The goals are simple. Get better every match out and be better than last season.

Hawaii has spent a long offseason trying to fix what was broken in 2008. The Warriors didn't make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, coach Mike Wilton's first season, and had its fourth losing season in the program's 30-year history of NCAA play.

Hawaii had a roller-coaster performance at its Outrigger Hotels Invitational last week, with moments of brilliance followed by long stretches of inconsistency. The Warriors finished third, with a sweep of Ohio State followed by losses to USC and top-ranked Penn State.

If last week was the frying pan, this week is the fire with Hawaii opening up Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with No. 3 Pepperdine tomorrow and Friday.

“;I've heard people say there is no way anyone's going undefeated in conference this year,”; Wilton said. “;There's a lot of good teams and it will be a battle every night out.

“;What I learned last week is that, for a given period, we can play with anyone. We also learned that we need to get better at a couple of things—serving and passing—so that we can prolong that.”;

Wilton believes the Warriors can make the playoffs.

“;We're certainly capable of being one of the eight out of 12 pretty good teams,”; he said. “;But as every team out there knows, there's never an easy night in this league.”;

A look at the teams as ranked in the coaches preseason poll:

1. (tie) Pepperdine (1-0)

The Waves have most of their starters back from the team that lost to Penn State for the NCAA title last May. The two key losses are All-American setter Jonathan Winder (graduation) and outside hitter J.D. Schleppenback (season-ending shoulder injury).

Expected to lead again on offense is two-time All-American senior opposite Paul Carroll, named Volleyball Australia's top male player. The 6-foot-8 Carroll led the country in both kills (6.54 kps) and points (7.56 pps) last season.

Other starters back are 6-7 sophomore hitter Cory Riecks, 6-8 senior middle Mark Hulse, 6-9 sophomore Tyler Jaynes and junior libero Sean Grubbs. Sophomore setter Kasey Crider is expected to run the offense, and 6-6 junior middle Rodnei Santos, a transfer from BYU, adds depth and experience to a very tall front line.

  Host Pepperdine outlasted NAIA power Cal Baptist on Friday, 26-30, 30-26, 30-20, 34-36, 15-13. Carroll had 31 kills, hitting .481, as the Waves rallied from a 10-7 deficit in Set 5 to pull out the win.

1. (tie) UCLA (1-2)

Few ever count the Bruins out of the MPSF title hunt as they go for the program's 20th national championship. UCLA has five returning starters, but no spot is safe on a roster full of talent and depth.

The Bruins likely will again use both setters in senior Matt Wade and junior Kevin Ker.

Debuting at middle will be 6-8 true freshman Kyle Caldwell, who helped the team to a 6-2 record at the Husky Dino Cup preseason tournament in Canada. Perhaps the best all-around player is dynamic 6-5 junior hitter Garrett Muagututia, who set a single-season school record last year with 473 kills. Also returning is 6-9 senior hitter Sean O'Malley, named the MVP of the Dino Cup.

At the UCSB tournament, UCLA swept Pacific, but was swept by CSUN and UC Irvine to finish sixth.

3. Long Beach State (1-2)

The 49ers return six starters, including All-American middle Dan Alexander, who led the team in hitting (.503) and blocks (152). Also back is reigning MPSF Freshman of the Year Mike Klipsch, a setter who averaged 13.82 assists; senior libero Dustin Watten (2.33 dps); junior opposite Dean Bittner (4.84 kps); and junior hitter Tommy Pestolesi (1.33 kps), the son of former Hawaii All-Americans Tom Pestolesi and Diane Sebastian Pestolesi.

The key loss was hitter and MPSF Player of the Year Paul Lotman (5.44 kps).

The Beach finished fourth at the UCSB tournament, sweeping UC Irvine before falling to Stanford in four and the host Gauchos in three. Bittner was named all-tournament.

4. CSU Northridge (3-0)

The Matadors were the surprise winners of the UCSB tournament, defeating the host Gauchos, UCLA and Stanford for their first Elephant Bar title. Senior All-American hitter Eric Vance had 20 kills against the Cardinal en route to MVP honors, and junior hitter Mike Gaudino also was named all-tournament.

Setting CSUN is freshman Matt Stork, son of Olympian and Pepperdine All-American setter Jeff. In the mix at libero is junior Kaleo Baxter (Kauai '05), who played at Irvine Valley the past two seasons for Tom Pestolesi.

5. UC Irvine (3-10)

The Anteaters swept Cal Baptist before finishing fifth at the UCSB tournament. UCI fell to Long Beach State, then beat UCLA and BYU.

Freshman opposite Carson Clark was an all-tournament selection.

The Anteaters are led by two senior All-Americans in hitter Jon Steller (3.35 kps, 38 aces) and libero Brent Asuka ('Iolani '05), who is less than 300 digs away from becoming the NCAA record holder.

6. USC (2-1)

The young Trojans are a force to be reckoned with, as evidenced by their second-place showing at last week's Outrigger Invitational.

USC is talented, starting with sophomore hitter Murphy Troy, named the Outrigger tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and sophomore setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou '07). Freshman hitter Tony Ciarelli was impressive all week.

7. Stanford (2-1)

The Cardinal roster could be called UH-North with five former Hawaii prep standouts in uniform. Stanford placed second to Northridge at the UCSB tournament, led by all-tournament selections Kawika and Erik Shoji.

Kawika ('Iolani '06), a junior setter, and Erik (Punahou '08), a freshman libero, helped lead Stanford to wins over BYU and Long Beach. Junior opposite Evan Romero had 18 kills in the loss to the Matadors.

Stanford had the No. 1 recruiting class for 2008, with Erik Shoji and freshman hitter Brad Lawson ('Iolani '08). Also on the roster from Hawaii are sophomore middle Spencer McLachlin (Punahou '07), sophomore libero Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha '07) and sophomore middle Max Halvorson (Punahou '07).

8. BYU (1-2)

The Cougars finished seventh at the UCSB event, losing to Stanford and UC Irvine before sweeping Pacific.

BYU is hosting the NCAA championship for the first time. It could be a tough task to get there. The Cougars are young, with no seniors and just two returning starters.

Back for their junior years are setter Yamil Perez and hitter Andrew Stewart, the latter who had 13 kills in the win over the Tigers. Returning from his church mission is Futi Tavana (Kauai '05), a 6-8 middle.

9. Hawaii (1-2)

The Warriors finished third in their tournament, opening with a sweep of Ohio State before falling to USC and Penn State.

Sophomore hitter Joshua Walker earned all-tournament honors, finishing the tourney with 50 kills, including 18 against the Nittany Lions.

Hawaii is nearly as young as BYU, with three seniors, including setter Sean Carney ('Iolani '04), hitter Jim Clar and defensive specialist Mikey China (Punahou '04). Clar is still recovering from a sore shoulder and may see his first action this week.

The Warriors may be without junior middle Matt Rawson, who dislocated his left shoulder last week. Freshman middle Jarrod Lofy did a nice job filling in, and junior middle Steven Grgas debuted a new step-out move.

The defense is anchored by junior libero Ric Cervantes, who led the country in digs last season. Freshman hitter Steven Hunt was impressive in three starts, with 35 kills.

10. UC Santa Barbara (2-1)

The Rick McLaughlin era began with the coach seeing his team finish third in its own tournament. Sophomore hitter Jeff Menzel put down 66 kills en route to all-tournament honors and was joined by sophomore middle Scott Slaughter.

UCSB has six starters back on a young team that has just two seniors. Setting the Gauchos is true freshman Vince DeVanny.

11. UC San Diego (1-1)

The Tritons swept Hope International last week, but lost in five last night at Cal Baptist, 30-28, 27-30, 32-30, 27-30, 22-20. Junior hitter Jason Spanglers had 21 kills against the Lancers.

Back off injury is sophomore hitter Will Ehrman (Punahou '07), who had 13 kills last week against Hope. Also back off a redshirt year is sophomore middle Adrian Guthals, who should get some help in the middle from 6-7 redshirt freshman Paul Spitsen.

12. Pacific (1-3)

The Tigers opened the year with a sweep of UC Santa Cruz, but finished last at the UCSB tournament with losses to the host Gauchos, UCLA and BYU.

The bright spot for Pacific against the Cougars was the performance by freshman middle Sean Daley, who had 14 kills and hit .684.

The Tigers have five former Hawaii prep products on the roster in sophomore libero Scot Kane (Kamehameha '07), freshman libero Jeremy Kaimikaua (Punahou '08), freshman middle Makana Eyre (Waldorf '08), freshman opposite Nicolaas Schenk (Hawaii Prep '07), and junior setter Kevin Downing (Kauai '05), who spent the past two seasons at El Camino College.

Pacific also picked up a transfer from the Warriors in freshman setter Eric Fuchino, a redshirt last season who transferred after fall camp.