SPOKANE, Wash. -- Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose knows all about these Final Fours, and one thing he is well aware of is that his team better be ready to play in the semifinal tonight or it won't have to worry about competing for the national championship come Saturday.

"I'll just explain to them that there would be no value in conserving energy for Saturday," said Rose, who is taking his third Penn State team to the Final Four in the last five years. "The players have to be ready to play. It's not a negotiable item. It's not something that we can say, 'Well, it's OK that we were flat today. Let's get fired up for the trip home tomorrow.' I think they're pretty smart about what's going on, or they wouldn't be in the position they're in right now."

The position the No. 2-ranked Nittany Lions (33-1) are in, however, is still two wins shy of their ultimate goal of a national title.

To achieve that objective, though, Penn State first must beat Florida at 9 p.m. EST tonight in the Spokane Arena. If the Nittany Lions get past the No. 8-ranked Gators (34-3), they advance to the 3 p.m. EST Saturday title tilt against the winner of tonight's other semifinal match that pits Stanford against Long Beach State.

"We set this goal all season, and we're finally here," Penn State junior Christy Cochran said. "Our goal wasn't just to get to the Final Four. Our goal was to win it all, and that's definitely the plan."

Florida will be no pushover. The Gators, champions of the Southeastern Conference for the seventh straight year, are making their fourth Final Four appearance in the last six seasons. They fell behind 2-0 to Wisconsin in the final of the Central regional before storming back to win the match in five games.

"They're playing very well right now, and that's the key to getting there," Rose said. "I just look at it as they beat Wisconsin at Wisconsin -- something we were unable to do."

Both teams boast big hitters. Penn State has Terri Zemaitis (3.72 kills per game) and Florida has Nina Foster (4.18 kills per game).

"It's going to be a good match," said BYU coach Elaine Michaelis, whose team lost to Penn State twice (3-1 and 3-0) and to Florida once (3-1) during the season. "I think they each have a premier player. They are pretty similar teams. They are both good blocking teams, though Penn State may be a little better blocking team."

Michaelis refused to make a prediction.

"Too many things can happen," she said.

Northwestern coach Kevin Renshler, whose team lost twice to Penn State (3-2 and 3-0) and once to Florida (3-1) during 1997, also wouldn't offer a prediction.

"I think there are a lot of similarities in their styles of play," he said. "The one thing, though, is that across the board Penn State tends to beat you at all spots. With Florida, everybody has the potential to have a great night, but they tend to have one individual who is hot and they go to that. Penn State hurts you with balance. Florida hurts you with the hot hand."

The Nittany Lions, since losing at Wisconsin on Halloween night, have won 12 straight matches -- including their last 11 by sweep. Florida has lost two of its last six matches after starting the season 30-1, but its win at Wisconsin left Cochran impressed.

"They're obviously a very good team to come back from down 2-0 to beat Wisconsin at home," she said. "I'm looking forward to playing them. It'll be fun. It's a whole new look instead of playing the same teams over and over."

And the Final Four is a whole new look for each Penn State player except Zemaitis, who participated in the event in 1994 when her team lost to UCLA in the semifinals.

"I think we definitely look to Terri as our leader," Cochran said. "She has tons of experience being a four-year starter. We're definitely feeding off her."

At the same time, Cochran knows that her team must be at its best if it wants to win the NCAA tournament that started with 56 teams two weeks ago.

"I think you can throw the talent out the window," Renshler said. "It's the mental side which will prevail because I think both teams are very equal and have had tremendous seasons."

Cochran said Penn State, though, is not content with a tremendous season. The Nittany Lions want a championship season.

"We're not traveling this far to come back with a loss," Cochran said. "We're going to come back with it all."