The Hawaii volleyball team and then its fan base will be tested in this week’s matches against fourth-ranked Long Beach State.

In uncharacteristic programming, only Thursday’s match will be televised. OC Sports, which owns the local television rights to UH sports, will not televise Friday’s rematch between the Mountain Sports Federation teams.

In past years, nearly all the Rainbow Warriors’ home matches were televised. Dan Schmidt, OC Sports’ general manager and executive producer, said there are "limited resources" for producing UH sporting events.

"We chose not to do it on a Friday night when people can show up on their own," Schmidt said.

In last week’s Outrigger Volleyball Invitational, UH drew 1,295 fans on Thursday, 1,726 on Friday, and 2,573 on Saturday.

The Warriors’ focus will be on the court, where they will face an opponent that was ranked No. 1 a week ago. The 49ers are 1-1 in the MPSF, defeating California Baptist but losing to Brigham Young. This will be the MPSF opener for the Warriors, who went 2-1 in the Outrigger.

The Warriors appeared to have settled on six of the seven starting positions: Jace Olsen and Siki Zarkovic on the left side, Taylor Averill and Nick West in the middle, Joby Ramos at setter, and Kolby Kanetake at libero.

At issue is opposite attacker. Brook Sedore has the strongest swing among the pin hitters — an asset on serves and back-row attacks — but struggled with his hitting accuracy and defense in the Outrigger.

Sedore was pulled after the third set against Penn State and after the first against UCLA.

"Efficiency and consistency," associate head coach Jeff Hall said of Sedore. "Those are the things he needs to work on the most."

Ramos and Sedore are seeking to rekindle the connection they shared in the second half of the 2013 season.

"I think it’s a timing issue with the tempo of the set and the location of it a little bit," Hall said. "They need to keep working through it. One of the most important relationships is for the opposite and setter to be on the same page most of the time."

Freshman Hendrick Mol of Norway replaced Sedore in both matches, and provided steady passing and an active block.

Mol’s highlight video initially caught the UH coaches’ attention. UH coach Charlie Wade then went to Europe to scout Mol.

"It was a case where we could get a foreigner who was better than anyone we could get domestically at that age," Hall said.

While Sedore provides a spike with oomph, Mol is well-rounded, honing his volleyball skills in beach matches.

A Sedore-Mol tandem would be a consideration.

"It’s not depth if you don’t use depth," Hall said.

UH also would like to find more playing time for middle Davis Holt and left-side hitter Kupono Fey.