TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 5 Washburn men's tennis stays on the road for a pair of ranked matches against against GAC opponents taking on No. 29 Ouachita Baptist on Thursday, March 19 and No. 47 Southern Arkansas on Friday, March 20 both at 10 a.m. 

First Serve

• No. 5 Washburn men's tennis heads back on the road to face a pair of ranked GAC opponents in No. 29 Ouachita Baptist and No. 47 Southern Arkansas.
• The Ichabods will take on the Tigers at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 19 in Arkadelphia. They face the Muleriders at 10 a.m. on Friday in Magnolia, Ark. 
• Washburn improved to 8-5 on the year with a 4-3 win over No. 6 Lubbock Christian last time out on March 15. 

BODS AND BITS 

• Washburn's 2025-26 roster returns seven players from last season while adding four freshmen to complete the roster.
• The Ichabods moved up to No. 5 in the latest ITA rankings.
• 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 3-0 in home matches, 5-2 in neutral court meetings and 0-3 on the road. 
• After going 14-4 against ranked opponents last season the Ichabods are 4-4 against ranked competition this season.

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• Four players are ranked by the ITA in singles for the Ichabods in the most recent rankings. 
• Pavlos Parson has the highest ranking on the team at No. 26, Tommy Cecchetti is just behind him at No. 27. 
• Kilian Martinez slots in at No. 43 while Yuto Miyagawa rises to No. 46.
• In doubles, Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock enter the rankings for the first time at No. 31 in the nation.

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 113-63 (64.2%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 15-11 record on the year and is 3-8 in duals playing at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Kilian Martinez is 9-1 on the year in singles play, all in duals at No. 3. He is 3-1 against ranked opponents.
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 18-6 mark during his freshman season. He has gone 6-5 in duals overall and is 3-2 from No. 6. 
• Yuto Miyagawa has a team-high 19 victories going 19-6 on the year. He is 7-4 on the year in duals with a 4-0 mark at No. 6.
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 16-4 on the year in singles action and is 9-0 in duals playing at No. 3-5.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 10-9 so far on the new year while going 7-5 in duals on the top-three courts. He is 2-4 on the year against ranked opponents.
• Moritz Pieper has gone 12-6 so far in singles competition with a 2-1 record in duals going 1-1 at No. 6.
• 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 39-38 (50.6%) in doubles matches. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak have seven victories together this season, the most for any duo. They are 7-4 together with a 2-1 mark in duals, all at No. 1. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez are 4-4 playing together at No. 1, they are 1-1 against ranked opponents.
• Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 6-5 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are 1-2 together playing at No. 2 in duals. 
• Yuto Miyagawa leads the team with 13 doubles victories, Benjamin Fock is second on the team with 12 doubles wins.

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 4, Lubbock Christian 3 (March 15, 2026)

STILLWATER, Okla. -- No. 16 Washburn battled back and forth Sunday morning before prevailing 4-3 over No. 6 Lubbock Christian for the second time this season to wrap up the weekend road trip. The Ichabods head to Arkansas next week for two matches beginning against Ouachita Baptist at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 19 in Arkadelphia.  

Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji led off doubles play winning 6-4 on court three giving Washburn (8-5) the early edge. The Chaps (10-5) evened up doubles play with No. 16 ranked Kelly Giese and Mattia Ghedin winning 6-4 at No. 1 over Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock. On court two Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson held an early lead but were unable to hold off a late rally by No. 18 Pablo Segure and Andres de los Rios as Lubbock Christian took the doubles point with a 7-6(7) tiebreaking win.  

The Chaps went up 2-0 to begin singles play with No. 10 Andres de los Rios winning a pair of 6-4 sets over No. 50 Yuto Miaygawa at No. 4. Benjamin Fock battled to win a 7-6(5) tiebreaking first set on court five and carried the momentum to a 6-2 second set win that put the Ichabods on the board. Zino Nahirniak tied the game up on court three with 6-3 and 6-4 victories.  

No. 40 Tommy Cecchetti battled early and pulled away late in an extra game in his first set at No. 2 winning 7-5. In the second set he and No. 17 Pablo Segua continued to battle back-and-forth going into a tiebreaker. Cecchetti took a 7-6 (5) win to add a third point. No. 21 Pavlos Parson came away with a 6-4 win in his first set on the top court. No. 3 Kelly Giese came back to win the second 6-3 and carried the momentum into a 6-2 third set win. Playing on court No. 6, Moritz Pieper fell 4-6 in his first set but flipped the match to win 6-4 in the second set, winning 6-4 and 6-3 in the third to clinch the second top-ten victory of the season.  

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 191-67 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 OUACHITA BAPTIST TIGERS

• Ouachita Baptist is 10-1 on the year on a four-match winning streak after defeating Emporia State 4-2 last time out on March 11. 
• They are ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA rankings. 
• Last season the Tigers went 15-10 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA/GAC South. They advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 before losing to Barry.
• On the year they are 5-1 playing at home in Arkadelphia, 2-0 on the road and 3-0 in neutral court matches.
• Ramon Stassman is ranked No. 58 in the nation in singles by the ITA. 
• Ouachita Baptist is 40-18 (69.0%) on the year in singles play. 
• Ramon Strassmann is 11-0 in duals all coming at No. 1. 
• Aaron Osmond and Moritz Buss are ranked No. 11 in the nation in doubles. 
• The Tigers are 23-6 (79.3%) in doubles play this season. 
• Moritz Buss and Aaron Osmond are 9-1 together overall with a 7-1 record at No. 2. 

TIGERS COACHING STAFF

• Jake Shoemake is in his 2nd season as the head men's tennis coach at Ouachita Baptist. 
• Shoemake lettered for the Tiger tennis team while earning a bachelor's degree in business administration. During his time as an undergraduate, he and the Tigers won three consecutive AIC championships in 1992, 1993, and 1994.
• From 2018 until his hire as head coach at Ouachita, Shoemake was the head tennis pro and manager at the Bella Vista (Arkansas) Property Owners Association.
• Shoemake began his career in 1994 as an assistant pro at the Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith.

HISTORY WITH OUACHITA BAPTIST

• Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams 9-3.
• The Ichabods are 1-1 against Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark. 
• The series began on March 17, 2002 with a 7-1 win for the Tigers at home. 
• The last meeting came on May 2 last season with a 4-0 win for Washburn in the MIAA Tournament. 

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS

• Southern Arkansas is 7-4 on the year with a 2-0 record in MIAA/GAC south play after defeating Northeastern State 5-2 last time out on March 14.
• They are ranked No. 47 in the latest ITA rankings.
• Last season the Muleriders went 12-11 overall and 2-2 in the MIAA/GAC south. They advanced to the NCAA Central regional before falling 4-0 to Washburn.
• On the year they are 4-1 playing at home in Manolia, 2-1 on the road and 1-2 in neutral court matches.
• Frode Neumann is ranked No. 68 in the nation by the ITA in singles. 
• Southern Arkansas has a 39-24 (61.9%) record in singles duals. 
• Jonas Sommer and Uwe Diehl are ranked No. 7 in the nation in doubles while Lucas Nitzschke and Frode Neumann are No. 40.
• The Muleriders have gone 18-13 (58.1%) in doubles competition.

MULERIDERS COACHING STAFF

• Greg Owen is in his 9th season as the head men's and women's tennis coach 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 before being hired at Southern Arkansas.
• Prior to his time at Seward, Owen was the head tennis coach at Midlothian High School (Midlothian, Texas) for six years from 2009-2015.
• Assistant coach Aleksa Bucan rounds out the coaching staff.

HISTORY WITH SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

• The all-time series between the two teams is tied 4-4. 
• Washburn is 1-0 against Southern Arkansas in Manolia, Ark. 
• The series began on February 15, 2019 with a 4-3 win for the Muleriders in Midlothian, Texas. 
• The last meeting came on May 9 last season with a 4-0 win for the Ichabods in the NCAA Tournament.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Pavlos Parson is at 39 career doubles wins, one away from reaching 40 with the Ichabods. 
• Moritz Pieper needs three singles victories to reach 40 for his career.

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• The Ichabods return to conference play taking on March 27 in Wichita, Kan. against Newman.
• 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.