By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
No. 18-ranked Washburn University men's tennis qualified the NCAA National Championships for the first time since the 2017-18 season, defeating No. 24 Ouachita Baptist 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
Washburn men's tennis celebrates its 4-1 regional win Saturday at the Washburn Tennis Complex. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn men's tennis poses for a team picture Saturday after earning a berth in the NCAA National Championships. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will head to Orlando, Fla., with play beginning May 11.
Washburn (17-7), the No. 2 seed in the Central Region, knocked off the No. 3 seeded Tigers (12-11), for a second time this season, and avenged a 4-3 loss to Ouachita Baptist in the Central Region Tournament last season to advance to nationals for the seventh time in program history.
Doubles play started with Sebastian Pjontek and Miquel Perez, ranked No. 7, falling to the No. 6 nationally ranked pairing of Alex Blanchar and Phil Exner 6-4 at No. 1. No. 12 ranked Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon evened the match back up with a 7-6(2) tiebreaking win at No. 2.
Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Daniel Bird went back and forth early at No. 3 but were able to pull away late and win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point for Washburn.
At No. 1 singles Hammes, ranked No. 15, lost his opening set 6-3 to No. 16 Blanchar. He rallied to win the second set quickly, 6-1, and started the third set up 4-1 before winning 6-4, securing a second point for the Ichabods. No. 17 Pjontek trailed early on court two but surged late to win his opening set 6-4 over No. 3 ranked Exner. There was no separation for either side in the second set, ultimately, Pjontek was able to come away with a tiebreaking 7-6(5) win to set up match point.
At No. 3, Perez lost his opening set 6-3 but quickly responded with a 6-1 win in the second set. The third set went back the other way with Perez falling 6-3 for the Tigers first point. Bird also lost his first set 6-3, but rallied to win 6-2 in his second set at No. 4. He jumped out early in the third set and didn't look back, winning the match-clinching third set 6-3 to send Washburn to nationals.
Rendon at No. 5 won his first set 6-1, fell in a tiebreaker 7-6 (6) in the second set and led 4-3 in the third when the match was completed. Daniel Harkin lost his opening set 6-3 at No. 6, won 6-0 in the second set and was one game away from winning as he led 6-5 at the time of the match clinching.
