Are you ready for some volleyball?

Tenth-ranked Hawaii opens its season on Friday when it hosts the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine, with four returning starters and seven freshmen, play San Francisco, which still isn’t sure how many of its players are eligible. Wichita State, with five returning starters, takes on Arizona and its eight freshmen in the opener.

UH coach Dave Shoji has his 2011 starters, if Emily Hartong recovers from an illness that kept her out of practice Wednesday. The sophomore will join second-team All-American Brittany Hewitt in the middle. Kalei Adolpho or Jade Vorster, both freshmen, will take over if Hartong is still sick.

Three-time All-American Kanani Danielson and Jane Croson, Hawaii’s most-heralded freshman, are on the left. Senior Chanteal Satele is on the right. Junior Emily Maeda is the libero and sophomore Mita Uiato is at setter.

Sophomore Michelle Waber, who started on the left last year, is planning to redshirt this season.

“Michelle understands her situation now and understands this will be better,” Shoji says. “She’s still 18 as a sophomore, so she certainly can use a year getting stronger.”

Each opponent in this tournament has Hawaii ties. For USF, it is remote. UH associate coach Scott Wong was the Dons’ assistant in 2009. They went 5-22 last year under head coach Gilad Doron, who played for the Israeli national team and is former Warrior Eyal Zimet’s cousin. This year, there are four new foreign players ranging from

5-foot-8 Rebecca Kopilovitch (Israel), who wasn’t eligible last year, to

6-4 freshman Valentina Zaloznik (Slovenia).

“They are really young,” Wong says. “They lost a lot of talent the year before. If the foreigners are eligible that’s a big wild card. They could be good.”

USF’s best returning player is sophomore setter Joan Caloiaro, whose cousin is Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh.

Arizona assistant coach Melissa (Ohta) Walker is beginning to feel at home in Tucson. She grew up in Southern California, was captain of Long Beach State’s 1998 NCAA championship team and married Steve Walker, Arizona’s first assistant, in June. He proposed on Waikiki Beach on New Year’s Day 2009.

Ohta’s father’s family lives here and most of her relatives have UH season tickets. Her dad’s twin sister is married to ‘Iolani headmaster Val Iwashita.

The Wildcats graduated four starters from last year’s 20-12 team, but have senior middle blocker Cursty Jackson back. Walker and head coach Dave Rubio expect Jackson, who had a third of the Wildcats’ blocks last season, and Madison Kingdon, a freshman who has been at UA since January, to play key roles this fall.

Wichita State went 21-8 last year and reached its fourth straight NCAA tournament. Along with its five returning starters, it brings in freshman libero Gaby Urban, who grew up here and went to Sacred Hearts before moving to Reno, Nev. What Urban likes most about Wichita volleyball — community support and top-10 national attendance — is no surprise for a girl who grew up in Hawaii and now appreciates “Midwest values.”

Urban’s senior idols are Camri Zwiesler, Mary Elizabeth Hooper and Sarah Waldorf.

Kari Ambrozich, who resigned as a UH associate coach last month after 14 years, also looks to seniors to lead the Wahine. She calls Danielson and Satele primary parts of this year’s Hawaii puzzle, along with Hewitt. Ambrozich expects to see a quicker team that emphasizes defense even more than in the past.

Coaches deny it, but the most crucial questions for teams visiting Hawaii might not have anything to do with volleyball. They are here for the experience as well.

After seeing family, Urban and Ohta look forward to Waimea Bay and Lanikai Beach, and eating acai bowls, Leonard’s malasadas and Spam musubi.

If Wong were still at USF, he would like his players to experience “Hawaii’s culture, the food, warmth and aloha,” he said. “It’s something people have to embrace to really experience, so I’d probably bring them to my house.”