The BYU women's volleyball team scored its biggest win in its history last Saturday night - a three-game victory in the NCAA West Regional Finals against No. 1 UCLA - but had little time to celebrate.
The 29-2 Cougars not only had to prepare for appearing in their first NCAA Final Four, but also had final exams to take Monday and early Tuesday before traveling across country. Wednesday was filled with press conferences and practices. Tonight the fourth-ranked Cougs will face No. 7 Penn State on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. The match, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. MST, will be televised live on KBYU, Channel 11.The winner of the BYU-Penn State match will face the winner of the Florida-Long Beach State match Saturday evening for the national championship.
While some might expect a BYU letdown after such an emotional win over UCLA, Cougar coach Elaine Michaelis expects otherwise. "The fact that we beat a very good team to get here gives us a lot of confidence going into the finals," Michaelis said.
BYU and Penn State have much in common. Both have perennial winning programs that are virtual locks each year to make the NCAA tournament, yet are making their first Final Four appearances. Since the NCAA began sponsoring a women's volleyball tournament 13 years ago, Penn State has been the only team to participate every year. BYU has been in 12 of 13 NCAA tourneys.
Both teams have balanced attacks without superstars.
"I don't think I've ever seen a group of players that was closer to each other and more willing to do whatever needs to be done for the team," Michaelis said. "We don't have a lot of weaknesses, but we don't have the super strengths, either. We just have a good solid volleyball team."
"I'm proud of our players," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "They've worked hard and endured a lot this season."
BYU seniors Michele Fellows, Carol Rawson and Tumua Matu'u lead the Cougars in hitting, while junior setter extraordinare Charlene Fiaputa is considered one of the best passers in the nation. Fellows leads the team with a .342 hitting percentage and is second on the team in kills and blocks per game. Rawson leads the team with a 1.42 blocks per game average, while Matu'u is the leader in kills per game and digs. Redshirt freshman Gale Oborn has been outstanding in the postseason. Oborn is averaging 3.27 kills per game. As a team, BYU is hitting .248 while opponents are hitting just .128.
Penn State, 30-4 overall, won the Big 10 title with an 18-2 record. The Nittany Lions are led by setter Salima Davidson, middle blocker Saundi Lamoureaux and outside hitter Zeynep Ton, all of whom are hitting better than .300.
No. 3 Long Beach State, which plays Florida in tonight's first semifinal, is the top-ranked team remaining in the tournament, one spot ahead of BYU. Florida, which upset No. 2 Texas in the South Regional Finals, is ranked 14th.
While tonight's Cougar match will be seen live locally, it will also be broadcast nationally on ESPN on a tape-delayed basis Dec. 30 at 12:30 a.m. Saturday's national championship match, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MST, will be broadcast by CBS on Jan. 1 at 5 p.m.