University of Hawai’i men’s tennis player Andre Ilagan became the program’s first All-American after recording a straight-set win over Texas’ Siem Waldeab, 7-5, 6-4 in the NCAA Men’s Singles Championships’ Round of 32 on Tuesday. With the win, Ilagan punched his ticket into the Round of 16 on Wednesday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
Ilagan will face the winner of the Alexander Bernard (Ohio State) vs. Samir Banerjee (Stanford) on Wednesday in the Round of 16. Time is TBD.
With the Round of 32 win, Ilagan secured a spot in the Round of 16 which automatically garners him ITA All-America honors. Rainbow Wahine tennis’ Petra Melounova is only other UH tennis player to achieve All-America status (2019).
In set 1, Ilagan broke Woldeab early to take a 3-2 lead, but the Texas Longhorn broke right back winning at deuce to knot the set score at 3-3. After holding his serve, Waldeab broke Ilagan for a second time to take a 5-3 lead. Ilagan, however, then won the next four games—including a pair of breaks—as he tied then leapfrogged over Waldeab into the lead. Waldeab staved off two set points but Ilagan held his serve and was able to hold off the Longhorn to win Set 1, 7-5.
After trailing 0-40 in Game 1 of Set 2, Ilagan fought all the way back to break Waldeab for an early 1-0 lead. That break proved to be crucial as Ilagan and Waldeab both held their serve the rest of the set. Ilagan held on to win Set 2, 6-4.
“Andre’s discipline and mental toughness spoke volumes today,” says head coach Joël Kusnierz. “He continues to raise the bar for himself and the program and I couldn’t be prouder of him. He is an NCAA DI All-American which is a tremendous achievement that he fully deserves. Now we focus on the next match! Go ‘Bows!”
After about a two-hour rain/lightning delay, all the NCAA singles/doubles matches were moved to the USTA National Campus’ indoor courts for the second-straight day.
Ilagan is the first UH men’s tennis player to ever win at the NCAA Championships. Ilagan who is ranked No. 65 in the most recent ITA poll has now defeated two higher ranked players in a row—44th-ranked Patrick Maloney of Michigan and 54th-ranked Siem Waldeab of Texas. This season Ilagan has knocked off five ranked players.
