The University of Hawaii volleyball team changed gears, then raced to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-23 road victory over California Baptist at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, Calif., on Wednesday.

The sixth-ranked Warriors improved to 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Lancers fell to 3-10 and 1-9.

"It’s one more league win, man," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "We don’t know how many it takes to get into the (MPSF) playoffs or to host or to win it. They all count the same, whether it’s SC or Cali Baptist."

The Warriors usually rely on high-velocity serves to disrupt opponents’ offense. But the Lancers are known for aggressive play, and the Warriors figured a conservative scheme would be the best counter-attack. The Warriors committed 12 service errors, but they played an active defense and out-blocked the Lancers, 12.5 to 3. The Lancers hit .132, including minus-.022 in the first two sets.

"We’re typically aggressive in serving," Wade said. "You can’t play the same way against all opponents. … We wanted to change it up and play a little more conservatively, place a real value on defense. You have to know how to play a different style when it’s required."

The Warriors parlayed good defense into a diversified attack. Opposite attacker Brook Sedore, who was named the national player of the week on Tuesday, continued his torrid hitting. Sedore slammed 13 kills, with his lone error coming in the third set, and hit .571. In the past four matches, Sedore is averaging 4.29 kills per set and hitting .399.

"He’s a senior, and he’s playing well," Wade said. "The connection with him and (setter) Jennings (Franciskovic) is coming along. I think he’s enjoying playing volleyball right now."

Middle blocker Taylor Averill contributed 11 kills and factored in nine blocks.

Scott Hartley, who has started three matches in place of injured outside hitter Siki Zarkovic, added seven kills and hit .375.

The Lancers scored the match’s first four points, taking advantage of Van Dyne’s low ceiling.

UH’s goal? "We had to keep the ball off the ceiling," Wade said. "Literally, the first four points all hit the ceiling."

But the Warriors rallied, and hit .632 the rest of the opening set.

They easily dominated the second set.

In the third, the Lancers took a 23-21 lead. But Jonathan Tuttle’s serve struck the net, cutting the deficit to one. With Averill behind the service line, the Warriors scored the next three points.

The Lancers’ starting pin hitters struggled. Jackson Burge had four kills and five errors in 16 swings. Rohit Paul had two kills and five errors. Tuttle’s team-high nine kills were neutralized by seven errors.

The rematch is Friday night.

Wednesday

UC Irvine def. Cal State Northridge 24-26, 25-17, 25-20, 25-9

UH def. Cal Baptist 25-15, 25-15, 25-23

Thursday

BYU at USC

Friday

Hawaii at Cal Baptist, 5 p.m. HST

Stanford at UC Irvine

UC Santa Barbara at UCLA

Pepperdine at UC San Diego

BYU at USC

Long Beach State at Cal State Northridge 

NO. 6 HAWAII DEF. CAL BAPTIST 25-15, 25-15, 25-23

Service Aces — Hawaii 2 (Franciskovic, Averill). Cal Baptist 3 (Powell 2, Burge). Service errors — Hawaii 12 (Franciskovic 3, Sedore 3, Averill 3, Hartley, Holt, Mol). Cal Baptist 8 (Melcher 2, Burge 2, Paul 2, Tuttle, Powell). Assists — Hawaii 41 (Franciskovic 38, Hartley, Averill, Kanetake). Cal Baptist 24 (Melcher 21, Tuttle, Carr, Powell). T — 1:26. A — NA. Referees — Kim Pickering, Larry Schwartz.