In the 58 times they have met to play men’s volleyball, Brigham Young has beaten Hawaii 40 times. And that includes the past two encounters, which were a month ago.

But that history, recent and otherwise, could be deceiving as the Warriors and Cougars meet today in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.

When at home BYU has dominated against UH, winning 25 of 28 matches.

It’s a different story at neutral sites, where they are 1-1. (They’re also even at Hawaii, 14-14.)

The teams meet halfway — or something relatively close to it — at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif., in a match that could go a long way toward whether Hawaii makes it to the national championship tournament.

It’s clear that both programs enjoy decided homecourt advantages.

The No. 4-ranked Warriors went undefeated at the Stan Sheriff Center this season, while the Cougars were 14-2 at home. Both teams swept at home in MPSF quarterfinal matches last week.

Now, is there an advantage for either team at what is officially a neutral site?

“Everybody plays good at home and it’s harder on the road,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “In this situation the neutral site is more appealing to us, especially in a year when we played both teams that beat us on the road.”

The team that slapped UH with its only two other losses in its 25-4 record is Long Beach State, which was ranked No. 4 when it beat Hawaii in January, and is now at the top of the AVCA poll.

If the Warriors make it past the Cougars, it’s obvious who has homecourt advantage, assuming LBSU gets by fifth-ranked UC Irvine in the other semifinal.

But first things first for UH — which has reason to be glad this match is not being played in Provo, Utah, home of the Cougars.

“The four-hour time difference, the elevation, and just that it’s their homecourt where they’re more comfortable,” Wade said, pointing out BYU’s comforts of home it won’t enjoy at Long Beach. “And certainly teams serve better at home.”

And they tend to serve better at sea level since balls “drift” in the lighter air of the mountains, Wade said.

“Knowing you’re not at elevation, you can go after it,” he said.

Outside hitter Kupono Fey had two aces in addition to 14 kills in the quarterfinal sweep of Pepperdine last Saturday. He agreed that it’s easier to let serves rip at sea level.

“I think it plays to our advantage a little bit because we’re used to playing in that kind of environment,” Fey said. “And it’s a bigger gym, which we’re used to. BYU is a little more cramped. So it will be different. But we have to remember they’ll be serving just as tough, too.”

It’s a big match for obvious reasons. This is UH’s last year in the MPSF before moving to the Big West, and it would like to win the conference championship for the first time, or at least earn a shot at it. And, more importantly, if Hawaii doesn’t win, its season could be over despite all those wins and that high ranking.

“Certainly, winning is our only guarantee,” Wade said. “We’ve had a good year, losing only four times to just two teams.”

Fey is a third-generation UH athlete, so he is somewhat more aware than most of his teammates that many Hawaii fans consider BYU a rival, whether the game be football, men’s volleyball or tiddlywinks.

“There’s a history between the two teams and I take a lot of pride in representing Hawaii,” Fey said.

Wade was Dave Shoji’s top assistant in the 1980s and ’90s, so he is well indoctrinated in how big it is any time these two schools meet.

One match in particular stands out from 1997, in the pre-rally scoring era.

“It went down as the longest match in NCAA history, three hours and 38 minutes,” Wade said. “We avenged a league loss, which in my 11 years of coaching with the women was our only regular-season loss, to BYU at their place in October of that year.”

That match was played at the Thomas &Mack Center, in Las Vegas.

It was a neutral site, like tonight’s.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.