TEMPE, Ariz.—UH Hilo's strong season in men's tennis in 2017-18 has earned the Vulcans ranking respect heading into the 2018-19 year.

The doubles team of Vaclav Slezak and Alessandro Giuliato is ranked second in the ITA West Region rankings, and the tandem lists 12^th nationally in the latest poll released on November 21. Slezak and Giuliato finished 17-3 last year, the same record that the Vulcan team had during their most successful season in school history.

Slezak, a senior from the Czech Republic, was also ranked fourth in the west region singles list and 28^th nationally. Vaclav won the Honolulu UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) tournament this past fall, defeating University of Hawai`i and Hawai`i Pacific players on his way to the title. He was 14-5 on court one last year in singles.

Giuliato grabbed the sixth slot in the west region and is 33^rd nationally. Last year as a freshman, he was 18-2 playing on court two.

Fellow '18 rookie Chun En Wu comes in at No. 10 on the ITA West Region ranking, giving the Vulcans three players in the top ten. Wu played No. 3 for the Vulcans last season, finishing 11-5 in singles and 15-5 in doubles. UHH newcomer Martin Soukal checks in at No. 19 on the west region list.

Grabbing the No. 1 slot in the west and No. 2 nationally in doubles was the Azusa Pacific duo of Jakob Schnaitter and Filip Kesina. That pair advanced to the ITA Division II Championship Cup finals in Rome, Georgia this Fall (a tournament that UHH did not play in). Schnaitter played on the No. 3 singles court for the Cougars last year and played No. 2 doubles for the PacWest champion squad. Kesina is a freshman this year at APU.

The Vulcans officially open their 2018-19 season February 16-18 in Kona, hosting Holy Names, UC San Diego and Hawaii Pacific at the Holua Tennis Center.

For look at the complete ITA West Region list, click here.