The road to the national championship in May begins this week for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team with a road trip to California and matches at four sites over three days.

While the Rainbow Warriors won’t be at UCLA — host of the final four six months from now — they will be up and down the I-405, playing at USC, Cal State Northridge, Pepperdine and Long Beach State. It’s a mix of opponents from the former Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (USC and Pepperdine) and familiar ex-MPSF foes who have joined Hawaii for the upcoming inaugural Big West season (CSUN and LBSU).

“We don’t get a chance to compete against other teams (in Hawaii) at this time of the year,” Warriors coach Charlie Wade said. “For us, we’re all in for one trip and play a ton in three days, getting more bang for our buck.

“We’re going to be pretty toasted at the end when we see probably the toughest opponent (Long Beach State). We won’t be at our best, but we will get to see a lot of our guys getting a lot of playing time.”

Hawaii, which leaves today, plays at USC and CSUN on Thursday, Pepperdine on Friday and Long Beach State on Saturday. At least one of the matches will be split UH squads of eight against the opponents.

The Warriors, coming off a third-place national finish last season, lost four veterans from the team that went 27-6 and lost in the NCAA semifinals to eventual champion Ohio State. All four are playing professionally, two in Italy (Kupono Fey and Jennings Franciskovic), one each in England (Iain McKellar) and Norway (Hendrik Mol, indoor and beach).

Wade, on a recruiting trip to Europe last month, was able to watch a Serie A match between Franciskovic’s Modena Volley and Fey’s Argos Volley Sora in Italy.

“I’m stoked for them,” Wade said. “It’s a testament to how hard they’ve worked, to be playing at the highest level of their sport.”

The Warriors will travel 16, including 10 of the 11 who saw playing time last season. Not traveling will be sophomore hitter Austin Matautia, who is out with a leg issue.

Hawaii has three starters returning in All-MPSF selections Stijn van Tilburg, a junior opposite, and senior libero Larry “Tui” Tuileta, as well as all-freshman middle Patrick Gasman. Among those also back are junior hitter Brett Rosenmeier, a former U.S. youth national team member; junior setter Joe Worsley, who played in all 33 matches last season; and sophomore hitter Rado Parapunov, named to the all-freshman team after playing in 25 matches with five starts.

Wade said that van Tilburg has been taking significant repetitions at left-side hitter, which would allow him and Parapunov, a true opposite, to be on the court at the same time. Wade is “smiling,” as he put it, about his libero situation which is anchored by Tuileta, and Worsley’s younger brother, Gage, considered one of the top liberos already at the international level.

Tuileta is expected to see action this week on the outside, a position he played as an All-State selection at Punahou.

“We know he can play libero,” Wade said of Tuileta. “We’ll be playing him on the left — he has such an unbelievable arm.”

Hawaii hasn’t officially released its 2018 schedule, but there are 19 home matches, including three tournaments, scheduled. The premier event, the 24th Outrigger Resorts Invitational, has moved from January to March 8-10 and will feature national runner-up Brigham Young, Penn State and Lewis.

Hawaii also is at home for two matches each against UCLA and Concordia, and Big West members UC Irvine, UC San Diego and Long Beach State.

The Warriors also will compete in the inaugural “Grow The Game Challenge” in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 12-13. Hawaii faces Lincoln Memorial, Barton and Grand Canyon.

“We’re excited about ‘Grow The Game,’ ” Wade said. “It’s a chance to see other styles of volleyball and, for me as a voter on the poll and All-America teams, it’s a chance to see players in person you wouldn’t normally see.”

The Warriors open at home on Jan. 4 against Stevens Institute in a tournament that also includes USC and Juniata.