TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 13 Washburn begins its quest for a fourth straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship as the No. 1 seed in the North Division facing the No. 4 seed in the South, Northeastern State on Wednesday, April 29 at 9 a.m. at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.
 

First Serve

• No. 13 Washburn men's tennis enters the MIAA/GAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed from the North Division and will face the No. 4 seed in the South Division - Northeastern State.
• The Ichabods will take on the RiverHawks in the quarterfinal round at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.
• Washburn enters the tournament on a ten-match winning streak after defeating Arkansas-Fort Smith 7-0 in the regular season finale on April 23. They are 15-5 overall with a 5-0 mark in the MIAA/GAC North Division.

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 to No. 13 in the latest ITA rankings.
• They are ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings released on April 22.
• 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 5-0 in home matches, 5-2 in neutral court meetings and 5-3 on the road. 
• After going 14-4 against ranked opponents last season the Ichabods are 8-4 against ranked competition this season.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS

• Five players were named All-MIAA/GAC honorees in addition to head coach Kirby Ronning being named the conference Coach of the Year for a third straight season.
• Pavlos Parson was named the MIAA/GAC Player of the Year while also earning First-Team honors in singles.
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak earned First-Team honors in doubles together.
• Pavlos Parson and Tommy Cecchetti were tabbed to the All-MIAA/GAC Second Team in doubles.
• Both Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez were selected as Honorable Mentions in singles. 

TOURNAMENT TIME

• With a win on Wednesday the Ichabods woul face the winner of the match between the No. 2 seed in the south, Ouachita Baptist, and the No. 3 seed in the North, Northwest Missouri at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
• The championship is set for Friday, May 1 at 9 a.m. at the Cooper Tennis Complex.

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• Three players are ranked by the ITA in singles for the Ichabods in the most recent rankings. 
• Pavlos Parson leads the Ichabod squad at No. 42 in the nation. Tommy Cecchetti is just behind him at No. 43 with Kilian Martinez at No. 44.
• In doubles, Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock remain inside the top-10 at No. 9 in the nation.

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 145-70 (67.4%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 21-12 record on the year and is 9-9 in duals playing at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Kilian Martinez is 13-2 on the year in singles play all in duals. He is 10-1 at No. 3 and is 4-1 against ranked opponents.
• Yuto Miyagawa has a team-high 24 victories going 24-7 on the year. He is 12-5 on the year in duals with a 4-0 mark at No. 6.
• Benjamin Fock has compiled a 22-7 mark during his freshman season. He has gone 10-6 in duals overall and is 5-0 from No. 5. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 19-4 on the year in singles action and is 12-0 in duals playing at No. 3-5.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 15-11 so far on the year while going 12-7 in duals on the top-three courts. He is 5-1 at No. 3 and is 2-4 against ranked opponents.
• Moritz Pieper has gone 16-7 so far in singles competition with a 6-2 record in duals going 5-1 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 gone 5-5 during his freshman season with a 1-0 mark in duals.

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• On the year Washburn has gone 56-41 (57.7%) in doubles matches. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak have 12 victories together this season, the most for any duo. They are 12-5 together with a 7-2 mark in duals, all at No. 1. They are 3-2 against ranked duos.
• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are 8-2 together overall all in duals. They have a 7-2 record playing at No. 2 and are 2-1 against ranked opponents.
• Kilian Martinez and Yuto Miyagawa are 3-2 together playing only in duals. They are 2-2 playing at No. 3.
• Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 7-6 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Pavlos Parson has a team-high 18 victories in doubles overall. Yuto Miyagawa and Benjamin Fock are just behind him with 17 victories each.

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 7, Arkansas-Fort Smith 0 (April 23, 2026)

FORT SMITH, Ark. -- No. 13 Washburn wrapped up the regular season with a 7-0 sweep over Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday afternoon. The Ichabods will be the No. 1 seed in the MIAA/GAC Tournament beginning Wednesday, April 29 in Springfield, Mo. 

Pavlos Parson and Tommy Cecchetti led off the match on the top court in doubles defeating No. 43 Eduardo Bribiesca and Brik Arwedahl 6-2 to give Washburn (15-5) the advantage in doubles. Kilian Martinez and Yuto Miyagawa closed the door on the first point with a 6-1 win at No. 2. Graham Faris and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji made it a sweep of doubles winning 6-4 on court three.  

In singles play Petr Leipner made his spring debut on court five winning 6-4 in his first set and sweeping his second set. Yuto Miyagawa kept the Lions (5-10) off the board winning a pair of sets, 6-3 and 6-2, at No. 4. No. 43 Tommy Cecchetti cruised to a 6-1 win in his opening set at No. 3 before clinching the match with a 6-3 win in the second set.  

No. 42 Pavlos Parson battled through a first-set tiebreaker to win 7-6(3) before falling 3-6 in the second set. He rebounded in the 10-point tiebreaker to win 10-4. No. 44 Kilian Martinez won a 6-2 opening set before losing 1-6 in the second set. He grinded out another point before winning 6-4 in the third set on court two. Moritz Pieper jumped out to a 6-2 first set win and closed out the match with a 7-6(3) second set victory 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 208-68 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 NORTHEASTERN STATE RIVERHAWKS

• Northeastern State enters the tournament with a 6-10 record overall and 2-3 in MIAA/GAC South play. 
• This is the RiverHawks first season of men's tennis. 
• This year they are 2-5 playing at home in Tahlequah, 3-4 on the road and 1-1 in neutral court matches.
• Northeastern State went 40-49 (44.9%) on the year in singles action in dual matches.
• Alexander Edley leads the team with an 11-5 record overall. He is 10-5 playing at No. 2. 
• The RiverHawks have a mark of 21-23 (47.7%) in doubles duals this season. 
• Mansur Khajimuradov and Alexander Edley are 9-7 together this season in duals all at No. 1. 

RIVERHAWKS COACHING STAFF

• Tim McLane is in his fifth season as the head coach at Northeastern State and is in his 1st leading both the men's and women's programs.
• McLane came to Tahlequah in December 2020 from USC Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.), where he was the head coach for both men's and women's tennis programs for two seasons 
• Prior to assuming the head coach position at USC Upstate, McLane was the program's top assistant for two seasons
• Graduate assistant Anais Peralta and volunteer assistant Mark Nelson round out the coaching staff.

HISTORY WITH NORTHEASTERN STATE

• Wednesday's match will be the first ever meeting between the two programs on the men's side after Northeastern State revived the men's tennis program in 2025-26.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Tommy Cecchetti is three victories away from reaching 50 career doubles wins in his career. He needs one singles victory to reach 60 for his career.
• Pavlos Parson needs four doubles victories to reach 50 in his career at Washburn.