Tennis competes at Emporia State’s third annual Chicken Dinner Invitational on Sept. 2 for the first tournament of the fall season.

Men’s tennis this season welcomes three freshmen to the roster. While the team usually looks to it’s seasoned veterans like Matt Barlow and Juniors Blake Hunter and Trey Horton, it has seen success in the outstanding freshmen recruits that the team brings in every year.

The three freshman this year are Chase Brill, Paul Haase and Tommy Hunter. If the team’s 14-6 record last season is any testament, the freshmen on the men’s team have a lot to live up to.

Speaking of freshmen and new talent in the Washburn line up, the women’s tennis team features three freshman as well as two sophomore transfers in the form of Alexis Czapinski from Kansas University and Madeline Hill from SIU-Ewardsville.

Together with freshmen Jacqueline Engelbrecht, Madison Lysaught and Logan Morrissey, the women’s tennis team is made up of mostly new players, except for sophomores Ally Burr and Makenna Gonzales.

Last year the women’s team went 8-13, but a new roster may change the team’s standing completely.

The men’s team finished third in the MIAA rankings last year, and so far there aren’t any indicators that the Ichabods are slowing down their progress through the ranks.

While we don’t have any preseason coach’s poll in tennis, because the teams don’t actually compete in MIAA play until the spring, there’s no doubt head coach Lance Lysaught and all 15 of his players intend to keep us on our toes all season.

After Emporia, the Ichabods will continue to the Wheatstate Fall Classic Sept. 9.