By CHRISTINE JACKSON
jackson@newsroom.byu.edu
The women's volleyball team is on its way to the Elite Eight -- at least it hopes so.
No. 12 BYU will take on No. 4 Florida in the East Regional Semi-Finals of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Stockton, Calif. The match will be at the University of Pacific at 5 p.m.
The winner will play either No. 17 Northern Iowa or No. 5 Pacific on Saturday at 7 p.m., and then it is off to the Final Four.
This will be BYU's 12th straight appearance in the Regional Semi-Finals. For the past 11 years the team has an 8-3 record in this round of the tournament. Overall the Cougars are 24-17 in NCAA Tournament matches, and this season they have a record of 8-2 against non-conference teams invited to the tournament.
Tonight will be the sixth time the Cougars have taken on the Gators, with BYU leading the series 3-2. Florida won the last match in 1997 when BYU was ranked No. 10 and Florida No. 2 by scores of 8-15, 10-15, 15-13 and 14-16.
After defeating both Arizona and Wisconsin to advance in the tournament, the Cougars have an overall record of 28-4. They have won 14 of their last 15 matches.
Florida has an overall record of 32-2. Head coach Elaine Michaelis said the Gators have a 6-foot-4 outside hitter, a nice middle blocker and a tough rightside hitter.
'Those are the things we're most concerned about,' she said. 'We just have to serve well and pass well.'
Melissa Layton, outside hitter, said the team is excited for the challenge.
'We're really prepared and ready to play,' she said. 'We can't stop talking about it.'
Mountain West Conference Player of the year Nina Puikkonen has led the Cougars all season and helped them reach the Sweet 16. She had an incredible game against Wisconsin with 24 kills, seven blocks and a hitting percentage of .477. She is ranked third in the nation for blocking with an average of 1.87 blocks per game.
Puikkonen, Caroline Bower and Anna-Lena Smith were all named to the All-MWC First Team. Mari Carpenter was named to the Second Team and Sunny Tonga was named the MWC Freshman of the Year.
'Team unity will be a big part of it,' Tonga said of the match. 'We've been doing good at that. Blocking will also be really important.'
If the Cougars come up with a victory they will advance to the Semifinals against Northern Iowa or Pacific. BYU has played Northern Iowa once and won in 1991. They have faced the Pacific Tigers 11 times with the Tigers leading the series 7-4, though the Cougars prevailed against them last year in the Central Regional Semifinal.