The goal for the final week of the program’s existence is to win a national title.
The top-ranked Brigham Young-Hawaii women’s tennis team (27-0) has one final opportunity to collect another NCAA Division II championship this week in Altamonte Springs, Fla. For a program that owns seven D-II championships and two NAIA team titles, there will be no next year, as the school is shutting down its entire athletics program after this spring season.
“Our final goal is to win the national championship,” said BYUH senior Summer Wen. “We lost last year in the final. It was a very close match. I think our team is better than last year, so I have very good (confidence) to win this year.”
The Seasiders have been a powerhouse in small college tennis, sustaining success year after year. Their 103- and 130-match winning streaks are among the longest across all NCAA sports. ESPN even noted those this season when the Connecticut women’s basketball team was going for 100.
“Each year has been new and fun because it’s been different players,” said BYUH coach Dave Porter, the winningest coach in collegiate tennis history with 1,409. “I’ve enjoyed it. I know I’m going to miss it, but I’m not thinking about missing it because I’ve got these players right now and we’re working toward a common goal.”
The humidity will be brutal in Florida, as will the competition that runs through Saturday. The Seasiders open Wednesday against Queens (N.Y., 14-3) in the round of 16. Second-ranked Barry is a possible quarterfinal opponent. Fifth-ranked Armstrong State, which beat BYUH in last year’s championship, is in the bottom portion of BYUH’s bracket. BYUH has lost to Armstrong in five finals.
Sixth-ranked Hawaii Pacific (14-5) opens Wednesday against No. 12 St. Mary’s (Texas, 19-2). Nicole Hoynaski is ranked second nationally in singles and Lara Meccico, the PacWest newcomer of the year, is 16th.
“We (need to) focus on our first three doubles and try to get the three doubles (points) first,” said BYUH senior Karen Liu. “It helps us to relax in the singles game.”
Wen and senior Dallas Zhang are the nation’s top-ranked doubles team. Zhang, the four-time PacWest player of the year, is the nation’s top singles player. Wen is fifth and Liu is eighth. Liu and PacWest freshman of the year Leah Heimuli are ranked 12th in doubles.
“We know each other more than 10 years,” Wen said of Zhang. “We grew up together (in China). We both speak the same language, so it’s much (easier) to communicate. I believe in her.”
Recruiting was a challenge, trying to convince freshmen to spend just one year playing here. But Porter has four freshmen, some who turned down Division I offers, who have been brought along by the squad’s four seniors.
“That’s a hard decision because, obviously, the program is ending and usually athletes don’t want to come because they don’t know where they’re going to go next,” said Heimuli, who is 24-0 in singles and playing for Utah next season. “But I actually reached out to Coach Porter and I heard a lot of good things about him and a lot of great things about the team. Because of that, I was OK with coming out here.”
The fact Porter got a player like Heimuli to come here speaks to his ability to recruit and to teach the sport, and the respect he carries. He started the tennis program in 1984, led a successful transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II in the late 1990s and developed relationships across the globe to attract players from Asia, the Pacific and Europe to the North Shore. His men’s team won NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003.
“For me, it means a lot for me to win the national (title), and also I think it’s very meaningful for Coach to win the national because it’s our last year of this program,” Wen said. “All the team wants to win for Coach. He’s great. We would like to do it for him.”
HPU men to defend title
Defending men’s champion and fourth-ranked Hawaii Pacific (16-4) faces New York Institute of Technology (13-5) in today’s round of 16. The Sharks return three players from last year’s championship squad, and their leadership and experience have been integral in developing the squad’s four freshmen.
“What we really tried to emphasize was that what happened last year happened last year,” HPU coach Hendrik Bode said. “Obviously we want to follow in those footsteps, but that’s a really tall order. We just have to focus on what we’re doing day in and day out and see where that takes us.”
Filip Dolezel is ranked sixth nationally in singles and Torben Otto is eighth. Dolezel and Jakub Hardrava are ranked third in doubles.
“Competing as hard as we can,” Bode said of this week’s focus. “At this point of the season it’s all about how much effort you put in and how much you want it, not necessarily about how well you play.”
