After being outplayed in the serve-and-pass phases in a first-round playoff loss last spring, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team was expected to make changes in philosophy and strategy.

Former U.S. Olympic coach Carl McGown was brought in as a consultant for fall training, the lineup was altered, and the offense's tempo was quickened. The preliminary result was the Warriors' 30-22, 30-21, 33-31 exhibition victory over UC Santa Barbara last night before 438 in the Stan Sheriff Center.

José José Delgado led the Warriors with nine kills, all in the third game. The rematch is at 7 tonight.

The Warriors opened with a lineup featuring essentially four passers — libero Alfee Reft, the team captain; outside hitter Eric Kalima, a converted libero; left-side hitter Matt Carere, and opposite hitter Matt Bender.

"With four passers, we're covering a lot more area," Reft said. "There's less pressure to take more court. You don't have to worry about passing the whole parking lot."

Better passing gave setter Brian Beckwith a jump start on the Warriors' new fast-paced offense. They are running a "second-step offense" in which an outside hitter is in motion — on his second step — before Beckwith launches a set.

"It's similar to a quick attack, only we're running it to the outside," Beckwith said. "It creates a lot of gaps in the blocks because it's too fast for the (opposing) middle blockers to close. It creates a lot of opportunities for our hitters."

UH coach Mike Wilton said the quicker offense is "something we always wanted to do. We enforced it more this year."

The scheme had a two-fold effect last night. First, it provided a head start for UH's undersized perimeter hitters — Bender, Kalima and Lauri Hakala.

Second, after defending the quick offense in five weeks of practices, UH middle blockers Mauli'a LaBarre, Dionisio Dante and Kyle Klinger had an easier time deciphering the Gauchos' slower hitting patterns. UC Santa Barbara's 6-foot-8, 260-pound Evan Patak was blocked five times.

"Carl's been helping us with our blocks," Dante said of McGown, who returns to his home in Utah after fall training ends next week. "Carl yells at us every day in practice: 'Keep your eye on the setter.' He's really teaching us a lot of great stuff."

Wilton, meanwhile, is trying to develop jump servers to succeed Pedro Azenha, who completed his eligibility in the spring. The 6-foot-6 Beckwith, who gained 20 pounds and now weighs 205, and Klinger are using jump serves this fall.

"That's the reason I was lifting so much this summer and trying to work on my shoulders," Beckwith said.

Beckwith, who made five service errors, said he will be consistently accurate when the season opens in January.

"We're really focusing on serving and passing," Beckwith said. "Our coaches like to say: 'Live to fight another day.' We're cutting down on our mistakes, and trying to play a more fluid and consistent game. We're trying to let the other team make the mistakes."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.