Life in college volleyball’s toughest league means every match is a white-knuckle event for the University of Hawaii.

"You’re always gearing up for the big game," UH coach Charlie Wade said.

But Friday and Saturday nights, the fourth-ranked Warriors are decelerating emotionally when they host NAIA member Hope International in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Wade cautioned that the Fullerton-based Royals will be feisty.

"It’s men’s volleyball," Wade said. "Everybody has good players. There aren’t enough teams."

But this match does not count in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings — the Warriors are tied for first at 12-2 — and there is a bye next weekend.

"There is a natural whooo," said Wade, making an exhaling sound. "Take a deep breath. We have a couple of weeks where we don’t have that. We have a nonconference opponent this weekend and no opponent next weekend. But we have to come in and keep trying to get better. While there’s no motivation of the big game, we still have to try to get better."

Wade’s wish is the starters will play well enough to give the B-side players reps.

"We’re not looking to lose, or to lose sets even, to get everybody in," Wade said. "It’s an opportunity to get some guys some good playing time, and it doesn’t count toward the league standings, which, for us, is everything."

There are 21 players on the UH roster. Opposite attacker Iain McKellar underwent season-ending knee surgery in January. Setter Kekoa Pukahi, middle Luke Owens and libero Mamane Namahoe are redshirting this season. Because this is an inter-organization match, every other UH player is available to play. In particular, middles Zach Radner and Vaughn Wellenreiter, setter Alex Jones, libero Garrett Komisarek, and pin hitters Ryan Leung and Hendrik Mol probably will play extensively.

"We’d like to see a lot of guys, wholesale changes," Wade said. "Our second unit has been good and worked hard. We want to give some of the other guys quality court time. We’re going to get into situations where we’re going toneed to get them in a game. The more they’ve gone into a game, the more prepared they’ll be when we need to call on them."