Hawaii men's and women's tennis teams returned from the NAIA national tournament, played here May 18-23, with the best combined finish in the history of their school's tennis program. The BYU-Hawaii women placed first in their tournament to win their second consecutive NAIA national championship and the Seasider men finished third in their tournament.

The BYU-Hawaii women's team, which went to Tulsa co-ranked No. 1 in the NAIA with Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.), accumulated 39 total team points to win the title. Each of the six Seasider players won singles and doubles matches early in the tournament to distance BYU-Hawaii from the rest of the field. By the fourth day of the six-day tournament, BYU-Hawaii had clinched the title.The third place finish of the men's team was a championship in itself in the eyes of the players and David Porter, the coach of both BYU-Hawaii tennis teams. The Seasider men, who struggled during the regular season with injuries and other unexpected problems, began tournament play with the odds against them. BYU-Hawaii entered five players, while other serious contending teams entered six players.

Although the tournament is played on an individual basis, the men's team united themselves throughout the week. Coach Porter said the players' commitment to the game and to each other made this tournament the most rewarding in all his years coaching the men, despite the fact that BYU-Hawaii had twice in prior years finished second.

On the final day of the tournament the team championships had been determined, but BYU-Hawaii still had representatives in three of the four final matches. However, BYU-Hawaii did not come away with any individual championships.

"We came here to win team championships," Coach Porter said. "I feel we met every goal and exceeded every goal we had before we came. Individual championships are bonuses and they come on occasions, but today they didn't come. I am just very pleased with all of the results of our teams.

"The players represented themselves, BYU-Hawaii and the Church in a very respectable and uplifting way," Coach Porter said. "They have received comments from the officials, the tournament committee, other coaches as well as players about the positive attitude that they exhibited in their behavior both on and off the court. They are a credit to the school and to the Church."

BYU-Hawaii has now claimed 13 national championships in its history. Women's volleyball leads the list with eight championships, men's volleyball and women's tennis have each won two titles and rugby has one.