HONOLULU, Hawaii — Everyone sees Hawaii on the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball schedule and thinks, "Oh, what a fun trip."
 
But, for the Railsplitters, it's way more than that.
 
"The whole point of going there was to play volleyball," LMU head coach John Cash said, "and the fact that Hawaii was gracious enough to let us play them twice is a big deal. They are ranked No. 2 in the nation and haven't lost a set yet and haven't been challenged yet, if you look at their scores.
 
"They are a talented team and just played Queens, who is in our conference, the other day, and more than controlled them so we are going to have to have our stuff together. Obviously, we've been doing a lot of film work."
 
The prep work began and continued as the Railsplitters departed for warmer weather and 5,000-mile trek Tuesday to prepare in facing the lethal No. 2-ranked Rainbow Warriors, who haven't lost a set in eight matches this season.
 
The two teams, which played last season at the Grow the Game Challenge with Hawaii winning 3-0, will face off in a two-match series inside Stan Sheriff Center at 7 p.m. local time (12 a.m. EST) Friday and 5 p.m. local time (10 p.m. EST) Sunday in Honolulu, Hawaii.
 
"It's a long trip," LMU head coach John Cash said. " They have a 10,000-seat arena and they generally sell out for most of their home matches. [Head coach] Charlie [Wade] said they are expecting a really nice crowd so that will be exciting, and we are exactly going to have another decent fan base there. We have a lot of family and friends in attendance to take some time there to come watch the guys and support them."
 
LMU (7-4) is coming off two victories — a 3-0 win over Coker followed by another in a 3-1 advantage over Erskine — heading into a premier matchup in the island.
 
While the Railsplitters are all cued in on the Rainbow Warriors (8-0), who lead the nation in four categories: hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists per set and kills per set along with being second in aces per set and third in blocks per set, the visiting team is going to enjoy its stay.
 
Cash has plans for his team to visit the Pearl Harbor exhibit, Polynesian Center, along with a Hawaiian luau, after the mornings are filled with beach workouts and practice to continue preparation.
 
"But, really every first half of every day — if it's game day it's a full day of game day, nothing else, which is Friday and Sunday — but the other days we have practice every morning and weights," Cash said. "So, nothing changed as far as the rigor of what we are really there to do. Hopefully, part of the goal is to come out there and compete at the highest level we possible can and if we can sneak a W out, that'll be even better."

The Railsplitters packed their own arsenal behind Evan Cory, who was recently named the Off the Block Opposite Player of the Week, and a handful of his nation-leading statistical categories. The junior is second in aces (.700) and points per set (5.55), while ranking just above Hawaii's Rado Parapunov with fourth in kills (4.33) per set.

LMU also has the nation's second-ranked blocker in Pedro Carvalho, who averages 1.625 blocks per set, but win or lose, the Railsplitters know they'll improve greatly in the long haul to Hawaii.

"I think there are some areas where we'll have some opportunities where we can expose some things and always try to do what we want to do," Cash said, "but we're excited about the challenge. Definitely another one of those teams where we are going, 'This guys will make us better, not worse.' I'm not worried about the guys stepping up to the challenge."