There is futility.

And then there is Fresno State.

The Bulldogs come into the Stan Sheriff Center today with 25 years worth of volleyball history against Hawaii. And none of it is good.

Consider that the first time Fresno State faced the Rainbow Wahine, on a muggy Sept. 22 night in 1983, the Klum Gym fans who went to the outside concession stand first missed the match. Or at least most of it.

It was over so quickly - 15-2, 15-0, 15-0 - that those arriving 20 minutes late were told, “;Come back tomorrow when they play again. And get here earlier.”;

It's never gotten much better for the Bulldogs. Besides being 0-42 against Hawaii, Fresno State is 8-126 in sets, with the match going to four just six times and to five just once (at Fresno, Calif., in 2002).

“;I don't think our players know that history,”; Wahine coach Dave Shoji said yesterday. “;And it's probably best that they don't.”;

Not given the self-described complacency that has occurred of late and late in matches. Call it attention deficit disorder, boredom or lack of interest, but Hawaii has had a real problem closing it out.

And that is a concern with just five weeks remaining in the regular season after today. Eking out a sweep over San Jose State on Friday night is not how a top-10 team should be performing after 19 matches.

“;We are more concerned about our side right now,”; Shoji said. “;We played really well in that first set (25-12 against the Spartans), then we kind of relaxed.

“;It did look really good (in the first set) and it's probably unrealistic to be able to do that all of the time. But we do need to put three good (sets) together.”;

Hawaii (16-3, 9-1 Western Athletic Conference) will try to refocus against the struggling Bulldogs (5-13, 2-7). Fresno State has lost its last six, including a tough loss in five against Utah State last Saturday.

Due to a quirky WAC schedule, today's 5 p.m. match is the first meeting of the season for the two teams. It's also the first time in the Sheriff Center for rookie Fresno State coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell since she was a senior captain for Nevada in 1999.

“;This is a year where we don't have a lot of expectations,”; Netherby-Sewell said before yesterday's practice. “;We're just looking to improve and get better.

“;It's basically the same team as last year's, but everyone says they see the improvement. We've put ourselves in position to win some matches but didn't. We're not having a whole lot of luck. It's a season of adversity.”;

That adversity included being locked out of the Sheriff Center for yesterday's scheduled practice, and starting about 40 minutes late after Shoji came to open the door. The bigger problem is replacing freshman hitter Brianna Clarke, second on the team in kills (2.63 kps), who was diagnosed with mononucleosis Friday.

The Wahine didn't practice yesterday, taking their NCAA mandated day off. Hawaii must take one day off every seven days and, with home matches this Friday against Nevada and Saturday vs. Utah State, Shoji said he wanted to practice four consecutive days beginning tomorrow.

However, the Wahine will practice this morning to prepare for the Bulldogs. The key will be to find the same rhythm they opened with against the Spartans on Friday.