HONOLULU -- The NCAA has stripped the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team of its 2002 national championship title and fined the school $5,000 for using an ineligible player, the NCAA said Friday.

In a statement from its Indianapolis headquarters, the NCAA said it has vacated both the team's championship win and its place in the final standings of the 2002 Div. I Men's Volleyball Championship. The record of the team's performance in the championship must also be deleted, the NCAA said.

The team's trophy and any individual awards received by the ineligible player must be returned to the NCAA, the statement said. The money from the fine will be used to fund student-athlete welfare programs, the NCAA said.

NCAA officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

A spokesman for the university's athletic department declined to comment before a news conference being held Friday morning.

University athletic officials said in July that an internal investigation into the eligibility of one of the players had revealed the NCAA rules had been violated. Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier had said the school was contacted May 7 by the NCAA regarding the player's eligibility.

Athletic officials would not identify the player or in what season he played. The Honolulu Advertiser reported that Costas Theocharidis told the newspaper last month that he was the player targeted in the investigation.

Theocharidis was accused of being a member of a professional team in Greece before enrolling at Hawaii three years ago.

According to NCAA rules, the university has 30 days to appeal the actions to the full NCAA Div. I Committee on Infractions.

There were six foreign-born players on the 2002 team, which defeated Pepperdine in the national title game. The international players were Theocharidis, Geronimo Chala, Dejan Miladinovic, Eyal Zimet, Jake Muise and Jose Delgado.

Hawaii is a member of the Western Athletic Conference, but since the WAC does not sponsor men's volleyball, the team competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.