Ruben Fonga made Tiffin University men's tennis history with an at-large selection to the ITA National Championships held in Rome, Georgia Oct. 13-16.

No other TU men's tennis player has ever earned selection to the ITA National Championships, which will be held at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College.

Fonga is one of only two GMAC men's tennis players to earn selection, joining Hillsdale's Brennan Cimpeanu.

Fonga caught national attention by reaching the finals of the ITA Midwest Regional Championship hosted by the University of Indianapolis Sept. 17-19.

Fonga won four straight matches to reach the final, the best showing ever by a TU men's tennis player at the ITA Regional. He defeated Lewis 7-6, 3-6, 10-7 before streaking past Southwest Baptist 6-1, 6-0. In the quarterfinals, Fonga posted another three-set win over Indianapolis 5-7, 6-2, 11-9 before once again dominating play in the semifinals against Drury 6-3, 6-2. In the finals, Fonga fell 6-3, 6-4 to Maryville.

Last season Fonga was also regionally ranked 10th on the ITA singles rankings with a 19-5 record including a team-best 10 wins at first singles. Only Brennan Cimpeanu of Hillsdale (6th) and Jakob Riglewski of Walsh (9th) were ranked higher amongst GMAC singles players.

Fonga was also named a First Team All GMAC pick for the nationally-ranked Dragons, who also won the GMAC Championship.

"I'm incredibly proud Ruben will represent Tiffin in the first-ever appearance at the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia," said Head Coach Phil Conley. "This is a first for our program and an opportunity I know our program is excited about. In order to get to this point, Ruben had a lot of quality wins over the #1 and #3 regionally ranked players in the Midwest. He's a player that has so much ability, so I'm not at all surprised that he has qualified. I know he will represent our program well."