For the Hawai'i volleyball team, it was the thought that counted.

The Warriors delivered a get-well present in the form of an often-gritty, sometimes-sloppy victory over UC San Diego last night before 1,163 in the Stan Sheriff Center. The scores were 30-25, 27-30, 30-25, 30-27.

"This was for Chris," said co-captain Jake Schkud, referring to K5 color analyst Chris McLachlin, who is hospitalized in California after suffering two strokes. "I'm glad we won, but I wish Chris could have been here. I know our prayers go out to him and his family. Sean (Carney, the other co-captain) and I thought a lot about him. It's a sad thing. I would change a win for his full recovery."

The Warriors used a new lineup, a new offensive scheme, and two familiar players to remain unbeaten in 38 career matches against the Tritons.

Carney, a setter, made his first career start at outside hitter. Outside hitter Joshua Walker made his second career UH start. Steven Grgas, who entered with zero kills, opened at middle blocker.

To accommodate the revised lineup, the Warriors went into the archives, going with an equal-opportunity offense that was used in 2002, when they defeated Pepperdine in the NCAA championship match. In the TEC scheme — named after 2002 players Tony Ching, Eyal Zemet and Costas Theocharidis — the three outside hitters are interchangeable and share roughly the same amount of passing responsibilities.

The tactic worked early, with Walker and Schkud booming spikes. It also allowed two of the best servers — Carney and setter Nejc Zemljak — to be in the same rotation. And it gave UH a second on-court setter, freeing Zemljak to play more defense.

"The unit that started did some nice playing," UH coach Mike Wilton. "Then the wheels got a little wobbly. It was great to have some guys come in to make the wagon right again."

Walker buried a team-high 16 kills, but committed seven errors and hit .205 on 44 swings. When Carney struggled with his accuracy, Jim Clar was summoned. Clar did not practice last week because of an abdominal strain. Clar delivered three key kills in Game 3, and stabilized the block.

When Grgas struggled offensively, Matt "Dragon" Rawson, provided relief. Rawson, an effective blocker, did not start because the coaches believed his looping swing made him slow to attack quick sets. Rawson had no such problems last night, banging four loud kills on six swings, and assisting on three of the Warriors' 12.5 blocks.

"Certainly, Dragon came through big time," Wilton said.

Rawson said: "I'm ready to go in whenever. Give me the call, and I'm ready."

Schkud provided consistency (14 kills and no errors) — and a needed spark. With UH down 13-8 in Game 4, Schkud scored on a crossing shot. He then served the next five points, two coming on aces, to move UH ahead, 14-13.

"Every time there's somebody who steps up," Schkud said. "Luckily, I was called upon, and my serves were going in. I didn't change anything. It was my time, and it worked."

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

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.