TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 8 Washburn men's tennis returns to conference play for the first time in more than a month at a new time, facing Newman at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 27 indoors in Wichita, Kan. after schedule changes due to weather. 
 

First Serve

• No. 8 Washburn men's tennis returns to conference play taking on Newman indoors. 
• The Ichabods will face the Jets beginning at 11:30 a.m. after the women's match on Friday, March 27 in Wichita, Kan.
• Washburn won a fifth straight match moving to 10-5 overall and 1-0 inside the MIAA/GAC with a 4-0 win over No. 47 Southern Arkansas last time out on March 20.

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. 8 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 2-3 on the road. 
• After going 14-4 against ranked opponents last season the Ichabods are 6-4 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. 
• Tommy Cecchetti moved up to the No. 26 spot in singles while Pavlos Parson moves down a few spots to No. 31. 
• Kilian Martinez slots in at No. 36 while Yuto Miyagawa moves to No. 54. 
• In doubles, Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock continue to rise, moving to No. 14. Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson enter the rankings at No. 33. 

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 120-65 (64.9%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 16-12 record on the year and is 4-9 in duals playing at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Kilian Martinez is 10-1 on the year in singles play, all in duals at No. 3. He is 3-1 against ranked opponents.
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 19-6 mark during his freshman season. He has gone 7-5 in duals overall and is 4-2 from No. 6. 
• Yuto Miyagawa has a team-high 20 victories going 20-6 on the year. He is 8-4 on the year in duals with a 4-0 mark at No. 6.
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 17-4 on the year in singles action and is 10-0 in duals playing at No. 3-5.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 12-9 so far on the new year while going 9-5 in duals on the top-three courts. He is 6-4 at No. 2 and is 2-4 against ranked opponents.
• Moritz Pieper has gone 12-7 so far in singles competition with a 2-2 record in duals going 1-1 at No. 5.
• 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 43-39 (52.4%) in doubles matches. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak have nine victories together this season, the most for any duo. They are 9-4 together with a 4-1 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 6-6 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are 3-2 together playing at No. 2 in duals. 
• Benjamin Fock leads the team with 14 doubles vicotires. Pavlos Parson and Yuto Miyagawa are second on the team, each with 13 victories.

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 4, Southern Arkansas 0 (March 20, 2026)

MAGNOLIA, Ark. -- No. 5 Washburn worked a fifth straight victory and fourth straight over a ranked opponent sweeping No. 47 Southern Arkansas 4-0 on Friday afternoon. The Ichabods return to conference play next taking on Newman next Friday, March 27.  

Pavlos Parson and Tommy Cecchetti led off doubles play for Washburn (10-5) with a 6-4 win on court two. No. 31 Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak clinched the doubles point defeating No. 7 ranked Uwe Diehl and Jonas Sommer of the Muleriders 6-3 from No. 1. Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Yuto Miyagawa led 5-4 on court three when the point was decided. 

No. 27 Tommy Cecchetti worked quickly in singles play, winning a pair of 6-2 sets from No. 3 to make it a 2-0 match. On court five No. 46 Yuto Miyagawa worked a 6-4 win in the first set and grided out a 7-5 victory in the second to bring up match point. No. 26 Pavlos Parson cruised to a 6-1 opening-set victory on the top court before pulling out a 7-6(4) tiebreaking win in the second to clinch the match.  

No. 43 Kilian Martinez was in the third set of his match at No. 2 when the point was decided while Zino Nahirniak trailed in the second set on court four. Benjamin Fock led 2-1 very early on in his dual at No. 6. 

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 195-67 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 NEWMAN JETS

• Newman is 0-2 on the year after losing 5-2 at home to Southwest Baptist last time out on March 24.
• Last season the Jets went 6-12 overall and 1-7 in MIAA/GAC play, missing out on the conference tournament.
• On the year they are 0-1 at home in Wichita, 0-1 on the road and have not played a neutral court match.

JETS COACHING STAFF

• Darren Snyder is in his first season as the director of men's and women's tennis at Newman. 
• Graduate assistant Jazmin Zamorano rounds out the coaching staff. 

HISTORY WITH NEWMAN

• Washburn leads the all-time series with Newman 16-1 including wins in the last nine meetings.
• The Ichabods are 3-1 against the Jets on the road. 
• The series began with an 8-1 win for Washburn at home on April 19, 1976.
• Last season Washburn won 7-0 at home in the only meeting on April 22, 2025.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Moritz Pieper needs three singles victories to reach 40 for his career.
• Tommy Cecchetti is eight victories away from reaching 50 career doubles wins in his career. 

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• The Ichabods have more than a week off before taking on Nebraska Kearney at home on Saturday, April 4 beginning at 10 a.m. 
• 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.