Jose Hilla is in his third year as the head coach of the Sonoma State men's tennis team in 2020. He spent the previous five seasons as the assistant coach for the SSU women's tennis team.
In his first season as the head, men’s coach the Seawolves went 14-7 with a .667 winning percentage, the best finish since 1987 (15-13) under Head Coach Jay Potter. In 2018 the Seawolves were ranked 26th in the country and entered the PacWest Conference ranked 4th in the conference. In 2018 Sonoma State beat nationally ranked PacWest opponent UC San Diego 5-4, the programs first time since 2000, snapping a 28 match losing streak to the Tritons.
Hilla, originally from Oviedo, Spain, began his collegiate playing career in 2008 spending one season at Fresno City College where he was awarded All-American honors in both singles and doubles. He then transferred to Fresno Pacific University where he was part of the tennis program that won three consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) titles from 2009 through 2011 and two NAIA national championships (2009 and 2011). During his three-year career at FPU, Hilla went 37-8 in singles play and 27-16 in doubles.
Upon earning a Bachelor's Degree in Business Finance from FPU in 2011, Hilla spent one season as an assistant coach for the men's tennis team at Santa Clara University, leading the Broncos to 21 wins, the most in program history, and an all-time high in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I National Ranking (No. 29), reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Later that fall, he arrived in Rohnert Park to become the assistant women's tennis coach for Joaquin Lopez, where he has been instrumental in the recent success of the SSU women's tennis team. The Seawolves have gone 80-40 since Hilla joined Lopez's coaching staff.
In 2018, Jose Hilla took over as the head men's tennis coach for Sonoma State. Prior to the 2020 season, Hilla has an overall coaching record of 24-13 in two full seasons. In 2019 Hilla led the Seawolves to their first NCAA tournament Appearance in program history! They won the consolation bracket in the 2019 PacWest Tournament that year and Sonoma was ranked as high as 28th in the country during the season. Jose Hilla would cap off a terrific 2019 season by winning PacWest Coach of the Year after leading Sonoma to an NCAA appearance and had a record of 10-6.
Prior to coming to the United States, Hilla was a top junior player on the Spanish tennis circuit for many years and competed in professional leagues in France, Germany and Spain.
Hilla is certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and the International Coach Institute (ICI) in Europe.
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Place |
Appearance |
2018
2019
2020 |
Sonoma State
Sonoma State
Sonoma State |
14-7
10-6
3-5 |
3rd
5th
NA |
PacWest Tournament
Pac West Tournament
SUSPENDED |
