After two matches on the road, No. 22 ranked Washburn men’s tennis returned to Topeka for a match with No. 17 ranked Ouachita Baptist University Feb. 19.
The Ichabods made quick work of the Tigers, needing to play only four points and sweeping them all for a 4-0 victory.
“I thought our guys for where we are at in the season, played as clean of a match as we could play,” said Washburn head coach Kirby Ronning. “When we had opportunities to close out sets and close out matches. I thought our guys did a great job of that today.”
The win was a stark difference from the team’s last match against a ranked opponent, No. 7 University of Indianapolis, where they fell 1-6.
“It’s huge for us, especially for the regional ranking. Ouachita Baptist is ranked 17, and winning this match is definitely going to put us up a little bit. So, getting this win over is great early in the season,” said senior Raul-Alin Dicu.
Winning moved Washburn to 4-1 on the year, including a perfect 3-0 record in home matches.
First to finish on the doubles side were Dicu and freshman Noah Neideck, who took a 6-1 victory from the number two spot.
The other two duos each made comebacks after trailing midway through the set.
Freshman Matthew Earle and sophomore Sebastian Pjontek took a 6-4 win from the first position. Sophomores Daniel Bird and Miquel Perez followed suit with a 6-4 win of their own in the third position to sweep the doubles competition.
“For us to take care of business on all three courts I think gave a huge boost to our guys, and they were really able to carry that over into singles matches,” Ronning said.
In singles competition, freshman Tim Hammes made quick work of his opponent in the second position, winning in two sets and only dropping a total of four points.
Next to finish was Pjontek, who came from behind in the first set before winning the second set 6-2 to claim the third point of the day for the Ichabods.
To complete the sweep, Dicu pushed through a long first set, winning 7-6 and followed that up with a 6-4 win in the second set to claim a win from the first position and sweep the Hawks.
“They are a good team. So to see everyone come out strong and win the doubles point and then be really decisive on the singles, it’s great to see for the rest of the season,” Dicu said.
The sweep was the first time Washburn had swept a ranked opponent since Ronning took over as head coach in 2020.
“I think (this win) validates all of the hard work that we have been doing so far, and our guys are really hungry for the rest of the season, too,” Ronning said. “They know that there is a lot of season left and a lot more opportunities to get ranked wins.”
After the 4-0 win Washburn goes back on the road Saturday, Feb. 26 to face the University of Illinois Springfield.

Edited by:- Justin Shepard, Ellie Walker