TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 10 Washburn men's tennis is back at home for the first time in more than a month taking on No. 21 Nebraska Kearney on Tuesday, April 7 at the Castillo Family Tennis Complex beginning at roughly 2 p.m. 
 

First Serve

• No. 10 Washburn men's tennis is back at home for the first time in more than a month taking on No. 21 Nebraska Kearney. 
• The Ichabods will face the Lopers at roughly 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7 in Topeka, Kan. at the Castillo Family Tennis Complex.
• Washburn won a six straight match moving to 11-5 overall and 2-0 inside the MIAA/GAC winning 6-1 over Newman on March 27.

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. 10 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 3-3 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 leads the quartet at No. 32 spot in singles while Pavlos Parson moves to No. 34 nationally.
• Kilian Martinez slots in at No. 40 while Yuto Miyagawa moves to No. 64. 
• In doubles, Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock continue to rise, moving to No. 11. Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are ranked No. 45 together. 

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 125-66 (65.4%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 17-12 record on the year and is 5-9 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.
• Yuto Miyagawa has a team-high 21 victories going 21-6 on the year. He is 9-4 on the year in duals with a 4-0 mark at No. 6.
• Benjamin Fock has posted a 20-6 mark during his freshman season. He has gone 8-5 in duals overall and is 4-2 from No. 6. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 18-4 on the year in singles action and is 11-0 in duals playing at No. 3-5.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 12-10 so far on the new year while going 9-6 in duals on the top-three courts. He is 6-5 at No. 2 and is 2-4 against ranked opponents.
• Moritz Pieper has gone 13-7 so far in singles competition with a 3-2 record in duals going 2-1 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 46-39 (54.1%) in doubles matches. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak have ten victories together this season, the most for any duo. They are 10-4 together with a 5-1 mark in duals, all at No. 1. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji are 7-6 together playing at No. 2 and No. 3. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are 4-2 together playing at No. 2 in duals. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Kilian Martinez are 4-4 playing together at No. 1, they are 1-1 against ranked opponents.
• Benjamin Fock leads the team with 15 doubles vicotires. Pavlos Parson and Yuto Miyagawa are second on the team, each with 14 victories.

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 6, Newman1 (March 27, 2026)

WICHITA, Kan. -- No. 8 Washburn won a sixth straight match defeating Newman 6-1 on Friday morning into the afternoon to wrap up a month-long stint on the road. The Ichabods return to action at home next Saturday, April 4 against Nebraska Kearney at 10 a.m.  

No. 33 Pavlos Parson and Tommy Cecchetti began doubles play giving Washburn (11-5, 2-0 MIAA/GAC) an advantage winning 6-1 on court two. Yuto Miaygawa and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji followed behind, clinching the first point with a 6-4 win at No. 3. No. 14 Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak went into a tiebreaker on the top court with the Jets (0-3) duo. They pulled away in the tiebreaker to win 7-6(4) to sweep doubles.  

No. 54 Yuto Miyagawa led off singles play with a pair of perfect sets at No. 4 to go up 2-0 in the match. Benjamin Fock swept his first set on court five before winning 6-2 in the second to bring up match point. No. 31 Pavlos Parson worked a pair of 6-4 sets on the top court to clinch the match.  

Zino Nahirniak battled for a 6-4 win in his first set on court three before crusing to a 6-2 win in the second to add another point. Moritz Pieper won 6-2 in his first set at No. 6 and swept his second, winning 6-0. No. 26 Tommy Cecchetti took his opening set 6-4 at No. 2 but fell 4-6 in the second and 11-9 in the third set 10-point tiebreaker as Newman got on the board.  

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 197-68 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 NEBRASKA KEARNEY LOPERS

• Nebraska Kearney improved to 11-4 overall and 2-0 inside of conference play after defeating Northwest Missouri 5-2 last time out on March 28.
• Last season the Lopers went 11-14 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA/GAC North division, falling in the first round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament.
• On the year they are 8-1 playing at home in Kearney, Neb., 2-2 on the road and 1-1 in neutral court meetings. 
• Two players are ranked by the ITA in singles with Ivan Melnik at No. 58 and Andy Brisdon at No. 75.
• Nebraska Kearney is 56-30 (65.1%) on the year in singles duals.
• Ilan Fuentes is 10-1 overall with a 7-0 mark playing at No. 5. 
• Andy Brisdon and Ivan Melnik are ranked No. 19 in the nation in doubles. 
• The Lopers have a 32-12 (72.7%) record in doubles duals. 
• Brisdon and Melnik are 11-3 together going 10-3 at No. 1. 

LOPERS COACHING STAFF

• Scott Shafer is in his 8th season as the head women's tennis coach at Nebraska Kearney. He is in his 2nd leading the men's program as well.
• He served as the top assistant to head coach Jake Saulsbury for six years before being elevated to head coach in the summer of 2019.  
• Currently a teaching professional with the Kearney Tennis Association (KTA), Shafer was an Associate Pro at Hitters SportsPlex in Middleton, Wisc.
• Assistant coach Caleb Diller and student assistant Kanaha Furutani round out the coaching staff.

HISTORY WITH NEBRASKA KEARNEY

• Washburn leads the all-time series with Nebraska Kearney 18-9.
• The Ichabods are 12-2 against the Ichabods at home.
• The series began with 5-4 win for the Lopers on April 20, 1986 in Kearney, Neb.
• Last season Washburn won 4-3 on the road in the only meeting between the two teams.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Moritz Pieper needs two singles victories to reach 40 for his career.
• Tommy Cecchetti is seven victories away from reaching 50 career doubles wins in his career. 
• Pavlos Parson needs eight doubles victories to reach 50 in his career at Washburn.

SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD

• Next up the Ichabods head on the road to face Emporia State on Friday, April 10 beginning at 2 p.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.