TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 8 Washburn men's tennis finishes its trip to Florida taking on No. 5 Flagler at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday in St. Augustine, Fla. 

First Serve

• No. 8 Washburn wraps up its trip to Florida with another top-10 match taking on No. 5 Flagler. 
• The Ichabods will face the Saints on Saturday, March 7 in St. Augustine, Fla. beginning at 1 p.m. CST>
• Washburn fell to 5-4 on the year and is 1-0 inside the MIAA/GAC after being defeated 4-2 by Florida Southern on Thursday morning.
• Flagler enters the match on a three-match winning streak and at 6-1 on the season.

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. 8 in the latest ITA national 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, 2-2 in neutral court meetings and 0-2 on the road. 
• After going 14-4 against ranked opponents last season the Ichabods are 2-3 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. 11. Kilian Martinez joined the rankings No. 23 in the nation, as did Tommy Cecchetti at No. 31. Yuto Miyagawa rose to No. 33. 
• In doubles, Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez moved into the rankings at No. 42 in the nation.

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 99-56 (63.9%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 14-9 record on the year and is 2-6 in duals playing at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Kilian Martinez is 9-0 on the year in singles play, all in duals at No. 3. He is 3-0 against ranked opponents.
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 15-6 mark during his freshman season. He has gone 3-5 in duals overall and is 1-2 from No. 6. 
• Yuto Miyagawa has a team-high 17 victories going 17-4 on the year. He is 5-2 on the year in duals with a 4-0 mark at No. 6.
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 13-4 on the year in singles action and is 6-0 in duals playing at No. 4 and No. 5.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 7-8 so far on the new year while going 4-4 in duals at No. 1 and 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 33-33 (50.0%) 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.
• Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez are 4-4 playing together at No. 1, they are 1-1 against ranked opponents.
• Pavlos Parson and Benjamin Fock are 4-4 together overall playing from No. 2 and No. 3 positions. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 3-5 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Yuto Miyagawa, Benjamin Fock and Pavlos Parson are all tied for a team-high ten doubles victories.

LAST TIME OUT

Florida Southern 4, Washburn 2 (March 5, 2026)

LAKELAND, Fla. -- No. 8 Washburn fell behind early and couldn't mount a comeback falling 4-2 on the road against Florida Southern on Thursday morning. The Ichabods wrap up the trip to Florida taking on Flagler College for the second time in less than a month on Saturday at 1 p.m. CST. 

The Mocs (6-3) took an early advantage in doubles play with a 6-3 win at No. 3 over Benjamin Fock and Pavlos Parson. The Ichabods (5-4) fell behind 1-0 in the match as Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji lost 6-3 at No. 2. No. 42 Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez trailed 4-5 on the top court when the first point was decided.  

Florida Southern went up 2-0 after No. 15 Mario Garoz worked a two-set win over No. 31 Tommy Cecchetti on court one, winning 6-2 and 6-3. Playing at No. 6, Benjamin Fock went an extra game in his first set against No. 45 Mar Antonio Morales, before falling 7-5. After losing 6-3 in the second set the Mocs moved to match point. 

No. 33 Yuto Miyagawa put Washburn on the board, winning a pair of 6-3 sets on court five over No. 53 Boski Boskovic. No. 23 Kilian Martinez followed closely behind, he won 7-5 in his first set at No. 3 before sweeping his second set 6-0. No. 11 Pavlos Parson fell behind after losing 4-6 in the first set but he bounced back to win 6-2 in the second on court two. The third set went like the first as he lost 6-2 to wrap up the match.  

Zino Nahirniak led 2-1 in his third set at No. 4 after splitting the first two sets in the dual.  

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 185-66 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 FLAGLER SAINTS

• Flagler is 6-1 on the year after defeating No. 10 Wingate 4-1 last time out on March 5.
• They are ranked No. 5 in the latest ITA rankings.
• Last season the Saints went 20-3 overall and 5-0 in the PBC, winning the conference tournament and falling in the regional championship match.
• On the year they are 4-0 playing at home at the Pollard Tennis Center, 2-1 in neutral court matches and have not played a road match.
• Flagler is 70-31 (69.3%) on the year as a team in singles play.
• Four players are ranked by the ITA in singles led by Ilian Borlee at No. 19. Simon Malis is No. 32 followed by Raphael Rousson at No. 36. Aniss Rafiq is No. 52.
• The Saints have gone 18-15 (54.5%) on the year in doubles play as a team.

SAINTS COACHING STAFF

• Jonas Piibor is in his 5th season as the head men's tennis coach at Flagler. 
• Piibor served as the head men's tennis coach at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington for three seasons (2018-21).
• Served 10 seasons as the associate head coach at Pacific-12 Conference member Oregon
• Volunteer assistant Brian Washburn rounds out the coaching staff.

HISTORY WITH FLAGLER

• The all-time series between the two team is tied at 2-2.
• Washburn is 2-1 against Flagler on the road. 
• The series began on March 10, 2021 with a 6-1 win for the Ichabods in St. Augustine, Fla. 
• The Saints won a 4-1 match on Feb. 15 between the two at the ITA Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, In.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tommy Cecchetti needs one doubles victory to reach 40 for his career.
• Zino Nahirniak is two singles victories away from reaching 30 with Washburn.
• Pavlos Parson is at 37 career doubles wins, two away from 40 in his Ichabod career.

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• The Ichabods head to Oklahoma for three matches beginning against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday, March 13 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.