Vollyball has perfect opportunity to shine

By Zack Walton

No matter the outcome of Thursday’s volleyball matchup between Fresno State and Hawaii at the Save Mart Center, the Bulldogs are going to make history.

Now it is up to coach Lindy Vivas and her squad to determine whether the history will be positive or negative.

Fresno State enters the match against No. 6 Hawaii having lost each of the 32 previous head-to-head meetings with the Rainbow Wahine.

“[Our record against Hawaii] tells me we are like 99 percent of teams in country,” Vivas said. “Hawaii has had an excellent program for 30 years and rest of country is playing catch up. We are one of many teams trying to beat them.”

A victory over Hawaii would give Fresno State its first win against the perennial powerhouse in the 22-year rivalry and a huge boost in an early-season run at the Western Athletic Conference championship.

A loss knocks a Fresno State squad, picked second in the preseason WAC polls, down to 1-2 in conference play and a disappointing 8-6 overall.

“A win against Hawaii will obviously help us in the conference standings,” Vivas said. “Then there is always the national recognition that goes along with beating a team of that caliber.”

Last year, the Bulldogs hosted Hawaii in the Save Mart Center’s first Fresno State athletic event, setting a home-attendance record of 4,708 in a three-game loss to the then-second-ranked Rainbow Wahine.

Hawaii comes to the Save Mart Center for its WAC season-opener undefeated in 10 matches this year.

Since joining the WAC in 1996, the Rainbow Wahine has captured at least a share of the regular season title each year and has compiled a 112-1 record in conference play, their lone loss coming in 1998 against Brigham Young University.

Last year’s Hawaii team had three All-Americans, including returning national freshman of the year setter Kanoe Kamana’o, as the team reached the national semifinals.

But, this season the Rainbow Wahine returns only one starter (Kamana’o) from its conference champion team of a year ago.

In order for Fresno State to make a serious run at a conference championship, the Bulldogs will need a victory over Hawaii during the regular season to improve confidence for the WAC tournament, which begins Nov. 19.

If the Bulldogs fail to capture a victory against the Rainbow Wahine in front of several thousand Fresno State fans in the Save Mart Center, the probability of them doing so on the island in front of many more thousand hostile Hawaii fans is slim-to-none.

“In the minds of most WAC teams, there is a little better opportunity to beat Hawaii this year because the players they have had in the last several seasons have made it really tough for teams to beat them,” Vivas said.

Thursday’s matchup provides Fresno State the perfect stage to stun the Rainbow Wahine.

Hawaii is not used to having thousands of fans cheering against it during WAC matches, as will be the case in the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs have the preseason WAC player of the year in Kristen Fenton, and joining Fenton are three other Fresno State players earning preseason awards. Fresno State also has surprising outside hitter freshman Christianna Reneau, who is second on the team in kills, behind Fenton, with 178.

The Bulldogs are fresh off their first WAC victory Saturday against Tulsa and should be taking that momentum into the showdown with Hawaii.

A win by the Bulldogs means a huge step for all WAC teams against the dominant Rainbow Wahine, exposing that the team from Hawaii can be beat. And more importantly for Fresno State, it means the Bulldogs will now be seen as an equal to Hawaii, as WAC powerhouses.

A loss by Fresno State paves the way for another undefeated season for the Rainbow Wahine as it should gain momentum in WAC play and cruise to the conference championship.

History will be made Thursday. Now let’s see if history will be re-written or if history will repeat itself.

—This columnist can be reached at [email protected]