TOPEKA, Kan. -- Conference play gets underway for No. 6 Washburn men's tennis as they play host to Augustana on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. inside of the Genesis Tennis Center. 

First Serve

• No. 6 Washburn men's tennis stays at home playing host to Augustana in the first MIAA/GAC match of the season. 
• The Ichabods will taking on the Vikings inside of Genesis Tennis Center at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7. 
• Washburn started out the year 1-0 defeating McKendree 6-1 in the season-opener on Jan. 31. 
• Augustana is 0-1 on the year after starting the spring losing 5-2 at home to Nebraska Kearney on Jan. 30. 

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 1-0 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 75-40 (65.2%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 12-4 record on the year and is 0-1 playing at No. 1. 
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 13-1 mark, giving him the highest winning percentage in singles on the squad. He is 1-0 playing at No. 5. 
• Yuto Miyagawa is also tied for a team-high with 13 victories going 12-2 on the year and 1-0 from No. 6. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 8-4 on the year in singles action and is 1-0 at No. 4.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 4-4 so far on the new year while going 1-0 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 24-21 (53.3%) 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 1-0 playing together at No. 1. 
• Pavlos Parson and Benjamin Fock are 1-0 together overall and playing from No. 3. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 0-1 together playing at No. 2 in duals.
• Pavlos Parson, Yuto Miyagawa and Benjamin Fock are all tied for a team-high with seven doubles victories. 

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 7, McKendree 1 (January 31, 2026)

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6 Ichabod men's tennis picked up a 6-1 win over McKendree on Saturday afternoon inside the Genesis Tennis Center to begin the spring season. Washburn will move to conference play next time out hosting Augustana at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7.  

On the top court for doubles play Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez took control early en route to a 6-1 win. Pavlos Parson and Benjamin Fock followed closely behind, winning 6-2 at No. 3 to clinch the first point of the match for Washburn (1-0). On court two, Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Yuto Miyagawa led early but the Bearcat (2-1) duo was able to come back late, forcing a tiebreaker where they pulled way for a 7-6(6) win.  

Tommy Cecchetti led off singles play as well, winning a pair of 6-2 sets at No. 2. No. 40 Yuto Miyagawa followed with a 6-1 win in set one and by sweeping his second set at No. 6 to bring up match point. Zino Nahirniak provided the clincher, winning 6-2 in both sets he played on court four.  

No. 36 Benjamin Fock worked through a pair of 6-4 sets to add another point to the board on court five. Kilian Martinez provided another point in his Ichabod debut, winning 6-2 in both sets at No. 3. After falling 7-5 in the first set No. 8 Pavlos Parson won 6-3 in the second to force a tiebreaker at No. 1. McKendree would get on the board to finish the match, winning 10-7 in the tiebreak .

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 178-60 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 AUGUSTANA VIKING

• Augustana has started the season 0-1 after losing 5-2 at home to Nebraska Kearney last time out on Jan. 30.
• Last season the Vikings went 9-8 overall and 1-4 inside the MIAA/GAC North Division, missing out on the conference season.
• This year they are 0-1 this year playing at home in Sioux Falls, S.D. and have not played on the road. 

VIKING COACHING STAFF

• Marc Kurtz is in his 22nd season at the helm of Augustana tennis in 2025-26. 
• In addition to coaching at Augustana, Kurtz is the tennis director at GreatLife Fitness Center in Sioux Falls, where he is a certified tennis professional with the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA).
• He earned his BA at Montana State with majors in business management and marketing.
• Assistant coach Jared Hofer and volunteer assistant Mitch Barr round out the coaching staff. 

HISTORY WITH AUGUSTANA

• Washburn leads the all-time series over Augustana 6-0.
• The Ichabods are 3-0 against the Vikings playing in Topeka. 
• The series began on March 31, 2026 with a 5-0 win for Washburn in Rock Island, Ill. 
• Last time they met the Ichabods won 6-1 last season on Feb. 23, 2025.

MILESTONE MARKERS

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

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Next up Washburn will head to the ITA Indoor National Championships where they will face Lubbock Christian University in the quarterfinal round on Friday, Feb. 13 at 4:30 p.m. CST. 
• 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.