Pepper partners once more.

This time it’s at a level that has been some 18 years in the making. One developed through club and high school, beach and back yard.

The Brothers Worsley have reunited on the Hawaii men’s volleyball team, freshman libero Gage joining junior setter Joe. Although Gage has been around the program ever since Joe’s freshman year, this time it’s official.

Gage is no longer the “younger tag-along brother.” He’s a Rainbow Warrior.

“It’s super exciting,” said Gage Worsley, an AVCA High School Senior All-American at Campolindo (Calif.) High. “I have been here on game days, hung out with the team. I’d have lunch with them, but I’d have to go get my own lunch — NCAA rules, you know.

“I’ve been part of it but not part of it.”

In many ways, it will go beyond wearing the No. 6 jersey for Gage, considered the top libero prospect coming out of high school. It’s part of continuing the family legacy that goes back generations on his grandmother’s side.

It includes grandfather Doug graduating from the University of Hawaii and father Roger being born in Honolulu, later to return as the technical assistant for the Rainbow Wahine program in the early 2000s.

Joe Worsley’s memories of being in the Stan Sheriff Center as a 4-year-old are understandably more vivid than those of Gage’s, then 2. They include running around the concourse level of the arena during practices, joining in the postmatch potlucks and hanging with Kawika and Erik Shoji, sons of the now-retired Wahine coach Dave.

And then there’s the story about a bucket of golf balls.

“One time, my dad was up watching film in the office and they put us in the hallway,” Joe Worsley said. “The golf coach always left a bucket of balls out there. The story is that Dave started hearing this thwacking. They came out and we were throwing golf balls at each other.”

Not much has changed except the size of the white balls. The brothers were “always in the gym,” according to Joe, whether it was at schools where their father was working or at the Pacific Rim Volleyball Academy in Pleasant Hill, Calif., co-founded by Roger Worsley and where their mom, Christine, is co-director.

Although volleyball was the family business, the brothers said they always had other sports options. Still, the call was strong.

So was the desire to play in college together. It wasn’t easy.

At 6-foot, Joe was considered undersized for the setting position. Despite his many accomplishments … high school league MVP, four sectional championships, three regional titles, two club junior national titles … most colleges wanted him to be a libero.

“I wanted to be able to be back playing on the same court with my brother,” Joe said. “It was a big reason when going through the recruiting process. Going to the same school with us playing the same position (libero) was going to be an issue.

“Charlie (UH coach Wade) saying I could set was huge. I hoped then that (Gage) would get the chance to to play here too, but he had to go through the recruiting process.”

As happened with Joe Worsley, it came down to Hawaii and UCLA for Gage. As happened with his older brother, the choice was Manoa over Westwood.

Gage was unable to attend Hawaii’s NCAA championship tournament matches last May because of his high school season. His senior night at Campolindo fell on the same night that the Warriors were playing Penn State in the quarterfinals at Ohio State.

“I kept asking my dad what the score was,” Gage said. “I was watching in and out. It was pretty gnarly.”

After being down 0-2, the Warriors pulled out a five-set victory over the Nittany Lions.

The brothers hope to follow a similar path this season. This time, perhaps, winning the league championship tournament — Hawaii was second to Long Beach State last year — and, perhaps, winning the national title.

Ask Gage what match he is most looking forward to this season, and the answer comes quickly and easily: Long Beach State.

And just as quickly and easily, Joe responds as the son of a coach and older brother would.

“The answer is always ‘the next one. That’s the most important one.’ ”

Wade hasn’t decided on tonight’s lineup for the season opener against Stevens Institute of Technology. Joe is expected to start at setter but Gage may not be the starting libero. They will, however, be pepper partners, as they have since small kid times.

“And when I do get to play, it’s going to be amazing,” Gage said. “I know how the fans are about this team. I’ve watched from the seats. Now I’m a part of it.”

NOTE: The Worsleys are the fourth set of brothers to play for the Warriors but the first to be on the same roster since Victor and Brian Poppinga in 1987-88.