HONOLULU - University of Hawaii Athletics Director Herman Frazier spent part of President's Day weekend in Phoenix, Ariz., presenting additional information to the NCAA regarding the appeal on the men's volleyball infraction that occurred in 2002.

Frazier and other members of the University that included: Walter Kirimitsu (UH Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel), Jan Gouveia (former UH Associate General Counsel), Daniel Arakaki (Compliance Coordinator), and Rick Evrard (Partner) of Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, an outside firm located in Overland Park, Kan., retained by the University to assist on the appeal; took about an hour to present the case on Saturday, Feb. 14.

"We are pleased that the NCAA offered us the opportunity to present our case," Frazier said. "At the end of the hearing, the NCAA thanked us for our time and stated they would have a decision for us within the next three weeks. The staff members working on the appeal did a thorough job in preparing our case. At this point, we can only hope for the best."

The hearing also included the NCAA Committee on Infractions and members of the NCAA enforcement staff.

The University received notice from the NCAA Committee on Infractions, late last month, a request for additional information. The secondary infraction was self-reported by the University to the NCAA and the decision was made on September 2003.

The decision mandated the University to vacate the 2002 NCAA men's volleyball national championship title and trophy, the team's place in the final standings, and the record of the team's performance in the championship. In addition, the school would be fined $5,000 for the secondary infraction.

The ineligible student-athlete was required to return all NCAA individual awards received during the 2002 season to the NCAA.

The NCAA classified the infraction, centered around the student-athlete's participation on a professional volleyball team before enrolling at UH, as a secondary offense and did not hold the University nor its representatives responsible since it was concluded that it did not know and could not have known about the infraction until the investigation was complete in June.

The University received notice from the NCAA of the possible infraction on May 7, 2003 and immediately conducted an extensive internal investigation, which revealed evidence of an infraction regarding the eligibility of a men's volleyball student-athlete. The University forwarded the report to the NCAA on July 9, 2003.

The 2002 men's volleyball team won the NCAA Division I National Championship, the first for a men's sport at UH, by defeating Pepperdine in four sets (29-31, 31-29, 30-21, 30-27) on May 4, 2002, in State College, Penn. The team finished with an overall record of 24-8, 17-5 and in second place of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Wilton was named AVCA National Coach of the Year, while two Warriors earned first team All-America honors and five were named to all-MPSF teams.

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