Bod Brief: Men’s tennis season ends to Tigers in first round of NCAA tournament
Santiago Rendon serves the ball March 25, 2022, Topeka, Kansas. Rendon lost his singles match in three sets from the fifth position.
After a 17-4 regular season, Washburn men’s tennis’ season is over after a 4-3 loss to Ouachita Baptist University in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Championships May 9.
The No. 4 seed Ichabods swept the top-seeded Tigers 4-0 back Feb. 19 in Topeka, but were unable to do the same in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
Doubles play began with a split for each side, with sophomores Miquel Perez and Santiago Rendon winning at the No. 3 spot 6-4. Ouachita Baptist took the No. 2 point to even it back up.
On court one, freshman Matthew Earle and sophomore Sebastian Pjontek ultimately fell 7-6 after losing a long tiebreaker 14-12, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead after doubles play.
After his long doubles match, Pjontek fell in two sets in singles play from the No. 4 position. Freshman Tim Hammes and Rendon responded with a pair of two-set wins from the No. 3 and No. 6 spots respectively, tying the match.
Each team took one of the next two points with senior Raul-Alin Dicu falling in two sets at the No. 1 position and sophomore Daniel Bird winning a three-set battle on court No. 5, leaving the match tied at three.
After winning the first set from the No. 2 position, Perez ultimately fell in three-sets as Ouachita Baptist advanced to the second round with a 4-3 victory.
The loss finished Washburn’s season with a 17-6 record, the program’s most wins in a year since the 2006-07 season.
Edited by: Glorianna Noland
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