The University of Hawai'i volleyball team does not view Saturday's playoff opener against UC Irvine as a rematch, mostly because the events of three months ago appear to be from another lifetime.

"We're not the same team," said opposite attacker Lauri Hakala, referring to the Warriors' current lineup and attitude.

Indeed, things have changed greatly since the season-opening, two-match series in January. From the end of fall training in early December to that series in Irvine, the Warriors had only two exhibitions to prepare for the Anteaters, who were ranked No. 1 at the time.

What's more, UH's best middle, Dio Dante, was not available because of flu-like symptoms. Hakala, who was a left-side hitter, and middle blocker Kyle Klinger also were ill.

"We just came back from our Christmas break," senior Eric Kalima recalled. "We were a little rusty, I'd say. We had a lot of guys who were sick. We were still trying to find a lineup."

Irvine swept both matches.

"Bad memories," libero Ric Cervantes said. "It's kind of hard when there's a month-long layoff and then you're kind of thrown into the fire. We played the No. 1 team to start, and it was my first (NCAA) game ever. It was pretty rough."

Klinger played in both matches. Steve Grgas started at opposite attacker for one match and Jim Clar for the other.

Forward to today. Dante is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's best blocker. Hakala is at opposite, where he was an All-American in 2006. Cervantes, who would not start for the next 14 matches, is an accurate-passing libero. Kalima and Matt Vanzant are the left-side hitters/passers.

Meanwhile, Grgas is a backup middle and Clar is a reserve left-side hitter. Klinger's UH career is in limbo. He is not on the 13-player travel roster to Irvine, replaced by libero Mike China. Klinger did not practice yesterday.

"Everything is completely different now," setter Brian Beckwith said of the Warriors, who won 10 in a row to qualify for the playoffs. "We've proven that by turning our season around. Hopefully, we can keep progressing. By Saturday, we'll be even better than we are now. We're going to keep pushing. Our season doesn't have to end soon."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.