2026-27 roster features eight players with one senior, four sophomores and three freshman.
• All eight Ichabods will participate in singles and doubles competition in the tournament.

ABOUT THE WASHBURN INVITE

• The tournament field is made up of Washburn, Southwest Baptist, Northwest Missouri, Emporia State, Colorado Mesa, Missouri State and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
• Doubles competition begins the tournament at 9 a.m. on Friday. Singles competition will begin the tournament on Saturday.

SINGLES SITUATION

• Washburn has a 28-10 (73.7%) mark in singles play so far this season.
• Both Nicolas Hurtado and Keita Kuroda are 5-0 this season to begin the year. 
• Benjamin Fock, Petr Leipner and Kilian Martinez are all 4-1 in singles action through two weekends.
• Yuto Miyagawa has posted a 3-1 record in singles action. 
• Gael Mourmant is 2-3 in singles competition to begin his freshman season.
• Graham Faris has posted a 1-3 record to begin the season.

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• The Ichabods have posted a 9-6 (60.0%) record in doubles action to begin the season.
• Kilian Martinez and Gael Mourmant have gone 3-0 together to begin the season.
• Benjamin Fock and Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa have posted a 3-2 record in doubles action this season.
• Yuto Miyagawa and Kilian Martinez are 2-0 together is doubles action this season.
• Kilian Martinez leads the team with five doubles victories this season. 

LAST TIME OUT 

WASHBURN 5, CREIGHTON 2 - SEPTEMBER 27, 2026

OMAHA, Neb. -- Washburn wrapped up the Creighton Invite in the morning before facing the host Bluejays in a dual in the afternoon and coming away with a 5-2 victory over the DI foe, opening the dual slate for the Ichabods. They will return to the courts back in Topeka next week at the Washburn Invite beginning Friday, Oct. 2 at the Kossover Tennis Center. 

Washburn began the day wrapping up singles matches in the final day of the Creighton Invite. They went 3-2 in singles matches, all against DI competition, with Benjamin Fock, Kilian Martinez and Yuto Miyagawa each picking up victories.  

In the dual portion of the day Benjamin Fock and Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa led off doubles play with a 6-2 win on court one. Kilian Martinez and Yuto Miyagawa clinched the first point of the match winning 6-3 at No. 2. Gael Mourmant and Keita Kuroda led 4-3 on court three when the point was decided.  

In singles action Kilian Martinez picked up where he left off winning 6-3 and 6-2 sets on the top court. Keita Kuroda followed with another point, winning 6-3 and 6-1 in two sets at No. 6. Benjamin Fock provided the clinching point winning 6-4 in his opening set and 6-1 in the second from court three.  

Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa opened his dual career with a 7-6(5) tiebreaking set one victory at No. 4 before adding another point to the Ichabod tally with a 6-2 win in the second. Creighton got on the board as Petr Leipner fell 10-5 in a third set 10-point tiebreaker battle on court five. Playing at No. 2, Yuto Miyagawa lost a tight 7-6(4) opening set before winning 6-4 in the second to force a third set. He dropped the tiebreaker 10-5 as the Bluejays scored a second point to close out the dual.  

Head Coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in year seven 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 217-71 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year six times, MIAA Coach of the Year four times and was the ITA/Dunlop Women's Coach of the Year once in 2026. 
• 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 eight 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. 
• Assistant coach Santiago Rendon begins year three as a coach with the Ichabods and his first as a full-time assistant after being elevated from a graduate assistant before the 2026-27 season.
• He moved from playing to the sidelines after wrapping up a three season career with the Ichabods headlined by an ITA Cup Doubles National Championship in fall of 2023. 

FALLING FORWARD

• Washburn will head on the road going south to the Midwestern State Invitational in Wichita Falls, Tex. beginning Oct. 9.
• The ITA Central Region Championships will begin the final leg of the fall season. They will be hosted in Edmond, Okla. at Edmond Center Court from Oct. 23-26.