Hilo, Hawaii – With his senior-laden squad now a part of University of Hawaii at Hilo tennis history, Head Coach Kula Oda starts another season with positions to fill and teams to build.

Both his men's and women's squads bid farewell to many of their top players but that hasn't daunted the second-year coach's goals.

"My expectations are to go to nationals," Oda said. "It's hard to look back once you've gone there. It's hard to have any goal less than that.

"We've just got to mesh as a team for us to do well. If that happens, the talent of the team can take them as far as they want."

On the women's side, Mai Fujii returns as a solid two player while Tiana Lum-Tucker will be moving up the ladder into a top-four spot. Oda has two girls coming in the fall who would make the team solid at the top.

"Right now we'll be about the same as last year but could be better," Oda said. "Competing with BYU-Hawaii is another goal and trying to get to their level. I would really love to compete with them in the near future."

The perennial powerhouse accounted for five of the Vulcans' six losses in the 2003-04 season. The final loss came in a first-round match at the NCAA Championship.

On the men's side, Oda is looking at a break-out year for his squad.

"I'm kind of excited," Oda said. "We've got five or six guys coming in. But until they come in, I'm not going to know how good they are. But from videos and doing my homework, I think they're going to better than the guys that left."