Their reputation precedes them.

That’s how McKendree men’s volleyball coach Nickie Sanlin views today’s visit by the No. 4 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. UH (12-2) rides into the Harry M. Statham Sports Center on a seven-match winning streak, pitting it against the Bearcats (5-10), who have lost their past four.

“They are a phenomenal volleyball program with a rich tradition of success,” said Sanlin, a rarity in collegiate athletics as a female coach of a men’s program. “This will give us the opportunity to play and test our skills against a very knowledgeable group of young men who know the game at a very high level.

“We are very excited to have Hawaii on our campus. Myself and the team are really looking forward to this match because they play a style of volleyball that we don’t normally face. It should be an exciting match.”

While Hawaii typifies the “West Coast” style of power and finesse, it is nothing that will intimidate McKendree. The Bearcats compete in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the league that has won the past three NCAA championships and four of the past six (Ohio State 2011, ’16, and Loyola-Chicago 2014-15).

Three of McKendree’s losses have come in five, including the season opener at current No. 9 Pepperdine and last Saturday’s home match with No. 7 Lewis. In both of those, the Bearcats led 2-0 but couldn’t hold on.

“Our team definitely can learn something from (the Lewis match),” said Sanlin, charged with creating the McKendree program from scratch in spring 2013 and having it running in time for the 2014 season. “Defensively we didn’t execute the in-game adjustments consistently.

“In Sets 1 and 2, our serve-and-pass game was clicking, and that gave us the ability to have our offensive options in first-ball scenarios, as well as put a tough attacking Lewis team in more out-of-system situations. The team successfully executed the prematch scouting report very well in Sets 1 and 2, but then our serve-receive broke down, which limited our offensive options and made us predictable.”

Against the Flyers, the Bearcats had four players in double-figure kills, led by 6-foot-7 senior opposite Maalik Walker’s 18. He had just one kill in Set 5, which McKendree trailed 11-3 in before losing 15-7.

Sanlin called Walker “the heart of our team.”

“He has really come into his own as our leader this season,” she said. “He has the ability to terminate at a high rate and we look to him in certain stretches of matches to do so.”

The same can be said for Hawaii’s counterpart in sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg. The 6-8 Dutch national leads the Warriors at 4.12 kps, fifth in the MPSF, and had 10 kills with no errors in Saturday’s sweep at Cal Baptist along with a career-high two solo blocks.

Both the Warriors and Bearcats walk the fine service line when wanting to be aggressive but also keep the serve inbounds. Hawaii has 70 aces to 152 errors in 1,136 attempts; McKendree has 72 aces to 196 errors (attempts not available).

Playing in four different gyms in six nights — Hawaii concludes its road trip Wednesday at Lindenwood (0-10) — is a challenge the Warriors welcome.

“It’s a new experience for most of our guys,” Warriors sophomore reserve setter Joe Worsley said prior to the team leaving last week. “Having to adjust on the fly will be useful for later in the season, for playoffs. You have to be ready every single night, especially on the road.”

This is Hawaii’s first regular-season trip to the midwest and its first nonconference road matches since playing at LaVerne (Calif.) in 1996. The 12-2 start is the Warriors’ best since opening up 13-2 in 1998.

Notes

The Bearcats are encouraging fans to wear “Hawaiian gear” to today’s match, and are offering lei to the first 600 in attendance. McKendree, with an enrollment of 1,450 undergraduates, is averaging 158 after four home matches. … Hawaii is second nationally in attendance (3,021) to BYU (3,086) … The Warriors moved up a spot in Monday’s national poll to No. 4, trading spots with previous No. 4 UCLA. Ohio State (13-0) remained the unanimous No. 1, followed by Long Beach State (11-2) and BYU (10-2).