The difference between empathy and sympathy? It’s how Hawaii looks at UC Irvine this week.

The eighth-ranked Rainbow Warriors can empathize with the Anteaters and their brutal RPI-boosting road schedule. UCI hasn’t been home since March 4 with six consecutive road matches heading into this week’s two-match series at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Anteaters (8-15, 5-11 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) opened the stretch with reasonable driving times, down to UC San Diego for an MPSF match then 21 miles up the I-405 for Long Beach State’s Invitational against Ohio State and Lewis.

Then the insanity began for the defending MPSF regular-season and tournament champion. UCI went east for consecutive matches earlier this week in three different states: Sunday at Ball State in Indiana (3-2 loss), Monday at Penn State in Pennsylvania (3-1 loss) and Tuesday at George Mason in Virginia (3-2 win).

Hawaii, the most-traveled team in the MPSF, has little sympathy for the Anteaters and a schedule of their own choosing.

“We’re usually the ones at a disadvantage in terms of travel,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade. “Everyone who comes here does it once a year. We make the long trips frequently and deal with it. They chose to do this. I don’t feel sorry for them.”

Besides frequent flyer miles, the two teams have this in common: fighting for one of the remaining four MPSF tournament berths. Hawaii (12-9, 7-9) has a precarious hold on seventh place, a game ahead of Cal State Northridge and two in front of UCI with four matches to play. The crazy world of the MPSF had a four-way tie for first until Wednesday night when Long Beach State moved a half-game ahead of BYU, Stanford and UCLA with a sweep at home over UC Santa Barbara.

“Another week, another critical week as always,” Warrior assistant Joshua Walker said. “Every game going forward is important for us, not only for making the playoffs but for seeding. At this point, we could be anywhere from fifth (place) to not making it at all.

“We expect Irvine to come in and do nothing but play their best. That’s what teams coming into the Stan Sheriff Center do.”

The Warriors hope that can be said about themselves. Just like UCI, Hawaii has not been at home since earlier this month when losing for a second straight night to Brigham Young.

The Warriors then snapped a five-match losing streak when taking two at Cal State Northridge and have had a bye week to recuperate and regroup for the final six matches. Hawaii hasn’t defeated UCI in Honolulu since 2010, a streak of five that includes last season’s Outrigger Resorts Invitational.

“We played better (at CSUN) and we know we played better, which is something we can build on,” Wade said.

UCI, which was 19-3 when winning the MPSF last year, has used two setters effectively this season. On Monday, junior Michael Saerta set against the Nittany Lions while on Tuesday, it was freshman Dante Chakravorti with Saerta going off for a career-tying 24 kills when moving back to the opposite position.

“The concern with Irvine is we don’t know who they’ll play,” Wade said. “They have lots of talent and, while they may have struggled this year, you know at some point they’re going to get it together and win matches.

“They have a really good coach. They have really good players. No one is feeling sorry for them.”