Hawaii hires longtime Hawaii Pacific coach Hendrik Bode for men’s tennis

HONOLULU — After building a national title winner in NCAA Division II, Hendrik Bode has taken on an upscale construction project across town.

The longtime Hawaii Pacific University men’s tennis coach was hired this week for the same position at the University of Hawaii.

Bode, who guided his alma mater to its first D-II national championship in 2016, takes over a Rainbow Warriors program that has seldom contended for titles in the Division I Big West Conference.

“I’ve been lucky to call Hawaii ‘home’ for more than two decades, and it is an absolute honor and a privilege to be named the next head men’s tennis coach at the University of Hawaii,” Bode said in a UH news release. “I’d like to thank Athletic Director Craig Angelos, and the entire search committee for providing me with the opportunity to represent the university. I look forward to building on the program’s many achievements and will push us to be better every day going forward. I can’t wait to get started.”

UH parted ways with five-year head coach Joel Kusnierz in May, following a 6-15 season and a quarterfinal exit in the Big West tournament.

Though UH had a recent Big West Player of the Year (2022) and NCAA Round of 16 singles participant (2023) in Andre Ilagan, team success has been hard to attain for the program since it three-peated as Western Athletic Conference tournament champion under John Nelson in 2008, 2009 and 2010. It won a Big West regular-season title in 2014, but has never taken the Big West tournament championship for an automatic team berth to the NCAAs since joining the conference in 2012.

Since winning the national title, HPU remained competitive in D-II with five NCAA championships appearances. Its men went 13-6 in 2024, losing in the NCAA first round as the No. 9 seed among 16 teams.

Bode also served as the interim HPU women’s head coach in 2023-24 after his wife, Lauren Conching, left the school to become the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s director of coach education in 2023.

Bode arrived at HPU as a student-athlete from Lehrte, Germany. In three years as HPU’s No. 1 singles player, Bode finished his career with a 39-13 record and picked up an ITA Senior Male Player of the Year award as a senior.

Right after his playing career, Bode went into coaching, latching on as a Sharks graduate assistant in 2010. By 2011, he was promoted to head coach.

Besides its national title in 2016, HPU also finished runner-up in 2014 and 2015.

“He’s a proven head coach with success at the highest levels and a network throughout Hawaii and around the world that will benefit the team,” Angelos said in UH’s release. “We look forward to ushering in a new era of Rainbow Warrior tennis under Coach Bode.”

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.