TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn men's tennis makes its second consecutive appearance in the ITA Indoor National Championships where they will face No. 5 Lubbock Christian in the quarterfinal round at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 13 inside Midwest Tennis Center in Indianapolis, In. 
 

First Serve

• No. 6 Washburn men's heads to the ITA Indoor National Championships to play its first ranked match of the season against No. 5 Lubbock Christian.
• The Ichabods will take on the Chaps in the quarterfinal match at 10 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13 inside Midwest Tennis Center in Indianapolis, In.
• Washburn picked up its first conference victory last time out defeating Augustana 7-0 to move to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
• Lubbock Christian fell to 2-1 on the year after losing 4-3 to Abilene Christian 4-3 last time out on Feb. 7.
• With a win the Ichabods would face the winner of the match between the top seed Barry and the No. 8 seed Indianapolis at 10 a.m. EST inside Farmers Bank Fieldhouse.

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.
• On the year Washburn is 2-0 in home matches and has not played on the road or at a neutral court for a dual.
• 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 81-40 (66.9%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 13-4 record on the year and is 1-1 playing at No. 1. 
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 14-1 mark, giving him the highest winning percentage in singles on the squad. He is 2-0 in duals at No. 4 and No. 5.
• Yuto Miyagawa is also tied for a team-high with 14 victories going 14-2 on the year and 2-0 from No. 6. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 9-4 on the year in singles action and is 2-0 in duals playing at No. 4 and No. 5.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 5-4 so far on the new year while going 2-0 playing at No. 2.
• Moritz Pieper has gone 10-5 so far in singles competition. 
• 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 27-21 (56.2%) 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. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez are 2-0 playing together at No. 1. 
• Pavlos Parson and Benjamin Fock are 2-0 together overall playing from No. 2 and No. 3 positions. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 1-1 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Pavlos Parson, Yuto Miyagawa and Benjamin Fock are all tied for a team-high with eight doubles victories. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 7, Augustana 0 (February 7, 2026)

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Washburn started off conference play with a 7-0 sweep over Augustana at home on Saturday afternoon. The Ichabods next action will come at the ITA Indoor National Championships beginning Feb. 13 against Lubbock Christian in Indianaplis, In.  

Doubles play was dominated by Washburn (2-0, 1-0) beginning with Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Yuto Miyagawa winning a 6-2 match on court three. Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez followed with a 6-1 win at No. 1, securing the doubles point. Pavlos Parson and Benjamin Fock made it a sweep winning 6-3 on court two.  

In singles play No. 36 Benjamin Fock led off winning two quick sets by 6-2 and 6-1 scores at No. 4. Zino Nahirniak brought up match point against the Vikings (0-2, 0-1) winning 6-3 and 6-0 on court five. No. 8 Pavlos Parson provided the clincher, winning 6-4 in the first set and breezing to a 6-1 victory in the second.  

Tommy Cecchetti worked a quick 6-1 win from No. 2 to begin his dual. He fell 6-4 in the second set but pulled away for a 10-7 win in the super tiebreaker. No. 40 Yuto Miyagawa cruised to a 6-1 win in his first set at No. 6, fell 7-6(1) in a tiebreaker in the second but rallied to win 10-8 in the third from No. 6. Kilian Martinez battled for a 7-6(1) first set win but came up short after an extra game in the second, 7-5. He rebounded to win 10-7 in the third and complete the sweep. 

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 180-60 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 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN CHAPS

• Lubbock Christian is 2-1 on the year after falling 4-3 to Abilene Christian on the road last time out on Feb. 7. They are ranked No. 5 in the first ITA rankings of the season.
• They are 0-1 on the year in road matches, 2-0 in neutral court duals and have not played at home. 
• Last season the Chaps went 25-3 overall and 7-1 inside the LSC, winning the LSC Tournament and advancing to the NCAA National Semifinals before losing 4-0 to Valdosta State. 
• Four players are ranked on the singles side of the ITA rankings, Kelly Giese leads the way at No. 4. Andres de los Rios is at No. 17, followed by Pablo Segura at No. 18 and Mattia Ghedin at No. 26.
• Lubbock Christian has gone 57-46 (55.3%) in doubles play on the year.
• Andres de los Rios is 13-6 on the year in singles play and has gone 0-1 at No. 2. 
• Kelly Giese has a 11-5 record overall while going 0-1 at the top spot in duals.
• The Chaps have gone 20-18 (52.6%) in doubles competition on the year.
• Pablo Segure and Kelly Giese have gone 6-3 together in doubles play. 
• Jordan Georgiev and Andres de los Rios are 5-1 together in doubles competition.

CHAPS COACHING STAFF

• Hutton Jones is in his first season as the head coach at Lubbock Christian. 
• He had a 23-year tenure as head coach of both men's and women's tennis at Abilene Christian University, where he amassed a combined record of 940–369.
• He began his coaching career at his alma mater, ACU, serving as an assistant coach in the mid-1980s before being named head tennis professional at Ponca City Country Club (Ponca City, Okla.).
• Jones spent the 2023–24 season coaching at The Brook Hill School in Bullard, Texas, and served as a tennis professional at Cascades Country Club in Tyler.

HISTORY WITH LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN

• Friday's ITA Indoor National Championship meeting will be the first time the two teams face off.

MILESTONE MARKERS

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

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Next up Washburn will return home to play host to Midwestern State on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. inside the Genesis Tennis Center.
• 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.