TOPEKA, Kan. -- The 2026-27 season gets underway for Washburn men's tennis on Friday, Sept. 18 at the Washburn Invitational Tournament and runs through Sept. 19.
 

First Serve

• Washburn men's tennis opens the 2026-27 seasonat home at the Washburn Invitational tournament on Sept. 18-19 at the Kossover Tennis Center.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 20-6 season overall in 2025-26 while going 5-0 in the MIAA/GAC North Division. They won a fourth straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinals.
• Washburn's 2026-27 roster features eight players with one senior, four sophomores and three freshman.
• All eight Ichabods will participate in singles and doubles competition in the tournament.

ABOUT THE WASHBURN INVITATIONAL

• The tournament is comprised of Washburn, Pratt CC, Rockhurst, Cowley County CC, Nebraska Kearney and McKendree.
• Doubles competition on day one will begin at 9 a.m. with singles action set to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

Welcome Back - Returners

• Washburn returns five players from the 2025-26 roster. 
• Kilian Martinez returns for his sophomore season after earning All-MIAA/GAC Honorable Mention recognition in singles last season. Competing in just the spring season he went 14-3 in singles play with a 10-1 mark playing at No. 3 and had a team-best 4-1 record against ranked opponents.
• Benjamin Fock is also back for his sophomore season after earning first-team All-MIAA honors in doubles as a freshman. He went 19-13 overall in doubles with a 9-4 record at No. 1 and was 4-4 against ranked duos. In singles he went 27-7 on the year with a 6-0 mark playing at No. 5.
• Yuto Miyagawa will also be a sophomore after delivering a strong freshman season. He went 25-9 in singles competition on the bottom three courts with a 4-2 record at No. 4 and was 1-1 against ranked opponents. In doubles play he went 20-13 overall with a 12-6 record playing on court three.
• Graham Faris returns for his senior season with the Ichabods. Last season he went 3-3 in singles competition, all coming in tournaments, while posting a 5-3 record in doubles matches with a 1-0 mark at No. 3.
• Petr Leipner also is back for his sophomore season. As a freshman he went 5-5 in singles play with a 1-0 record on court five. In doubles play he was 3-7, all in tournaments. 
• Last year the Ichabods went 160-78 (67.2%) in singles action and posted a record of 67-44 (60.4%) in doubles. 

New to Blue 

• Three new faces join the Ichabods for the 2026-27 season to round out the roster. 
• Keita Kuroda (Tokyo, Japan), Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa (Cali, Colombia), and Gael Mourmant (Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France) are set to begin their collegiate careers at Washburn. 

Head Coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in year seven 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 216-71 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year six times, MIAA Coach of the Year four times and was the ITA/Dunlop Women's Coach of the Year once in 2026. 
• 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 eight 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. 
• Assistant coach Santiago Rendon begins year three as a coach with the Ichabods and his first as a full-time assistant after being elevated from a graduate assistant before the 2026-27 season.
• He moved from playing to the sidelines after wrapping up a three season career with the Ichabods headlined by an ITA Cup Doubles National Championship in fall of 2023. 

FALLING FORWARD

• Next up the Ichabods will head to Omaha, Neb. for an exhibition match against Creighton University on Sept. 26.
• The ITA Central Region Championships will begin the final leg of the fall season. They will be hosted in Edmond, Okla. at Edmond Center Court from Oct. 23-26.