Two weeks ago, it was Mike Sealy.

This week, it’s Scott Wong.

Dave Shoji’s former top assistants continue to “return home” to face Hawaii on the opposite side of the net. For Wong, the nonconference matches Friday and Saturday are his first as Pepperdine’s head coach against his former team, the No. 15 Rainbow Wahine.

“It’s the first time for a lot of our players to come to Hawaii and the first time they’ll experience the Hawaii volleyball environment,” said Wong, the Wahine’s associate head coach from 2010 through 2014. “I don’t know if they totally understand what I’ve been telling them. It’s something they’ll have to experience first.

“What I’m most excited about, besides coming home, is playing against a really good team. I have such respect for Dave (Shoji). The excitement is driving us.”

The Waves (6-4) are coming off Tuesday’s match that pitted Hawaii’s past two associate head coaches — Wong and UCLA’s Sealy — in Malibu. The No. 11 Bruins won 19-25, 25-14, 26-24, 25-18 in Firestone Fieldhouse; on Sept 3, UCLA swept host Hawaii, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22.

“It was tough but we had some bright spots,” said Wong, a Punahou School graduate raised in Pearl City. “We’re still learning to compete but I’m seeing the progress.

“We know about Hawaii’s injuries … you don’t wish that on anyone. Coming into the season, I thought they were going to have one of their best teams in 10-15 years. Hawaii is good but when they have all their pieces, they’re going to be very good.”

The jigsaw puzzle that has become Hawaii did get some pieces back on Wednesday. Senior opposite Nikki Taylor, who rested her injured elbow on Tuesday, was cleared to participate in practice on a limited basis; she is expected to be fully cleared today.

Also, senior middle Annie Mitchem had the pin removed from her surgically repaired left pinkie finger Wednesday morning. She missed the last 12 matches of last season after fracturing her right pinkie finger and injured her left finger on Aug. 9, the first day of practice.

Mitchem has continued to practice since her surgery in late August.

Mitchem on Wednesday was cleared to play this week, but whether she will hasn’t been decided.

Shoji said he is looking forward to seeing Wong, someone he’s known “since he was a little kid,” Shoji said. “I think he’s grown in a lot of ways and is becoming a very good head coach. That’s what he wanted to do when he left here.

“It will be nice to have him back.”

As tough as the Wahine had it last weekend — falling in five to then-No. 6 Washington — the Pepperdine’s trip down I-405 to Long Beach State was even more challenging. After sweeping Arizona State on Friday in the Long Beach State-Loyola Marymount Baden Invitational, the Waves dropped a five-setter to the host 49ers, a match that started at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Waves’ match with Harvard didn’t start until 9:30 p.m. Saturday and it also went five, finishing around 11:40. “I think the hardest part was waiting around in between matches,” Wong said. “We weren’t used to playing that late but it was awesome to see how our players responded (after the loss to the 49ers) and the resilience.”

Sophomore hitters Nikki Lyons (2.24 kps) and Heidi Dyer (2.23 kps) led the Waves attack. Freshman libero Hana Lishman (Punahou) leads the team in digs (3.83 dps) and is second in aces (11).

This is the first week of play without a tournament for Hawaii and “the three-game series is tough,” Shoji said. “There’s no time to recover, no time to practice. It’s a little more conventional this week.

“Are we better than 5-4? There’s always the could’ve, would’ve, should’ves. We can’t look back, can only move forward.”

Hawaii leads the series with Pepperdine, 28-3, and has won the last 11 meetings. The last victory for the Waves came in 1997 in five at the Stan Sheriff Center; the Waves’ other two wins were in 1978 also in five, one played at Blaisdell Arena, the other at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo.