For the TWU volleyball team, an early-season trip to Hawaii is more about business than pleasure.

The Pioneers departed Tuesday for Honolulu, where they will play four matches this weekend against Hawaiian teams as part of the Equus Challenge.

While the trip offers an opportunity to enjoy some tropical air and sandy beaches, it is what takes place indoors that will be most important for TWU head coach Shelly Barberee.

The Pioneers (2-2) will face Chaminade and tournament host Hawaii-Pacific on Thursday, then take Friday off before meeting BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo on Saturday.

Most notable among those opponents is Hawaii-Hilo, which finished 25-1 last season and was ranked in the most recent AVCA Division II national poll.

However, Barberee also is aware of the other benefits that a trip to such an exotic location can provide, such as relaxation and team bonding.

“They work so hard all year. You need to reward them at some point,” Barberee said. “We’re grateful for the chance, but it’s a good opportunity for us to play some good competition as well.”

TWU last visited the islands in 2007, when it competed in a tournament in Hilo. The Pioneers also traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, for a tournament in 2008.

The weekend tournament provides TWU its final chance to prepare for the start of Lone Star Conference play on Sept. 16 at Eastern New Mexico.

The Pioneers are coming off a split of their four matches at a season-opening tournament on their home floor. TWU started strong with a sweep of Henderson State and a five-set win over Arkansas Tech on Friday, only to fall to Drury (Mo.) and Harding (Ark.) in four sets each on Saturday.

Barberee said the competition was strong over the weekend, especially on the second day, and she hopes TWU can learn from some of its mistakes.

“It was the first tournament of the season,” Barberee said. “We played decent, but we just had way too many errors.”

One bright spot for the Pioneers was the play of sophomore Andrea Rivera-Rojas, a Puerto Rico native and transfer from Iowa Western Community College. Rivera-Rojas was named to the all-tournament team after posting double-doubles (kills and digs) in three of the four matches.

Soccer

Pioneers lose at home

TWU opened the season with a pair of one-goal losses against quality opponents, falling 1-0 to Central Missouri on Saturday and 2-1 to Rollins (Fla.) on Monday.

The Pioneers (0-2) already have more home losses than they did all of last season, when TWU finished 5-1 at home during a season in which they played just six of 19 games on their home field.

“I don’t feel that we played up to our standards,” TWU head coach Fleur Benatar said of the homestand. “It definitely is a measuring stick to see where we’re at. There’s no easy games here.”

Freshman Emily Davila scored TWU’s lone goal of the weekend in the first half against Rollins, but the Pioneers could not hold the lead.

“We had some defensive mistakes and they capitalized,” Benatar said. “We didn’t do enough up front, either.”

TWU will begin its first — and farthest — road trip of the season on Friday against Colorado School of Mines in suburban Denver, before traveling to Colorado Christian on Sunday. Colorado Mines was ranked No. 7 in the preseason NSCAA/adidas Division II national poll.

Gymnastics

Assistant coach leaves

TWU assistant coach Tim Rivera has left the program to become an assistant coach at William and Mary.

During his seven seasons at TWU, Rivera primarily was responsible for coaching uneven bars for the Pioneers. TWU had four USA Gymnastics collegiate national champions on bars during his tenure.

A former head coach at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, Rivera also has worked as an assistant coach at Michigan State, Sacramento State and San Jose State.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com .