So you are a University of Hawaii sports fan and it's either tonight or tomorrow to go see the men's volleyball team against San Diego. Times are tough, and it's one or the other. Or, perhaps, volleyball time-shares you with baseball.

Charlie Wade and his Warriors certainly want you to join them both nights. But if you must be selective, go to The Stanley tomorrow.

If you attend tomorrow's match, you get the bonus of a sentimental sendoff for the UH seniors at the conclusion of their last regular-season home game.

Nice, but here's the real reason for my suggestion: The Warriors play better the second night.

Think of it like a play. While there is a buzz about Opening Night, isn't the production usually better the next night ... with the jitters gone, when the cast and crew have been through live fire once?

Or a restaurant. Grand Openings are overrated (unless the food is free, of course). They're still testing things out, the kitchen and wait staff not in sync yet.

This isn't perfectly analogous to UH volleyball since there's another team out there. Don't they get better on the second night, too? Thankfully, the numbers cooperate and I don't have to start over with a different angle.

If the Warriors' opponents are improving on the second night, they're not doing so nearly as much as the Warriors.

UH, the No. 4 team in the country, is 9-2 in the second match of a series. In three of their last four series—against Pepperdine, USC and Cal State Northridge, all on the road—Hawaii won on the second night after losing the opener. The Warriors have never lost this season following victory on the first night.

That tells us UH has smart, hard-working coaches who figure out which adjustments to make ... and smart, talented players who execute them.

“;(Wade) was already known as a recruiter,”; said Scott Robbs, the Warriors' radio voice. “;Now he's showing he can coach.”;

THERE'S ANOTHER factor at work here. The Warriors jump as high and hit the ball as hard on the second night as the first, and that's due to excellent strength and conditioning.

The Jonas Umlauft I shook hands with yesterday has a much stronger grip than the one I met in January.

“;He never lifted before, and he hit a plateau at the start of the season, and he's hitting another one now,”; Wade said of the prodigy who keeps racking up Player of the Week awards. “;The timing is good.”;

Umlauft came in a bit overhyped; we were told to expect the second coming of Yuval Katz. While that wasn't quite true, everyone could see the freshman's through-the-roof potential from the beginning, and he continually improves as he gains polish and confidence. He is well on his way to being dominant.

“;Yes, I feel stronger, especially over the last month,”; Umlauft said.

THE WARRIORS had a losing record last year, coach Mike Wilton's final season. Now they are national championship contenders again, playing in the conference that is what the SEC is to football—maybe harder.

“;We're playing a style of ball that people appreciate. We're getting people engaged with men's volleyball again,”; Wade said. “;We've closed the gap. We've still got some work to do.

“;I know we're good today.”;

And chances are they'll be even better tomorrow.

Reach Star-Bulletin sports columnist Dave Reardon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), his “;Quick Reads”; blog at starbulletin.com, and twitter.com/davereardon.