SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The fourth straight trip to the NCAA National Championships for No. 11 Washburn men's tennis begins by facing No. 19 Ferris State in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, May 20 beginning at 12 p.m. PST at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.
 

First Serve

• The 20th NCAA Tournament run for No. 11 Washburn men's tennis continues as they face No. 19 Ferris State in the NCAA Round of 16.
• The No. 7 seeded Ichabods will face the No. 10 seed Bulldogs at 12 p.m. PST on Wednesday, May 20 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
• Washburn improved to 19-5 on the season and won a 14th straight match sweeping No. 41 Ouachita Baptist 4-0 in the Central Region Championship last time out on May 12.

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. 11 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 6-0 in home matches, 8-2 in neutral court meetings and 5-3 on the road. 
• After going 14-4 against ranked opponents last season the Ichabods are 11-4 against ranked competition this season.

TOURNAMENT TIME

• Washburn has an overall record of 19-19 in the NCAA Tournament.
• They have a 4-8 all-time record in the national tournament including a 2-6 mark in the Round of 16.
• The semifinal and championship rounds will be broadcasted by the NCAA.
• The championship match in Surprise is set for Sunday May 24 at 8 a.m. PST. 

AROUND THE RANKINGS

• Three players are ranked by the ITA in singles for the Ichabods in the most recent rankings. 
• Kilian Martinez leads the Ichabod squad at No. 41 in the nation. Pavlos Parson is close behind at No. 43 with Tommy Cecchetti just behind him at No. 44.
• In doubles, Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock remain inside the top-10 at No. 9 in the nation. Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson re-enter the rankings at No. 28 nationally.

SINGLES SETUP

• For the season Washburn has gone 157-75 (67.7%) in singles competition. 
• After winning the ITA Central Region Championship Pavlos Parson has a 22-13 record on the year and is 10-10 in duals playing at No. 1 and No. 2. 
• Kilian Martinez is 14-3 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 is second on the team with 25 victories going 25-8 on the year. He is 13-6 on the year in duals with a 4-0 mark at No. 6.
• Benjamin Fock has compiled a 26-7 mark during his freshman season to lead the team in victories. He has gone 14-6 in duals overall and is 7-3 from No. 6. 
• Zino Nahirniak has gone 22-4 on the year in singles action and is 15-0 in duals playing at No. 3-5. He has won his last 15 times out.
• Tommy Cecchetti is 17-12 so far on the year while going 14-8 in duals on the top-three courts. He is 7-2 at No. 3 and is 2-4 against ranked opponents.
• Moritz Pieper has gone 16-8 so far in singles competition with a 6-3 record in duals going 5-2 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 64-42 (60.4%) in doubles matches. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak have 14 victories together this season, the most for any duo. They are 14-6 together with a 9-3 mark in duals, all at No. 1. They are 4-3 against ranked duos.
• Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson are 12-2 together overall all in duals. They have a 11-2 record playing at No. 2 and are 4-1 against ranked opponents.
• Kilian Martinez and Yuto Miyagawa are 5-2 together playing only in duals. They are 4-2 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 22 victories in doubles competition. Benjamin Fock and Yuto Miyagawa are both second on the team with 19 victories.

LAST TIME OUT

Washburn 4, Ouachita Baptist 0  (May 12, 2026)

TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 11 Washburn protected home court and delivered a 4-0 sweep over No. 41 Ouachita Baptist on Tuesday afternoon to advance to the NCAA National Championships for a fourth straight season. The Ichabods will await their seeding and opponent as the Round of 16 begins May 20 in Surprise, Ariz.  

Doubles play started strong for the visiting Tigers (16-9) but it was Yuto Miyagawa and Kilian Martinez that delivered a 6-2 win at No. 3 to open the match for Washburn (19-5). No. 22 Yarin Aebi and Ramon Strassmann held off a comeback attempt from No. 9 Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak on the top court to win 6-4 and even doubles play up. On court two No. 28 Tommy Cecchetti and Pavlos Parson came from behind, winning the final three games to take a 7-5 victory over No. 29 Moritz Buss and Aaron Osmond and go up 1-0 in the match.  

In singles play Benjamin Fock battled early before taking a 6-4 first set win at No. 6. He cruised in the second to a 6-1 victory putting the Ichabods up 2-0. No. 44 Tommy Cecchetti brushed off a slow start to win 6-4 in his opening set at No. 3 and finished strong with a 6-1 win that brought up match point. Zino Nahirniak also battled to win 6-4 in his opening set at No. 4 and took control early to win 6-2 in the second and clinch the Ichabod sweep.  

No. 43 Pavlos Parson led one set to none and trailed 3-4 in the second set to No. 56 Ramon Strassmann on the top court. No. 41 Kilian Martinez led 5-2 in the second set at No. 2 after falling in the first set and Yuto Miyagawa had just began a third set at No. 5 when the match was clinched.  

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 215-68 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year six times and the MIAA Coach of the Year three times. 
• 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 FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS

• Ferris State improved to 19-3 on the season with a 4-1 win over Northwood in the Midwest Regional championship to advance into the round of 16. 
• They are ranked No. 19 in the latest ITA rankings released on April 29.
• Last season the Bulldogs went 13-9 overall and 5-2 inside the GLIAC. They advanced to the Midwest Regional championship where they fell 4-0 to Indianapolis. 
• On the year they are 12-0 playing at home in Big Rapids, Michigan, 5-3 on the road and 2-0 in neutral court matches.
• Jose Andres Perez Alarcon is ranked No. 29 in the nation in the singles rankings while Kevin Kovacs is slotted at No. 42. 
• Jose Andres Perez Alarcon is 22-2 on the year in singles competition playing primarly at No. 2. 
• Kevin Kovacs is 19-5 in singles action playing at No. 1 in every dual he has suited up for.
• In doubles Erik Kovacs and Adrian Catahan are No. 33 in the nation. The duo has a 13-5 record together playing at No. 1. 
• Also in doubles Felipe Iser and Kevin Kovacs are ranked No. 49 nationally. The pair has a 13-2 record together playing at all three positions.

BULLDOGS COACHING STAFF

• Mark Doren is in his 7th season as the head men's tennis coach at Ferris State.
• He is a 2006 graduate of FSU's Professional Tennis Management (PTM) program
• In addition to working at FSU, Doren has worked as a head tennis professional at the MVP Athletic Club in West Michigan since 2008
• Doren earned his bachelor's degree in marketing and Professional Tennis Management from Ferris State.

HISTORY WITH FERRIS STATE

• Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams 1-0.
• The first and only match was a 5-0 win for the Ichabods at home over Ferris State on March 12, 2010. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Zino Nahirniak needs three more wins in singles to reach 50 for his career as an Ichabod.
• Benjamin Fock is currently 4th in a single season with 26 singles victories, Yuto Miyagawa is tied for 5th with 25. 

UP NEXT

• With a win on Wednesday the Ichabods would face the winner of the match between the No. 2 seed West Florida and the No. 15 seed St. Thomas Aquinas. The match would be set for Thrusday, May 21 at 8 a.m. PST.