The University of Hawai'i volleyball team is in need of a boost.

Enter the Dragon.

Matt "Dragon" Rawson has seized a starting middle blocker's job, replacing Keali'i Frank, who is resolving a personal situation.

Head coach Mike Wilton said Rawson will be in the opening lineup — through aloha ball, it is hoped — when the Warriors host Loyola University Chicago tonight. The rematch is Friday night.

"He's a good blocker, a good volleyball player, and he's been hitting pretty good lately," Wilton said.

Rawson was expected to assume a leadership role this year. As a second-year freshman in 2007, he started 24 of 27 matches, averaging 1.31 blocks per game.

But after struggling with his hitting and serving, it was decided Rawson's keen read-blocking skills were not enough to secure a spot in the rotation. Rawson has hit under .300 in 10 of 12 matches. Despite starting seven matches (he did not play in three), he has accounted for 10 percent of the Warriors' missed serves.

Rawson traced his hitting problems to low sets. Offenses are designed to set quickly to the middle. But Rawson, who has a looping windup, had difficulty snapping a spike.

The answer, it turned out, was to set high. That gave Rawson, who is 6 feet 8 and can touch 11-5, more time to catch up to the set. "They finally started to set the ball high enough so I can hit it and not tip it so much," Rawson said.

Rawson said he developed his swing playing opposite attacker on club and high school teams.

"I hit better on the outside," Rawson said. "I have a bigger arm swing. I don't have that quick arm swing that a lot of middles have. That's another reason it's so hard for me."

As long as Rawson is an offensive threat in the middle, opponents can't cheat to the corners to plant double and triple blocks. Although he hit only .200 in last week's match against Stanford, he received 15 sets.

The Warriors also found stability at setter. Sean Carney, a co-captain, did not practice Monday because of a non-volleyball-related situation. Yesterday, Wilton announced to the team that Carney had reached an agreement to resolve the situation. He is expected to start.

Setter Nejc Zemljak is ready. So, too, is Nemanja "Nemo" Komar, who is the top backup at the three outside positions.

Komar, a second-year freshman from Serbia, has earned the fireman's role because of his accurate serving and blocking skills.

"I'm trying to listen to the coach and watch the setter," said Komar, who has a 38-inch vertical jump and can touch 11-4. "If you watch the setter, you can see ahead of time where the ball is going to go."

Wilton said: "He has very good technique. He keeps working to get better."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.