The No. 4 BYU men’s volley-ball team may be getting a little tired of playing away from the Smith Fieldhouse as the team plans to pack its bags for the fourth time in a month.

But if the team has to hit the road, there is no better place to go than Honolulu.

The Cougars (9-4, 7-3 MPSF) travel to play the No. 9 Hawaii Warriors, and although the team will take some time to hit the beach and jump in the water, it better be ready to take on an opponent that is coming off back-to-back home game wins, in which it did not lose a set.

The Warriors (8-5, 4-4 MPSF) took out Hope International last week in dominant fashion. Both matches lasted under two hours and Hawaii did not al-low the visitors to hit better than .170 percent in a set.

BYU is coming into the matchup against Hawaii with confidence as well after grabbing two road wins against UC San Diego last weekend.  

With the two victories, the Cougars improved their road record to 4-2 on the season, showing that they can consis-tently play with composure away from the friendly con-fines of the Fieldhouse.

In recent weeks, head coach Shawn Patchell has gone to his bench for help, and players have taken advantage of their playing time.

“We had some guys come off the bench and perform,” Patchell said about last week-end’s matches. “Guys were ready to play.”

In particular, Joe Kauli-akemoa and Kent Tuttle played well coming off the bench for the Cougars against UC San Diego.

Kauliakemoa contributed six kills, three digs, a solo block and two block assists in last Friday night’s four-set win. Tuttle followed up Kauliakemoa’s performance the next night by posting eight kills, six digs and three block assists

en route to the team’s three-set sweep.

For the Cougars to continue their success this weekend, Kauliakemoa, Tuttle and the rest of the players will have to continue to step up when their names are called.

The team will also rely on its regular starters to step up again. Andrew Stewart has 200 kills this season and Robb Stowell is closing in on the same mark, with 165 kills to his credit.

Defensively, Futi Tavana and Russell Lavaja have combined for 16 solo blocks and 105 block assists so far in the season.

Hawaii is led by freshmen Jonas Umlauft. The German outside hitter leads the team with 233 kills on the year and also has 14 service aces to his credit. Umlauft is also second on the team with seven block solos and 28 block assists.

Defensively for the Warriors, Ric Cervantes leads the team with 126 digs and Matt Rawson leads the team in the block department with eight block solos and 52 block assists.

BYU will not only have to battle against a top 10 team, but will also face a raucous and loud home crowd in Hawaii. The Warriors have been averaging over 3,000 fans at their home games this season, comparable with BYU’s average attendance of 3,751.

“Hawaii is very good at home in front of their crowd,” Patchell said when asked about this weekend’s matchup.  

The two matches will be played at different sites this weekend. Today’s match is at Hawaii’s normal homesite, the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. Saturday’s match will take place at the Maui War Memorial Gym in Wailuku, Hawaii, starting at 3 p.m. MST.