[ HPU ATHLETICS ]
No. 1 HPU tennis out
of NCAA tourneyThe school was going to host
a regional, but the men’s team
has two ineligible players
Another college team in Hawaii has been knocked from the top spot in the country by a rules violation.
Hawaii Pacific President Chatt Wright announced yesterday that the men's tennis team is withdrawing from the NCAA Tournament because of two ineligible players. The tennis program is also forfeiting matches in which those players competed this season.
The Sea Warriors (21-0) were ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division II and scheduled to host a regional tournament May 7-9. That tournament has been moved to UC-San Diego, where Hawaii-Hilo will play the hosts for the right to participate in the round of 16 at Altamonte Springs, Fla. It also punches BYUH's ticket to Florida without playing in the regional.
The Sea Warriors lost to Brigham Young-Hawaii in the national championship last year and have been the runner-up three times in the past four years. This year, undefeated HPU was the favorite.
According to HPU Vice President for Administration E. Rick Stepien, the NCAA contacted the school with the names of three players under investigation for participating in tennis tournaments before enrolling at HPU. Two players, whose names were not released by the school, were ultimately declared ineligible.
HPU's compliance office was investigating one of the players when the call came and pulled the trigger when it compiled enough evidence that two of its players competed in tennis tournaments before joining the program.
"It is lengthy and complicated, but that is no excuse," Stepien said. "We have a responsibility to do the same things as everyone else. This was an oversight, plain and simple, and we regret it and will work to make sure it never happens again."
It was the second time in five months a Hawaii school has been knocked from the top spot in the nation because of rules violations. Last fall, the BYUH volleyball team forfeited its season and spot in the regional tournament after finding a player to be ineligible.
Stepien said that the two cases are "very similar" in that each recruit is asked a series of questions regarding their eligibility, and it takes time to determine whether the recruits are being honest. HPU was in the process of going over their answers when the NCAA contacted it.
BYUH tennis coach David Porter can see how it can happen to any program.
"With what happened to UH volleyball and our volleyball team, you just never know," Porter said. "Kids come in and we ask them questions and make decisions that impact the university based on what they tell us. Whether they are being truthful or just want access to the United States and not giving us the whole story, it's really a challenge.
"My heart is filled with compassion for (Hawaii Pacific coach Henry Somerville) and all of his players because I know them to be an outstanding group," Porter said. "It's just too bad that the hopes and dreams of what I said was the best team in the nation have to end like that."
Somerville refused to comment other than to say he and the team were "floored by it, it came from out of nowhere."