Unbeaten USC stands in between Florida and its first championship.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published December 20, 2003
Florida and Southern California will end the 2003 season exactly as it began four months ago - with a match against each other.
This time, the stakes are much higher.
After their upset of Hawaii, ranked No. 2 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, Thursday at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, the No. 3 Gators meet the No. 1 Trojans at 3:30 today on ESPN2 for the NCAA title. Florida (36-1) has been to the Final Four seven times, yet this is the first appearance in the championship match. And that's not the only first.
Coach Mary Wise is the first woman to lead a team into the final. And Florida is the first SEC school in the final.
"Over the course of the women's tournament there haven't been that many teams to play on Saturday," Wise said. "We are now amongst one of those few elite programs in the country."
Although this is new territory for the Gators, winning the title on their first trip isn't impossible. Five teams have won in their first try.
But for the Gators to accomplish that, they'll need to do something they couldn't do earlier this year. Florida's lone loss was a 3-0 decision to USC in the opener. But Florida feels more prepared to face the defending national champions this time.
"We obviously wanted to come back and have a better showing," said sophomore outside hitter Jane Collymore, who had a double double with 15 kills and a career-high 20 digs Thursday. "I don't think we played them as well as we had hoped but we're going to go out there and play better volleyball. Our game plan is to get the job done."
Something USC has done all season, despite the scrutiny of being the defending champion. At 34-0, coach Mick Haley said the Trojans have persevered.
"It has been very tough for us," he said, "but I've marveled at the way the team has handled it all."
How Florida handles USC's "super-sized" lineup that includes 6-foot-6 middle blocker Emily Adams and 6-5 Bibiana Candelas will determine whether it returns to Gainesville as champion.
"We know that to beat a team that is as talented as they are in every position, certainly we'll have to bring our A game all around," Wise said. "They have few seams, there are very few cracks. Could we use a little help from them? Sure. But USC is not the type of team to give away points."
