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After downing top seeded Stanford in four sets on Thursday night, the fifth seeded Penn State squad (whom many were calling to repeat before the tournament even started) will take on the unseeded BYU Cougars tonight in OK City. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2, with Beth Mowins and Karch Kiraly once again calling the action.
PSU is 6-3 in national title matches, having won their last six appearances. They're 6-4 all-time against BYU, but haven't played the team since 2007. The Cougars beat Arizona, Nebraska and #2 Texas in succession to be in a position to be the first unseeded team to win a women's volleyball title.
After the strong performance by the Nittany Lions on Thursday, senior setter Micha Hancock was named the D1 National Player of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, the fourth Lion the garner that award and first since Megan Hodge in 2009. Ali Frantti was named the Freshman of the Year by the same group, also the program's fourth such honor and first since Déjà McClendon in 2010.