EDMOND, Okla. -- No. 13 Washburn women's tennis will continue in the MIAA Tournament into the semifinals against the No.1 seed, Nebraska-Kearney on May 4 at 10 a.m.
FIRST SERVE
- No. 13 Washburn women's tennis faces a regular season rematch with No. 17 Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA Semifinals on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Edmond, Okla.
- The Ichabods are 19-4 on the year after going 6-2 in the MIAA during the regular season and defeating UCO 4-2 in the MIAA Quarterfinals.
- The Lopers are 18-4on the year after receiving a bye in the first round of the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
- The Ichabods enter the postseason ranked No. 13 in the ITA Rankings.
- Washburn went 18-7 in 2022-23 with a 6-2 record in the MIAA during the regular season. They won the MIAA Championship Tournament and advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
- The Ichabods return six players from last season's roster while adding three freshmen and one transfer to complete the roster.
SINGLES SITUATION
- Washburn has one player ranked on the singles side of the latest ITA rankings withMaja Jungat No. 5 .
- For the season the Ichabods are 115-73(61.2%) in singles matches and are 78-51in duals.
- Maja Jungleads the team with an 26-6 record, she has a 19-3 record from No. 1 and has won her last eightmatches.
- Renske Ubachsis 18-11 in singles competition and has gone 13-7 from No. 2 with wins in her last sixmatches played.
- Peyton Koperis 10-11on the year playing between two and five and has gone 3-2 at No. 3.
- Isabella Martenssonis 13-9 overall and has gone 4-0 when playing at No. 6.
- Martine Carrollis 12-11in singles matches this season with a 3-0 record at No. 4.
- Maddie Shelleyis 11-4 on the year, with a 3-1 record at No. 5.
- Lara Schmidis 9-10 overall in singles with a 4-0 record at No. 6.
- Issabella Pensavallehas gone 4-2 this year whileDaphney Koutsoftahas gone 4-1.
DOUBLES DOWNLOAD
- The Ichabods have one doubles duo in the ITA Doubles rankings withMaja JungandLara Schmidmoving up to No. 4.
- On the year the Ichabods have gone 74-27(73.3%) on the year with a 50-16record in duals.
- Jung and Schmid have the most wins together with an 22-7 record as a duo and they have gone 14-4 together at No. 1.
- Maddie ShelleyandRenske Ubachshave a 20-6record together and have gone 14-5from No. 3.
- Peyton KoperandIsabella Martenssonhave gone 12-6 together overall this season while going12-6 from No. 2.
- Jung has a team-high 24 doubles victories followed by Ubachs with 23.
LAST TIME OUT
Washburn 4, Central Oklahoma2(May3, 2024)
EDMOND, Okla. -- No. 13 Washburn took control of the match early Friday afternoon against Central Oklahoma, advancing to the MIAA Tournament Semifinals after a 4-2 win. The Ichabods will take on No. 1 seeded Nebraska-Kearney at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The No. 5 seeded Bronchos (8-10) struck first in doubles withMaddie ShelleyandRenske Ubachsfalling 6-1 at No. 3. No. 4Lara SchmidandMaja Jungevened doubles up on the top court winning 6-4 over No. 26 ranked Pete Komada and Blythe Buntrock.Isabella MartenssonandPeyton Kopersecured the point for Washburn (19-4), pulling away late to win 7-5 on No. 2.
Martensson continued to roll into singles action, leading off with 6-3 and 6-1 set victories at No. 5. Playing on court threeMartine Carrolllost 6-4 in the first set and Central Oklahoma got on the board with a 6-3 win in the second. Ubachs grinded out a 6-4 first set victory at No. 2 and continued to roll, winning 6-2 in the second over No. 69 Komada to set up match point. Playing from No. 4, Koper led early before falling 6-4 in her first set. She bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second before falling 6-3 in the third.
On court one No. 5 Jung took her first set in an extra game, winning 7-5. No. 59 Nefeli Zafeiri evened the dual up with a 6-3 win in the second. In the deciding set Jung was able to flip the score, winning 6-3 to secure No. 4 seed Washburn's trip to the semifinals.
Playing at No. 6, Schmid won her opening set 6-3 before falling 8-6 in a second set tiebreaker. She led 5-1 in the third when the match was decided.
HEAD COACH KIRBY RONNING
- Ronning is in year four 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 134-49 combined record with Washburn.
- Was named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year on both the men's and women's side after the 2022-23 season.
- 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
- Graduate assistantsSofia SmaginaandCasie Currybegin their first season on the Ichabod coaching staff whileKurt ReidandMiller Zeidersenter their fifth and second seasons respectively.
- Kurt Reidenters his fifth season as an assistant with the Ichabods.
- He started his collegiate tennis career at Tulsa (1977-78) before transferring to Washburn for the 1978-79 season.
- Reid, a Topeka-native, played tennis at Topeka West High School and was elected to the Topeka West Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
- Zeiders enters his second season with Washburn and his first as a volunteer assistant after serving as a graduate assistant in 2022-23.
- Zeiders joins the Ichabods after a four-year career at Washburn from 2018-22 where he went 11-3 in singles and 9-6 in doubles.
- Former All-AmericanSofia Smaginajoins the coaching staff after wrapping up one of the best seasons in Ichabod tennis history in 2022-23.
- Finished as the runner-up at the ITA Cup in singles and was named the MIAA Player of the Year while going 30-3 in singles and 26-5 in doubles in her one season at Washburn. Joined the Ichabods as a transfer from Kansas.
- Casie Curryrounds out the coaching staff as a graduate assistant after spending one season with Washburn in 2022-23.
- Curry received All-MIAA recognition in both singles and doubles while going 16-11 and 22-6 respectively. She joined the Ichabods after transferring from Midwestern State.
OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT - MATCH #24
ABOUT THE NEBRASKA AT KEARNEY LOPERS
- Nebraska-Kearney is 18-4 on the year with its last match coming against Washburn on April 26 as a 4-1 win.
- The Lopers are ranked No. 17 in the latest ITA rankings.
- UNK is 4-0 in neutral court matches this season.
- Last season Nebraska-Kearney went 14-11 overall and 4-4 inside the MIAA, losing in the first round of the conference tournament.
- The Lopers have two singles players ranked by the ITA with Jazmin Zamorano at No. 28 and Fabiana Gamboa at No. 44.
- In singles Nebraska-Kearney has gone 86-33(72.3%) on the year.
- Alexis Bernthal and Narindra Ranalvo lead the team with 17victories each. Bernthal is 10-1 from No. 5 while Ranalvo is 10-1 at No. 3.
- Melissa Becerra and Narindra Ranaivo are ranked No. 39 in doubles by the ITA.
- In doubles the Lopers have gone 42-18(70.0%) on the year.
- Becerra and Ranalvo are 20-2 together with a 17-1 record at No. 2.
LOPERS STAFF
- Scott Shafer is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Nebraska-Kearney tennis program.
- joined the UNK tennis program in the summer of 2013. He served as the top assistant to head coach Jake Saulsbury for six years before being elevated to head coach
- also spent time in Madison, Wisc., where he worked at Cherokee Country Club
- Assistant coach Caleb Diller and student assistant Mia Sherikulova round out the staff
HISTORY WITH NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
- Saturday will be the 26th meeting all-time between Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney with the Ichabods leading the series 18-7.
- The first match was on March 7, 1997 and was a 5-4 win for Washburn in Topeka.
- Earlier this season Nebraska-Kearney won 4-1 over the Ichabods in Topeka.
MILESTONE MARKERS
- Lara Schmidneeds threemore doubles victories to reach 50 at Washburn and is one in singles from 25.
- Isabella Martenssonis five singles victories away from 40 in her career.
SCHEDULE SPRING FORWARD
- If Washburn wins the semifinal match they will take on the winner of Missouri Western and Northeastern State in the Championship match on Sunday.
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