If the Rainbow Wahine's volleyball history with Stanford was a prize fight it would have been stopped.

Twice.

Hawai'i won the first 11 meetings. For emphasis, the 'Bows bashed the Cardinal in all three NCAA final fours they won (1982, '83 and '87).

Then came the '90s, Stan Sheriff Center and an onslaught of Stanford All-Americans. Logan Tom, Kerri Walsh, Ogonna Nnamani, Cynthia Barboza and Foluke Akinradewo caused all kinds of UH confusion.

If Hawai'i had not dodged a match-point bullet six years ago, it would be looking at a Stanford losing streak that stretches nearly 18 years as the teams head into this weekend's 15th annual Honolulu Advertiser Challenge.

The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine (4-2) will try to end this season's two-match losing streak tonight against Weber State (1-6), which is on a four-match losing streak of its own. Tenth-ranked Stanford (3-2) takes on Texas-San Antonio (3-5) in the 5 p.m. opener.

The ranked teams face off Saturday. It will be Hawai'i's sixth match against a ranked opponent this season. The Cardinal's losses have come against third-ranked Florida and unranked Notre Dame.

The Rainbows still lead their series with Stanford, 18-13, but have lost nine of the last 10. Aside from that 16-14, fifth-set victory in 2003, Hawai'i hasn't even taken a set off the Cardinal since 1997.

Not that a lot of other teams have. Stanford has won six NCAA championships, all since 1992. It has been to 18 final fours and, in a bittersweet bit of trivia, lost in the last three national championship finals.

The Cardinal got there last season by blitzing the 'Bows, 25-19, 25-9, 25-18, in a regional final at Fort Collins, Colo. Hawai'i was awful and the Cardinal cruised, despite mediocre performances from All-Americans Akinradewo and Barboza — now gone — and Alix Klineman, coming off shoulder surgery.

"We were just overmatched physically," said UH coach Dave Shoji, in a mantra he used more than once last weekend after his team lost to second-ranked Texas and now-No. 13 Cal. "They've got great athletes. They are able to recruit top players almost every year.

"Going into that match we knew we were going to be out-physicaled — is that a word? We will be out-physicaled by eight teams in the country. To beat them we have to play error-free, run our system and be tougher mentally. All those things have to be on that night. Our physical talent is not such that we can beat them without all that."

Texas and Cal brought that out in high definition. Hawai'i's attack percentage and blocking stats dropped by a third from its unbeaten opening weekend. Its conversion rate on out-of-system plays was miserable.

Many of the Rainbow Wahine were fighting flu-like symptoms and minor injuries. But it was only the second week of the season, they were home and Saturday's crowd of 8,657 (tickets sold) was their largest since the 2006 NCAA Regional final. What will they look like in the cold, hard light of the December postseason?

"A lot of it was there was not enough emotion the last part of the weekend," Shoji said. "We had to play hard Thursday. Obviously we were playing as hard as we can Saturday and Sunday, we just didn't have anything at the start. ... When you play three pretty good teams it's hard to play at the highest level all the time."

The Rainbow Wahine might have a couple nights to warm up this week, but Shoji is looking for something very different than he saw last week.

"I want to see us play at a high level for three matches," he said. "It's always hard to do, but I think we can. The first week we did it, but the competition was not as good. I don't like to be sky-high and then play down. I'd rather see an even level — obviously a high level."

NOTES

Hawai'i' ends its preseason with matches against 19th-ranked Pepperdine next Friday and Saturday.

Fans can drop off canned goods or monetary donations at the AIG Hawai'i Food Drive Table tomorrow and Saturday, near Gate A. They can also register to win one of three $50 gas certificates (donation encouraged but not required).