Dec. 1, 2000

By DOROTHY KNOELL
The Daily Herald

PROVO, Utah - The BYU Cougars have made the NCAA women's volleyball Final Four just once in the school's history and that was back in 1994.

The first step toward making it there again begins tonight at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU (24-6) hosts Hofstra (23-10) tonight at 7 in an NCAA first-round sub-regional match. At 5 p.m., Utah State (21-9) takes on Missouri (24-6) in another first-round match.

Winners of those two matches will square off at 7 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the Central Regional. That regional will likely be hosted by top-ranked Nebraska, which is the top seed in the Central Region. BYU is the third seed with Arizona as the No. 2 seed.

"We're happy that we get a chance to start tournament play at home," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "There are some good teams here, but that's what tournament play is all about, playing good teams."

The Cougars are led by 6-foot-3 All-American junior middle blocker Nina Puikkonen, who averages 4.12 kills and 1.86 blocks per game. BYU is the second-best blocking team in the nation, behind only No. 1 Nebraska, and averaging 3.73 blocks per game.

Hofstra is the American East Conference champion, finishing 16-0 in conference play. The Flying Dutchwomen are led by Stefanie Rewitz, a 6-0 senior, who averages 4.19 kills and .529 blocks per game.