The Hawaii volleyball team served noticed — with a sizzling serve-and-receive performance — in a season-opening road victory over UC Irvine in the Bren Events Center.

The scores were 22-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-17.

Although both teams are Big West members, Sunday’s match — the Warriors’ first in 351 days — was viewed as a non-conference meeting.

The Warriors were out of sync in the first set, when they missed four serves before the 15-point mark and had no answer for outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller (eight kills in eight first-set swings). But the service errors were power launched, leading UH coach Charlie Wade to note, “I wasn’t too concerned.”

The Warriors tightened the block — Schneidmiller had nine kills and hit .375 in the final three sets — and blasted the Anteaters out of rhythm with their serves. After the first set, the Warriors scored on 50.1% of their serves.

All-America outside hitter Colton Cowell amassed 13 kills, tying opposite Rado Parapunov for the team high, and contributed in the serve-receive game. Fifteen of Cowell’s serves produced natural points, including five aces. One serve was clocked at 69 mph. He also had only one error in 15 receptions.

“Just being a sixth-year senior,” Wade said of Cowell and his experienced teammates, “these guys are fully committed to doing everything they can. They understand the game at a high level. We get really good leadership from all these guys who have been around for so long.”

Despite a travel roster limited to 13 players, Wade mixed and matched at key times. Middle Guilherme Voss was hitting .500 when he was pulled in favor of Max Rosenfeld. In preseason training, Rosenfeld has been impactful. On Sunday, Rosenfeld took six swings without an error, assisted on three blocks, and sizzled an ace.

“He certainly provides a little bit different dynamic,” Wade said. “He has a stronger serve. Guilherme was playing fine. Just trying to mix it up a little bit and get a different energy on the court. It’s only depth if you use it.”

In the third set, Spyros Chakas replaced Chaz Galloway to stabilize the passing and reinforce the block. Galloway was hitting .538.

“The blocking needed to solidify a little bit,” Wade said, “and Spyros came in and was able to contribute in that way.”

The Anteaters tried several creative tactics. Setter Patrick Vorenkamp opened on the outside. In one rotation, the Anteaters went with a 6-2 attack. There also was a sequence when they went without a true setter. Freshman pin attackers Cole Gillis and Francesco Sani provided a boost, but not consistency. Gillis and Sani hit .125 and .083, respectively. In the end, Schneidmiller’s arm was not enough.

“Joel is one of the best players in the country,” Wade said of Schneidmiller. “You’re not going to stop him. You’re only going to contain him.”

Wade is seeking whistle-to-aloha-ball consistency for today’s rematch.

“I would have liked to see ’em come out and steamroll in three, but it wasn’t too alarming given all the circumstances everyone’s been through,” Wade said. “And, really, it was nice to see them settle down and take control of the match from the service line and continue to sideout at a high level and play good defense. Irvine is a pretty talented team. Schneidmiller is one of the best in the country. We’re going to have our hands full (today).”