The Hawai'i volleyball team has found moderate success with its lineup of the past two matches. But the true test will be graded on a pass/fail basis.

The rotation featuring Jake Schkud, Sean Carney and Joshua Walker as outside attackers works only if they can provide steady passing.

"We'll see how it goes," said UH coach Mike Wilton, whose team plays road matches against UC Santa Barbara tonight and tomorrow.

Wilton dusted off his so-called TEC offense, an acronym taken from the first names of the 2002 outside-hitting trifecta of Tony Ching, Eyal Zimet and Costas Theochardis.

In most lineups, the player opposite the setter in the rotation hits mostly from the right side and receives the fewest passing assignments. In the TEC scheme, the opposite attacker (Carney) is required to pass nearly as much as the left-side hitters.

Carney, a setter by trade who had not started at outside hitter until last week, is a functional passer.

"It's going to take some time," Wilton said. "He's taking one for the team."

Carney and setter Nejc Zemljak are the best servers. For both to play, Carney, a co-captain, was asked to move to opposite attacker. Wilton said there is an agreement that if Carney struggles at outside, he will be allowed to compete for the setter's job.

Walker, a second-year freshman, led the Warriors in kills in their two victories last week. While he has been an effective server and attacker, Walker still needs to improve as a passer.

Walker's passing "needs work," Wilton said. "But we're all in that same boat. He's making progress."

Most teams can get by with three primary passers, maybe two. But the Warriors need a more collective effort because opposing teams appear to be targeting libero Ric Cervantes instead of the other passers.

In last week's matches, Cervantes fielded 49 and 43 serves. In one match, Zemljak, the setter, had a team-high 18 digs.

"When people serve to the libero, that's not good," Wilton said. "He's capable of getting better and doing a good job. And he will get better."

Wilton said he will stick with the lineup "until they give me a reason not to."

Meanwhile, the only look that has changed is Carney's. He now is sporting a buzz cut.

"I was in a couple of classes where they asked at the end of class where I'm at, and I'm sitting right in front of them," he said.

Visit Tsai's blog at www.HawaiiWarriorBeat.com.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.