BYU–Hawaii Senior Marietta Tuionetoa was named the Pacific West Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year for women’s tennis, says a news release from the league offices on June 25.
In May, she also was honored as the 2015 Women's Senior Player of the Year along with BYUH’s Head Coach Dave Porter, who was named the Wilson/ITA Women's Coach of the Year.
This year the No. 3 BYUH women’s tennis team made it through to the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championships. “It was an honor to represent BYU–Hawaii at the NCAA championships this year,” says Porter. “We had a wonderful year going 32-2 on the season. I am grateful for an outstanding group of young ladies.”
Tuionetoa maintained a 3.72 GPA while majoring in political science. Tuionetoa finished the regular season as the No. 7 singles player and No. 22 doubles player in the nation. She was undefeated in singles against Division II opponents and lost just one doubles match.
Over the past four years, she has compiled a record of 83-8 in singles and 109-7 in doubles. “In the final rankings,” said Porter, “Marietta was ranked among the top 10 singles players from over 500 different NCAA Division II schools.”
“BYUH has gone to all 16 national tournaments since joining the NCAA Division II in 1999. Head coach David Porter has led his team to seven national championships and five second-place finishes in those appearances,” says an article in the BYUH Newsroom.
Tuionetoa was named an ITA All-American in doubles in each of the past three seasons. She was also the regional winner of the Arthur Ashe Award and the 2015 ITA Women's Senior Player of the Year.
Porter describes her as one of the best, if not the best, doubles player he has coached at BYU–Hawaii. “She is a quiet leader who was an absolute joy to coach for four years,” he said.
“Porter has consistently been at the top of collegiate tennis as the winningest active coach,” says an article in the BYUH Newsroom. “He has amassed the second-best combined record of any NCAA tennis coach at 1,320-172, including a 673-22 women's record.”
However, “Porter is quick to direct the accomplishment toward the women’s team, who “bought in to [his] philosophy of play and practice work ethic.”
About being named Women’s Senior Player of the Year, Tuionetoa said, “I'm so honored to have made an impression and to have been able to represent the school, especially with it being my last year…[the award] was just such a great reminder of how blessed and how thankful I am to have ended up at BYU–Hawaii,” said the BYUH Newsroom.
“The school, the tennis program, coach, and all the people that I have come across while I've been here have changed my life for the better. I wouldn't trade my experiences here for the world. So this award has truly been a culmination of all of those years of support, which have helped me both on and off the court. A team effort all along. I couldn't have done it without my teammates, coach, my family and ultimately my Heavenly Father.”
A few days earlier on June 23, the conference notified BYUH that 116 of its athletes were on the Academic All-PacWest teams.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams saw 11 of 14 athletes from last year’s roster make the list, the second most of all conference teams for each sport. The women’s soccer team led all BYUH teams with 23 selections.
The Seasiders were one of eight programs with more than 100 student athletes named to the list. Student athletes who maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and were eligible for participation or practice in their sport receive Academic All-PacWest recognition, says a press release from BYUH Sports Information. BYUH participates in 11 of the 15 sports sponsored by the PacWest.