The top-ranked Brigham Young-Hawai'i women won their opening match at the 2009 NCAA Division II Tennis Championships yesterday, defeating seventh-ranked Francis Marion, 5-1.

The Seasiders (27-0) are going for their eighth national championship in 11 years. They play second-ranked Lynn in a quarterfinal today at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

BYU-Hawai'i won all three doubles matches to open play against Francis Marion. It clinched when Wen-Lin Wang won in three sets on the No. 4 singles court and Shawni Porter won in straight sets at No. 6. The Seasiders trailed in two unfinished matches.

Hawai'i Pacific, ranked 14th, followed with a 5-0 win over Montana State-Billings. The Seasiders (17-7) won the three doubles matches by a combined 24-7 score. They clinched when Aleksandr Stankovic won, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 5 singles and Sandra Wikstrom blitzed to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles.

HPU advances to the Elite Eight for the third consecutive year and plays fourth-ranked Valdosta State today.

On the men's side, sixth-ranked Hawai'i Pacific (15-4) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-1 victory over 20th-ranked St. Edwards. The Sea Warriors face 26th-ranked Drury today in their third straight Elite Eight appearance.

HPU led 2-1 when 28th-ranked Daniel Luedi and Nikola Petrov captured an 8-3 doubles win on the first court. The Sea Warriors then got three straight-set singles victories, by Petrov at No. 1, Luedi at No. 4 and Sebastian Bader at No. 5.

Second-ranked Barry University shut out 28th-ranked Brigham Young-Hawai'i, 5-0, in another men's match. BYU-Hawai'i's season ended 16-5. After winning all three doubles matches, the Bucs clinched with wins at Nos. 4 and 6 singles.

The Seasiders, who won the 2002 and 2003 NCAA DII Championships, won first sets on the first (Rong Ma), second (Agnel Peter) and third (Manu Bajpai) courts and were into second sets when the match ended.