Back with a bang. That's the goal for No. 9 Hawaii as it opens a five-week homestand tonight with defending NCAA men's volleyball champion UC Irvine.

The seventh-ranked Anteaters have been a thorn in the collective side of the Warriors recently, especially the UH senior class, which has gone 1-6 the past three seasons.

“;I guess there's somewhat of a revenge factor,”; Warrior senior middle Steven Grgas said. “;But it's more that there are a lot of ties between the two teams. It was pretty close for me to go to Irvine, but then Hawaii stepped in and I decided to come here.

“;No, it's not the same team that won (the NCAA title) but it's my last chance to beat them. Plus we're back at home — finally — and we want to play well in front of our fans.”;

Hawaii hasn't been in the Stan Sheriff Center since Jan. 9 when the Warriors upset No. 1 USC for the Outrigger Hotels Invitational. Since then, UH went 2-2 in opening the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on the road, with two losses at Stanford followed by two wins at Pacific.

“;Having those wins on the road should help us carry some momentum,”; Warriors senior Matt Rawson said. “;We're really happy to be home and expecting a lot of people to be here. That just adds more fuel to the fire.

“;(The Anteaters) do a lot of things well. We've got to come out on top of our game, win that first game and not let down.”;

Rawson also has a connection to the visitors, having been coached by UCI coach John Speraw on the U.S. Junior National Team.

In addition, Grgas was a senior at Los Alamitos High when Anteater hitter Kevin Carroll was a freshman. And Warrior senior libero Ric Cervantes is having a mini Santa Barbara High reunion; three UCI players also played for the Dons, including starting All-American sophomore opposite Carson Clark, the MPSF freshman of the year in 2009, who leads the Anteaters in kills (5.23 kps).

While there is a lot of history between the two teams — including UCI having former Warrior All-American Mark Presho as an assistant — first-year Warriors coach Charlie Wade is focusing on the present.

The Anteaters may have lost three starters from the team that defeated USC in five last May.

“;They still have a lot of good players,”; Wade said. “;They have depth.

“;They run a fast offense to the pins, one of the fastest in the league, and that puts pressure on you defensively,”; he added. “;You really have to stay disciplined on defense to stay in the game.

“;Our guys are pretty comfortable with our style of play, know what we need to get better at. I'm not sure if our fans will see the changes in our team (since Jan. 9). The coaches see it. We are more disciplined, the group is tighter and more cohesive. The past is not relevant. What's relevant is that this 2010 Hawaii team is playing the 2010 Irvine team. That's our focus.”;

The Warriors come in on a two-match winning streak but haven't played since Jan. 20. That same night, the Anteaters hung their second NCAA banner but then dropped their third MPSF match in a row when falling to UC Santa Barbara.

UCI got back on track Tuesday with a nonconference sweep of Princeton. Sophomore middle Austin D'Amore tied his career high with 10 kills and senior hitter Cole Reinholm also had 10 in the 30-26, 30-16, 30-22 win over the Tigers.

“;I don't think we're a very polished team right now,”; Speraw said. “;There are moments when we are really good, others when we aren't. As I told our players, last year in January we were 3-3 and still trying to figure things out.

“;But last year, we were able to get some wins against teams that weren't very good. This year that's not the case. Teams are a little more polished, a little more experienced. We're the team that's not, and we're going to have to grind it out this year.”;