It's all about hula skirts and late night luaus for the Penn State men's volleyball team this weekend -- well, not exactly.

The team gathered in front of Rec Hall at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning before catching a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, where it will compete in the Outrigger Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Penn State will compete against Hawaii tonight at 7:30, Ball State tomorrow at 5 p.m., and Shanghai Orient on Saturday at 5 p.m.

In Hawaii, Penn State faces the team that knocked the Nittany Lions out of the final four last year and went on to win its first-ever national championship.

Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said he expects Hawaii to be ranked No. 1 when the rankings come out later this week.

Pavlik expects Penn State to be ranked in the top five.

"After seven practices, I like where we're at," Pavlik said.

"It's a veteran team. They have a desire to make every match count this year."

Penn State will have to deal with last year's NCAA Tournament's most outstanding player, outside hitter Costas Theocharidis.

Theocharidis led Hawaii to wins against Penn State and Pepperdine in the final four last year.

Hawaii will unveil its new national championship banner on Saturday night before the team squares off against Shanghai Orient.

Penn State co-captain Zach Slenker said the team is excited to play in front of the big crowds in Hawaii, where typically more than 6,000 Hawaiians gather to cheer on their team.

Slenker said the match will be especially exciting for the seniors, who will be competing in the annual tournament for the last time.

"In the past, we haven't played well, so this is our last chance," Slenker said. "It will be good to play [Hawaii] right away."

Penn State also faces tough challenges against Ball State and Shanghai Orient.

Ball State competed in the final four last year, where it fell to Pepperdine in the semifinals.

While this will be Penn State's first action of the season, Ball State has already played two matches, defeating George Mason and Concordia.

In Shanghai Orient, Penn State faces a team from China that beat Hawaii in the fall when the Hawaiian team traveled to Shanghai to compete.

Senior Zeljko Koljesar said the team is excited and confident.

Koljesar said the players are eager to prove that they can play with the defending national champions and start their season off on the right foot.

Pavlik, who will try to make the 17-hour journey go faster by reading Lord of the Rings, said the players won't have much time to enjoy the sandy beaches and beautiful waves of Hawaii, as practice, sleep and matches will take up almost all of their time.