Like the University of Hawai'i football team, tomorrow should have been a showdown Saturday for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, too.

The Western Athletic Conference opener with Fresno State at the Stan Sheriff Center should have set up a battle of the top two conference teams with the early lead on the line.

Instead, even in their injury-depleted state, the Rainbow Wahine (6-4) are prohibitive favorites over a 2-9 Bulldog team still attempting to put the pieces back together after the controversial, foundation-shaking firing of its most successful coach, Punahou School graduate Lindy Vivas, following the 2004 season.

As she packed boxes in Fresno, Calif. yesterday, preparing to move to Portland, Ore. for a job in pro sports, Vivas said, "I thought the team I had when I was fired was really good and was about to really break through in 2005 and '06. I thought we were really going to have a good run in the WAC both years, especially this one."

Nor is she alone. The FSU lineup that would have returned except for her ouster featured Tuli Peters, an all-Western Athletic Conference pick as a sophomore, who is now dominating in Division II with Brigham Young University-Hawai'i. It had three players from Hawai'i and Christiana Reneau, an all-WAC freshman.

Good enough to push Hawai'i? "I think so," Vivas said. "But we'll never really know, will we?"

We'll undoubtedly learn a lot about her abrupt firing when her wrongful termination suit against the school goes to court next year. We may even learn something about the abysmal gender equity record of FSU, the climate of alleged intolerance and retribution for Title IX sanctions that has seen three female staffers file suits against the school.

What is known is that at Fresno State, Vivas was the anti-Tark. Her players did well in school, stayed out of trouble and didn't have NCAA investigators swarming over campus. And, her program won. In 14 seasons, she had eight 20-win seasons and two losing campaigns. She had a 263-167 record and was a three-time WAC coach of the year.

Yet, after a 15-13 finish in 2004, Vivas' contract was not renewed. Vivas has charged that it was because she refused to keep quiet about Title IX abuses. The school claimed she hadn't taken the program far enough.

No knock on Ruben Nieves, who succeeded Vivas, or the FSU players now, but since the firing and accompanying flight of the core of her team, the Bulldogs have gone 9-30 heading into tomorrow's match.

Vivas said she looked forward to returning home and bringing a team to play at UH. "I'll just say this: It was a lot friendlier for me to go there (to the Stan Sheriff Center) and play than play in front of the administration here (in Fresno)."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.