Joel Kusnierz knows the look.

He’s seen it time and again over four years of watching Andre Ilagan fire shots back at opponents taken aback by the pace produced by the 5-foot-8 kid from Kalihi.

“At first they were stunned,” Kusnierz, the University of Hawaii men’s tennis coach, said. “You could see on their faces, you could see in their body language, the words they were saying, that they thought Andre was being lucky, that somehow he was playing the best match of his life.

“But I know Andre. I know this is what he does on a daily basis. So seeing that reaction was quite fun.”

Ilagan’s work ethic had long earned him the admiration of his coaches and teammates and he, too, enjoyed seeing the shift in demeanor on the other side of the net elicited by his powerful groundstrokes and bold play.

“The fact that I’m not very tall and then you have to play with guys that are always (6-foot-2), 6-3, they’re like, ‘Why is this little kid hitting harder than me?’ ” Ilagan said. “They get surprised and give me some respect, which is kind of nice because I usually never get much respect from these guys because they think Hawaii kids are not the greatest.”

Earning respect, whether in a match or in the national rankings, came with building belief in his ability to not only compete with, but defeat some of the best in the nation.

It’s a mindset he carried with him to Illinois, where he’ll represent the Rainbow Warriors in the singles competition of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships.

Ilagan was awarded a spot in the 64-player draw as the Big West Conference’s automatic qualifier and is just the second UH player to earn a berth in the NCAA singles tournament, which opens on Monday at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill. Andreas Weber was the first UH player to appear in the tournament in 2007, when he earned an at-large selection.

Ilagan rose to prominence in the national rankings with a run to the semifinals of the ITA All-American tournament in Tulsa, Okla., in October. He emerged out of the qualifying draw and knocked off six nationally ranked players, including five in the top 30. He then became the first UH player invited to the ITA Fall Championships in November in San Diego, where he advanced to the quarterfinals, and set a program record when he appeared at No. 11 in the ITA singles rankings in December.

Among the lessons that fueled his progression, Ilagan said, “one big thing was never underestimate your opponent, and giving respect for yourself.”

“Last year I gave too much respect to other opponents where I don’t think I’m good enough to win the match,” he said. “This year it finally clicked for me, ‘Look, I can win against these top guys.’ ”

Ilagan’s fall run put a target on him in the spring and he went 9-4 overall and 3-1 in Big West play at the No. 1 singles position in the UH lineup.

He enters the NCAA Tournament at No. 40 in the country, and the trip to Illinois highlights a month of accolades for the 2018 Farrington graduate.

“Now that I’m in the tournament I’m back to being an underdog, like how I usually am, which is great for me. That’s where I perform the best,” he said.

Ilagan became the third UH player to be named a conference Player of the Year, joining Dennis Lajola (Western Athletic Conference, 2011) and Jonathan Brooklyn (Big West, 2014), and was an All-Big West first-team selection for the third straight year.

He also claimed two of the UH athletic department’s highest honors in being named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year and the male recipient of the Jack Bonham Award, which goes to UH’s top senior student-athletes.

Ilagan graduated with a degree in finance earlier this month, but recently decided to return for a fifth year in the program, with collective goals in mind, before pursuing a professional career.

“I wanted to run it back one more time just to see if us as a group can go to (the NCAA Tournament) as a team,” he said.