This is so not last year.

A brutal January schedule against some of the toughest volleyball teams in the country had Hawaii starting out 1-6 in 2013. The Rainbow Warriors opened 0-4 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, all on the road against the two teams that would end up at the top of the MPSF standings (No. 1 Brigham Young and Long Beach State, tied for second).

This season? Kinder schedule. Better strength, physically and mentally. And more experience throughout the lineup.

It has added up to a better January for No. 10 Hawaii. Much better.

Sophomore hitter Siki Zarkovic put down 11 kills and junior middle Taylor Averill added 10 with no hitting errors to lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 sweep of winless UC San Diego on Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii (5-2, 3-1 MPSF) heads off on its first road trip of the season, armed with confidence and something it didn’t have all of last year: a three-match winning streak. The Rainbow Warriors open a four-match road trek at No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (3-2, 2-2) on Thursday.

"We’re a year older and it shows," Averill said. "It showed at the end (of Set 3), when we held it together to come back and win.

"There’s a cohesion out there. We’ve had an extra year together. The biggest thing is how we are all connecting with Joby (senior setter Ramos). It’s a different feeling right now."

With solid passing, anchored by sophomore libero Kolby Kanetake, Ramos had all his attack options available. Hawaii hit .478 over the 93 minutes, with a match-low .429 in Set 3 when the team committed half of its eight errors.

"I’m very confident in my hitters and our middles are, I think, the best in the league," said Ramos, who finished with 34 assists, three block assists and a key kill in Set 3. "The difference this year is just the atmosphere on the team. We’re growing together at the same time.

"Going on the road will be different. We won’t have our fans in our arena. I hope we are able to bring the same energy that we’ve had."

If Hawaii had a letdown Sunday night, it was in Set 3. Give credit to UCSD (0-7, 0-6) for its role in that by cutting down its service errors (11 for the match, one in Set 3).

The Tritons, swept in five of their first six contests, came close to avoiding sweep No. 6 over the final 33 minutes. UCSD took its first lead of the night at 1-0 on Johann Timmer’s service error and its last at 16-14 on a kill by senior setter Mike Brunsting.

Hawaii used a 3-0 run to regain the lead at 17-16 on kills by Averill and Ramos, and a block of Scot Metzger by Ramos and junior middle Davis Holt.

It would be tied for the seventh and last time on a kill by Brunsting at 17. A kill by Averill and an ace by Ramos gave the Rainbow Warriors separation at 19-17.

The Tritons never got closer than a point the rest of the way, pulling to 23-22 on the last of senior hitter Nick Iorfino’s match-high 12 kills. The Warriors closed it out on a triple block of Brunsting by Ramos, Averill and senior hitter Jace Olsen, and Zarkovic’s 11th kill.

Hawaii outblocked UCSD 11.5 to 2, with Holt tying his career high with eight total blocks, including a career-high three solo stuffs. Holt also had no hitting errors, putting down seven of eight attempts.

Olsen and freshman opposite Hendrik Mol each had two aces, both of Mol’s coming on consecutive serves late in Set 1 that gave the Rainbow Warriors a 21-9 lead.

"Experience helps, and everyone we have back is a year stronger, smarter and has been through the league once," Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. "What we’re working on is scoring more with less errors."

In the two matches with UCSD, Hawaii’s hitting percentage increased from .353 to .478. The Rainbow Warriors had 10 service errors both nights but had two more aces (7) Sunday than in Friday’s sweep.

Hawaii’s road trip includes matches at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday and Friday, and matches at Cal State Northridge (2-3, 2-2) on Feb. 7-8. The next home matches for the Rainbow Warriors are Feb. 12 and 14 against Cal Baptist (2-5, 2-4).

MPSF VOLLEYBALL

Sunday
Hawaii def. UC San Diego 25-14, 25-16, 25-22

Today
UC Irvine at UCLA

Wednesday
Cal Baptist at USC

NO. 10 HAWAII DEF. UC SAN DIEGO 25-14, 25-14, 25-22

TRITONS (0-7, 0-6 MPSF)

WARRIORS (5-2, 3-1 MPSF)

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — UC San Diego none. Hawaii 7 (Olsen 2, Mol 2, Ramos, Timmer, Sedore). Service errors — UC San Diego 11 (Brunsting 3, Barber 2, Schnitzer, Elie, Iorfino, Rudenko, Galvin, Metzger). Hawaii 10 (Sedore 3, Averill 2, Ramos, Timmer, Zarkovic, Holt, Fey). Assists — UC San Diego 32 (Dempsey 18, Brunsting 11, Barber, Iorfino, Metzger). Hawaii 39 (Ramos 34, Zarkovic 2, Franciskovic 2, Averill). T — 1:33. Officials — Ernie Ho, Wayne Lee. A — Not available.