MARYVILLE, Mo. – The No. 7-ranked Washburn Ichabods clinched the MIAA North Division championship with a 5-2 dual win over the No. 49-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's tennis team Saturday on the Grube Courts at the Rosewell Tennis Complex.
 
The Bearcats had their three-match win streak snapped and dipped to 12-8 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. Washburn has won three straight dual matches against Northwest. The Bearcats hold a 56-19 lead in the all-time series.
 
The Ichabods improved to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA. With the victory, Washburn will be the top-seeded MIAA North Division squad in the conference tournament.
 
Transfer Bernardo Henriques kept his Northwest singles record perfect with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph at No. 4 singles over Washburn's Tommaso Cecchetti. Henriques is 3-0 at No. 4 singles this spring.
 
Senior Rafal Bednarczuk gave Northwest its second point of the dual with a straight-sets victory over No. 52-ranked Pavlos Parson at No. 3 singles by the count of 7-5, 6-3.
 
The Ichabods gained the upper-hand in doubles play when they won a crucial match at No. 2 doubles to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Washburn's No. 1-ranked doubles duo of Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes posted a 6-0 win over Northwest's Luc Mascitti and Rafal Bednarczuk. Northwest's Henriques and Vini Rodrigues secured a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles over the Ichabod pairing of Zinovii Nahirniak and Moritz Pieper.
 
The No. 2 doubles match was level at 3-3 when the No. 18-ranked Washburn pairing of Tommaso Cecchetti and Vaclav Schneider tallied three straight wins over Northwest's Antonin Leborne and Dominik Wijntjes for a 6-3 triumph.
 
Northwest will head to the MIAA Tournament set for April 30-May 2 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.