Collegiate women's tennis hits its stride this month with the University of Hawai'i settling in for a nine-match homestand and three of Hawai'i's four NCAA Division II teams among the Top 30 in the rankings.

Brigham Young-Hawai'i, which has won seven of the last 10 NCAA DII championships, is unbeaten and ranked second nationally. Hawai'i Pacific is 18th and UH-Hilo 29th. The Seasiders are first in the West Region, with HPU third and Hilo fourth.

The Sea Warriors "travel" to Manoa today to play the Rainbow Wahine at 4 p.m. The 'Bows lost two tight (4-3) home matches in January and are 2-5 after last month's trip. The homestand also includes No. 33 Illinois, No. 36 Washington, No. 59 Arizona and No. 63 Marshall.

From there, they play a full round-robin Western Athletic Conference schedule for the first time, with No. 30 Boise State and No. 37 Fresno State in the mix. All those matches are on the road. From April 23 to 26, Hawai'i hosts the WAC women's and men's championships.

Fourth-year UH coach Jun Hernandez is still upset about the first two home losses, recalling vividly the three-set losses and blown 40-love leads against No. 28 San Diego State and No. 38 UC Irvine.

If his schedule sounds stacked, it is. So far UH has not been up to the challenge. Hernandez hopes that will change between now and the WAC Championships.

Ideally, freshman Ellen Linsenbolz, who debuts against Washington or Cal Poly, will make a dramatic difference. Linsenbolz, who has wins over players in the Top 250 in the world according to Hernandez, has been here since last semester but her German club team ran afoul of NCAA regulations and she has to sit out the first 13 matches.

Hernandez expects her to be playing No. 1 or 2 by the end of the season. Sophie Kobuch, a junior from France, earned all-WAC honors last year at No. 1 and went 3-2 at that position on the last trip. The coach describes Kobuch as "feisty" and Linsenbolz as "composed."

"Ellen might be one of the most composed freshman players you will see," he said. "She plays smart on the court, does a lot of the right things to neutralize an opponent. She has an aggressive game style with a great mind. It's a good combination.

"She will definitely make a big difference ... we will be stronger at either first or second doubles and first or second singles because they all will move down a spot. It's a big thing."

The 'Bows could also suffer a big loss. Sophomore Natasha Zorec, who has been as high as No. 2, recently hurt her knee.

The ladder now has Kobuch 1, followed by Anja-Vanessa Peter (Germany), Melinda Wong (Seattle), Aglae Van den Bergh (Belgium), Alyssa Nafarette (California), and Crystine Ito or Dasha Lagmay (both from Kaua'i).

"This is the first year I really have all my recruits ... it's exciting," Hernandez said. "I knew it would be a lot of work to get the team started as far as results and being recognized nationally. We definitely have the schedule to be ranked, but we're missing a couple of players who can make a difference. It's a matter of getting healthy and eligible.

"We want to win the WAC and win some of the next few matches to be ranked. We're trying to get in the Top 40 in the nation. That's the key to making the NCAAs and we have the schedule to do it."

Hawai'i's men's team plays at ninth-ranked UCLA today and Loyola Marymount tomorrow. In the men's DII rankings, HPU is sixth, with Hilo 24th and BYUH 25th. They are 1-2-3 in the West Region.