TEMPE, Ariz.—Men's tennis player Andre Ilagan became the highest ranked player in University of Hawai'i history, debuting at No. 11 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings on Wednesday.
 
Ilagan had a history-making fall season in ITA events. At the ITA All-American Championship (Tulsa, Okla.) in October, he began his amazing run as an unranked player in the qualifying bracket and finished in the semifinals of the main draw—the highest finish ever for a UH player in the annual tourney. During his historic run, Ilagan mowed down a total of six ranked players—No. 19 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TCU), (then ranked No. 26) Marcus McDaniel (Georgia Tech), No. 111 Josh Goodger (Florida), No. 21 Connor Kingsley (Ohio State), No. 30 Stijn Slump (Middle Tennessee), and No. 12 Alex Kotzen (Columbia).
 
Ilagan made history again in November, becoming the first Hawai'i player to be invited to the ITA Fall Championships in San Diego, Calif. The invite only event was the grand finale to the fall collegiate tennis season and featured 32 of the nation's top collegiate men's singles players. Ilagan knocked off Alvaro Regaldo (CSU) and James Davis (DEN) before falling to No. 7 Arthur Fery (STAN) in the quarterfinals.
 
"This is historic for Andre and for our program," states head coach Joël Kusnierz."No one from Hawai'i has been ranked that high. It is a direct reflection of all the hard work he put in over the years. I have no doubt that this achievement will resonate to the junior community of Hawai'i and inspire them to excel on the national stage. I am excited for Andre to continue his development and grow into an even better tennis player and leader. "

Previously, the highest ranking a UH player had ever received was Andreas Weber when he came in at No. 25 in the 2008 ITA pre-season poll, while Dennis Lajola started the 2009 season ranked No. 56 in the January 6th poll.