The construction of the Hawaii volleyball team has an important feature.

"We think we have a pretty high ceiling," said UH head coach Charlie Wade, whose youthful Warriors meet Springfield tonight in the opening round of the Outrigger Invitational. UCLA and Lewis meet in today’s first match at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors had first-year starters at four of the seven positions in last weekend’s two-match split with UC San Diego, a fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation member.

"We had seven different players make their collegiate debut last weekend," Wade said. "Most programs don’t have seven new players on the roster. We’ve got a lot more than seven. We just had seven make their debuts."

In men’s volleyball, unlike college football, early losses are not goal crushers.

"We’re not the BCS," UH setter Sam Biscaro said. "Obviously, you want to win every match. But it’s more about the end result."

UH is a member of the 12-team MPSF, the most successful of the three Division I/II volleyball conferences. The MPSF’s top eight teams qualify for the league’s postseason tournament, with the winner earning an automatic berth in the NCAA final four. The MPSF usually supplies the at-large team to the championship tournament as well.

Wade said the blueprint is to create cohesion early in the season, then build toward a berth in the MPSF tournament. Last year, UC Santa Barbara edged into the MPSF playoffs as a No. 7 seed, then won four in a row to earn a berth in the national championship match.

"Santa Barbara is a good example," Wade said. "You’ve got to be playing well late."

UH and Brigham Young are the only MPSF teams that play back-to-back matches against league opponents. The other 10 MPSF teams play home-and-home series.

Left-side hitter J.P. Marks, who was raised in Germany, said it is difficult to face the same opponent on consecutive nights.

"I hope we learned a lesson from this," Marks said. "I’m glad it happened early."

Wade will stick with the starting lineup of Biscaro at setter, Marks and Steven Hunt on the left side, Johann Timmer at opposite, Nick West and Jarrod Lofy in the middle, and Nick Castello at libero.

"We know the regular rotation, but now, if we’re not playing well, we have other options," Wade said. "Last year, we had to sit and watch the same guys struggle."

The Warriors’ opponent, Springfield, is a Division III program that competed at the I/II level for several years. In order to be eligible for the privately administered, NCAA-approved inaugural Division III championship tournament this season, Springfield and two other Division III programs seceded from the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, one of three NCAA Division I/II leagues.

Springfield coach Charlie Sullivan acknowledged it was a bittersweet parting. The Pride finished runner-up to Penn State in the 2011 EIVA tournament.

This will be Springfield’s season opener. The Pride return two starters from last year’s team — middle blocker Greg Falcone and outside hitter Mike Pelletier.