Last week was a Q&A session, not just for Hawaii, but more for all those watching across the collegiate men’s volleyball landscape.

Were the second-ranked Rainbow Warriors legit?

There seemed to be an asterisk put on every fact.

Hawaii’s unbeaten.

* – But who have they played?

Hawaii hasn’t dropped a set.

* – Again, who have they played?

Hawaii’s won on the road.

* – But look who they played.

Hawaii swept current Nos. 8 Stanford (twice) and 11 USC.

* – Sure, but those matches were at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Last week’s convincing victories at No. 3 UC Irvine likely have erased most of those asterisks and doubts others not wearing green-and-white uniforms may have had. This week, the Warriors remain focused and dialed in — as in 1-800-SWEEP — when hosting the 25th Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational from Thursday through Saturday.

Punctuating last week’s impressive wins were program marks for consecutive sweeps (now at 12) and consecutive sets won (now at 36), the latter an NCAA record. The proverbial icing came Tuesday when junior opposite Rado Parapunov was named AVCA national player of the week, the 22nd time a Warrior had been honored and the first time since Brook Sedore in 2015.

“Very much deserved,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said of Parapunov. “He’s a dominant, six-rotation point-scorer and playing every part of his game at a high level.”

As for the NCAA mark of 36 consecutive sets, “We don’t talk about it,” Wade said. “It just is. We’ve lost sets this season. You just have to come to practice to see it.

“I think it speaks to the maturity of this group. They’re pretty dialed in. That first night at Irvine, on the road, in a deuce game late, we looked at our guys and there was just this calm confidence. They were comfortable playing a high level in meaningful moments.”

The Warriors won Set 1 33-31, setting the tone for the rest of the series.

Hawaii can tie the program’s best start of 13-0 (1996) with a victory over defending Conference Carolinas champion King on Thursday and also is two wins away from winning 300 matches at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors are looking for their ninth Outrigger title and first since going back-to-back in 2016 and ’17.

A look at Hawaii’s tournament opponents:

No. 6 Pepperdine (11-4)

The Waves continue to struggle away from Firestone Fieldhouse (5-4) and are coming off consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation road losses at UCLA (in five) and USC (in four). Their other losses have been at Loyola-Chicago (in five) and at UC Irvine (in four).

As they make their Outrigger debut, the Waves have lost 10 straight to the Warriors in Honolulu dating back to 2009. Pepperdine holds a 44-34 advantage over Hawaii in the series that started in 1980.

This is also the first time the Waves are in the Stan Sheriff Center without legendary coach Marv Dunphy, who retired in 2017 after 34 seasons. David Hunt is in his second year heading the program.

The Waves are second behind UCLA (6-0) in the MPSF at 4-2.

No. 15 Ball State (9-8)

This is the sixth Outrigger for the Cardinals, whose best finish came in their last visit in 2017, when they finished second to the Warriors. BSU has won its last two matches, both sweeps of MIVA opponents.

All but one loss has come to a ranked opponent. The shocker was being swept by visiting and unranked McKendree, which helped the Cardinals drop to fifth in the MIVA (3-4).

Junior hitter Matt Szews (3.11 kps, 25 aces) made the all-tournament team two years ago, as did libero Nick Lavanchy, then a freshman.

Coach Joel Walton is in his 20th season in Muncie.

King (10-5)

The Tornado made their first NCAA tournament appearance last season after earning the Conference Carolinas automatic berth and was sent on a bus ride to two-time defending national champion Ohio State for a play-in match that isn’t recognized as part of the tournament. King’s season ended in Columbus in 76 minutes.

A half-game out of first in Conference Carolinas at 7-2, the Tornado bring a four-match winning streak in from Bristol, Tenn. King pulled a reverse sweep on Queens last Friday at home, needing to rally after being down 0-2 to win in five. Sophomore opposite Joshua Kim’s double-double (18 kills, 10 digs) led the Tornado, while senior middle Dalton Johnson added 12 kills and was in on eight of the team’s 15 blocks.

Reigning conference coach of the year Ryan Booher is in his 10th season. He brought the Tornado to the 2016 Outrigger, where King went 0-3.