Depth in numbers is good.

Depth in talented numbers is really good.

No. 5 Hawaii showcased that over 88 minutes Thursday night, opening the season with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-9 sweep of Stevens Institute of Technology. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,526 saw 14 of 17 available Rainbow Warriors play in the inaugural Texaco Classic against the Ducks, ranked No. 2 in Division III.

Hawaii sophomore Austin Matautia, out all fall with knee issues, came off the bench in Set 2 to finish with a team-high 12 kills. Sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov, playing the first two sets, added nine kills as the Warriors won their fifth consecutive season opener.

“It was a lot of fun tonight,” said Matautia, who was cleared to practice just last month. “It’s always exciting opening a new season.”

Hawaii (1-0) faces its second Division III team tonight in No. 6 Juniata (0-1). The Eagles were swept in Thursday’s tournament opener by USC, ranked 12th in Division I-II, 25-19, 25-9, 25-21.

The Trojans (2-0) take on the Ducks (0-1) at 4 p.m.

“It’s a pretty remarkable story,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said of Matautia’s availability. “He didn’t practice all fall, showed up for our first practice on Dec. 28. The concern right now is stamina.

“But fast jump, fast arm … that correlates to point-scoring anywhere. He played well.”

So, too, did the Ducks for the opening 70 minutes. The Warriors finally got their block going, with seven of their 10.5 coming in Set 3 as Stevens’ offense became a little more predictable when serve-receive broke down.

Hawaii didn’t get a handle on Ducks sophomore opposite David Lehman until late. Lehman, who played club ball with the Warriors’ Joe and Gage Worsley, had 14 of his match-high 16 kills in the first two sets.

“It was great to play against them, to see them on the court again,” said Lehman, six of his eight hitting errors coming after Set 2. “What was good for us was we got to play against a high-quality team.

“We came out swinging hard. It’s always great to play against opponents better than you. That’s how you learn — see what they do and use that to get better.”

The Ducks also hope to repeat the lessons they learned when they opened up with a loss to the Warriors in 2015. Stevens went on to win the national championship that year.

Lehman said the 10-minute break between Sets 2 and 3 wasn’t something his team was used to. It showed when Hawaii rolled out to a 9-1 lead in Set 3 behind the serving of junior middle Dalton Solbrig.

Solbrig had an ace, the Warriors two blocks and Matautia three kills in running away.

“My thought was just slow it down, have a good toss, good contact,” said Solbrig, who has played sparingly the past two seasons. “Tonight was awesome. I’ve been the third middle on the ‘B’ side. It’s a blessing to get on the court and contribute.”

Impressively the Warriors didn’t rely on two of their All-Americans. Junior hitter Stijn van Tilburg had just two kills playing in Set 1 and senior libero Tui Tuileta was used as a serving sub in the first two sets.

USC 3, Juniata 0

Junior hitter Jack Wyatt put down 14 kills with just one error in his first match since 2015 and the Trojans had little problem with the Eagles.

Juniata got six kills from senior hitter Matt Vasinko and junior opposite Quinn Peterson.

The Trojans outhit the Eagles .386-.057. SC had eight aces to Juniata’s four and won the block battle 6-3.