Trying to replicate the conditions in Smith Fieldhouse is not easy, not when Gym I is small, humid and devoid of any crowd noise.

Hawaii's practice gym bares no resemblance to the chilly, somewhat hostile environment the Warriors volleyball team anticipates when playing at Brigham Young tomorrow and Friday.

The best the Warriors could do was put down masking tape about 2 inches inside of the regulation baseline, to practice keeping serves within a shorter court. No. 11 Hawaii will find out just how much of a help that is tomorrow when it faces the ninth-ranked Cougars in the altitude and lighter air of Provo, Utah.

Tomorrow's match is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener for BYU (2-3), which split home contests with Cal Baptist (a 3-2 loss) and Lewis (a 3-1 win) last week. For the Warriors (1-4, 0-2 MPSF), it's a chance to end a four-match skid as well as pick up their first win at Smith since 2003.

“;I've been looking forward to playing in there again,”; said senior hitter Jim Clar, one of only four current Warriors who played during the 2007 trip to BYU. “;Their crowd is good, really gets into it, and I enjoy that.

“;The altitude does make a difference with your serving. That's why we made the line, to practice shorter serves.”;

Beginning with this trip, Hawaii's stays on the mainland will also be shorter by a day. Some of it is to cut travel costs, some to cut the time lost in the classroom.

“;Going up two days ahead of time really drags the trip out,”; Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. “;We'll be doing the late (red-eye) flights out and get in the afternoon before. I think it's plenty of time to be somewhere, and it also saves money.”;

There may be no time for snowball fights, a la the '07 trip, but freshman hitter Steven Hunt is looking forward to the colder weather.

“;I'm excited to get back to 'normal' weather,”; said Hunt, who grew up outside of Toronto. “;It will feel something like home.”;

The bigger excitement is to see how much Hawaii has improved since seeing BYU last November in the Fall Invitational in Klum Gym.

“;We're a totally different team,”; Hunt said. “;We know each other a lot better and the chemistry is better.”;

Hawaii's depth and experience is also improved. The Warriors have both Clar and junior middle Matt Rawson back from offseason surgeries.

“;We know their players, know what they like to do,”; sophomore hitter Joshua Walker said. “;They're a good team. We need to be ready whatever team we play.

“;We did some good things last week (two losses to No. 3 Pepperdine) but we need to work on being more consistent on both sides of the ball. If we can pass well, get the ball to our middles, it opens up our options.”;

In last Friday's 3-1 loss to Pepperdine, Hawaii's middles combined for 23 kills, Rawson with a career-high 10 and junior middle Steven Grgas a career-high 13. Grgas didn't have a hitting error in 18 attempts (.722).

“;I think we've pulled together since we last saw BYU,”; Grgas said. “;They didn't have as much to work on as we did.”;

Junior Yamil Perez has settled back in as the Cougars' starting setter and freshman Futi Tavana (Kauai '04) is averaging 2.12 kills and 1.25 blocks per set as a starting middle.

“;I think we're better (since November) but they are, too,”; Wilton said. “;Right now, we'd like to win some ball games.”;