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Provo • If the No. 10-ranked BYU women's volleyball team is going to make it to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the fifth straight year, the Cougars are probably going to have to go through rival Utah to get there.

The 27-3 Cougars, who won their third straight West Coast Conference title last week, earned a No. 13 seed for this year's NCAA Tournament and will play host to 19-4 Princeton, the Ivy League champion, on Friday at 7 p.m. at Smith Fieldhouse in a first-round match.

Unseeded Utah (20-11) and UNLV (23-7) will meet in Friday's other first-round match in Provo (5 p.m.), with the winners advancing to a second-round match on Saturday at Smith Fieldhouse.

Utah defeated BYU 3-2 in an epic five-set thriller on Sept. 15 in Provo, taking the fifth set 15-13.

"I'm thrilled for the team to be able to play at home again in front of our great crowd," BYU coach Heather Olmstead said. "We're excited to play Princeton in the first round. We're familiar with both UNLV and Utah, but we're focused on the Tigers."

WCC foes San Diego and Portland were the only other teams that beat the Cougars this season.

The Cougars entered last week ranked No. 8 in the RPI and were hoping for a single-digit seed. It didn't happen, but wasn't a surprise. The Cougars were not even seeded before they made it all the way to the championship match in 2014.

"I'm super excited," said senior Amy Boswell. "A 13 seed is fantastic. Princeton is going to be a tough matchup. They're going to be ready. Everybody always turns it up for the tournament."

The winner of Saturday's second-round match will advance to the Sweet 16 in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns (22-4) received a No. 4 seed and will host the regional finals. Texas A&M, SMU and Texas-Rio Grande Valley are in their quadrant.

Twitter: @drewjay