For only the second time in C-USA history, six schools compiled 20 or more victories during the 2003 season. C-USA also had two schools make the NCAA Tournament, marking the sixth straight year that the league has had two or more schools earn NCAA berths. Read all about the 2003 C-USA volleyball season in this final notebook.

2003 NCAA TOURNAMENT
Cincinnati and Louisville earned berths to the 2003 NCAA Volleyball Tournament, Making its fifth straight NCAA appearance, Cincinnsti suffered a 3-2 heartbreaker to UCF in the first round. Louisville went 1-1, downing Notre Dame, 3-0, but falling to host Illinois in the second round.

AVCA ALL-AMERICANS
Cincinnati's JULIE DUPONT was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Third Team. DuPont, the 2003 Conference USA Player of the Year, is only the second C-USA player in league history to earn the distinction of third-team All-America. Michelle Collier of USF also claimed this honor in 2002. The league also had six players - Cincinnati's LAURA LAUDER, Louisville's SONJA PERCAN, BING SUN and LENA USTYMENKO, USF's SHAMEKA MITCHELL and Tulane's DEVA FOWLER - earn honorable mention All-America honors. This category was added to the awards list this season.

2003 C-USA TOURNEY
Louisville captured the 2003 Conference USA Volleyball Tournament title after sweeping Memphis, 3-0 (31-29, 30-22, 30-13). It marked the Cardinals third C-USA Tourney crown in school history, after also claiming the 1998 and 2000 titles.

Louisville's LENA USTYMEKO earned Tournament MVP honors, while teammates SONJA PERCAN and BING SUN, Memphis' HEATHER WATTS and TIARA GILKEY and Houston's TIARA GILKEY were named to the all-tournament team.

SLU'S NEW HIRE
Saint Louis announced that ANNE KORDES has been named head volleyball coach. Kordes arrives at SLU after serving as the top assistant at Illinois from 1999-2003. She becomes the ninth Billiken volleyball coach in program history.

Kordes began her playing career at the University of Cincinnati. She earned 1994 Great Midwest Newcomer of the Year honors, and as a sophomore, was named second-team All-Conference USA. She left UC after her sophomore season to transfer to her hometown school, the University of Louisville. Kordes was a two-time All-Conference USA selection, and, as a senior, led the Cardinals to the C-USA Tournament championship and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. She helped the No. 21 Cardinals to a 29-5 record her final year.

SAINT LOUIS' NOLEN RETIRES
Recently retired Saint Louis head coach MARILYN NOLEN was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as member of the inaugural class.

A true pioneer in the sport of volleyball and the advancement of women's athletics, the 59-year-old Nolen recently completed her 32nd year of collegiate coaching and her 10th at the helm of the Billikens. She ranks third on the NCAA Division I coaching victory list and finished with a career record of 809-358-12 overall and 190-140 at SLU.

THE 20-PLUS WIN CLUB
For only the second time in C-USA history, six schools compiled 20 or more victories in a season. Memphis (30-6), Cincinnati (27-6), Southern Miss (27-6) Tulane (25-7), Louisville (25-6) and TCU (20-16) claimed 20 or more victories. Five C-USA schools have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons.

TIGERS' 30TH VICTORY
After posting a 3-1 victory over Tulane in the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals on Nov. 23, Memphis recorded its 30th victory of the season, marking only the third time in school history that a Tiger squad has reached this milestone. Memphis became only the second squad in C-USA history to reach 30 victories in a season. USF posted a 30-7 record in 2002.

C-USA WIN STREAK
The Cardinals had their 15-match winning streak snapped on Nov. 29, when they lost to Ball State. The streak marked the longest of the season and ranked as the fourth longest in C-USA history. This year, Cincinnati and Memphis both posted 14 consecutive wins during the regular season. USF notched the league-record 20 consecutive victories in 2000.

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: The 49ers closed out the 2003 season with an 8-22 overall record and 1-12 conference mark. Senior JESSICA KELLY finished her career with 288 total blocks, just 11 short from cracking the school's career top 10 list. She finished her career only four block assists out of the top 10 with 219. This season, ABBEY SZLANFUCHT led the 49ers with 3.33 kills per game, while CHANDA WALLER followed with 2.91 kills per game.

CINCINNATI: Cincinnati finished the year with a 27-6 overall record and a 12-1 Conference USA mark, claiming a share of the regular season league title with Louisville. UC was also rewarded with its fifth consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the Bearcats dropped a hard fought five-game contest to UCF. JULIE DUPONT, who led C-USA in kills (5.43) and points (6.26) per game, became the first All-American in program history when the AVCA honored her with a third team accolade. LAURA LAUDER joined DuPont with an honorable mention All-America award. Lauder concluded her career ranked second on C-USA all-time assists list with 5,946. She finished fourth in the nation with an average of 13.87.

DE PAUL: The Blue Demons finished out the year 11-20 overall and 3-11 in C-USA. LARA MARKS ranked third in the league with 1.27 blocks per game, while AMIE WEST finished seventh in the league's statistical leaders for assists (11.76). MANDY MOORBERG led the team in kills with 3.50 per game, while JANET COTTER followed with 3.34 per game.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates concluded the 2003 season with a 10-21 overall record and 1-12 league mark. Bevan was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team, marking ECU's first ever C-USA All-Conference selection. Bevan led the team in total blocks with 112, recording 88 block assists which ranked seventh all-time in a single season. She was second on the team in kills (277) and in attack percentage (.263). Bevan posted 12 double-digit kill performances this season, while recording a career-high 16 kills against Furman.

HOUSTON: The Cougars concluded the season with a 12-20 overall record and a 6-7 conference mark. JACI GONZALEZ and LOURE DEWS were named to the all-conference second team. Gonzalez led C-USA and ranked 20th in the nation with an average of 4.53 digs per game, while Dews ranked third on the team in kills (3.26). Houston had an outstanding run in the C-USA Tournament, upsetting No. 1 seed Cincinnati in the quarterfinals, but falling to Memphis in the semifinals. KELLY MCANELLY was named to the all-freshman team, after ranking third in the league with 4.21 kills per game.

LOUISVILLE: Louisville ended the 2003 season with a 3-0 loss to Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals claimed a share of the C-USA regular season crown with a league mark of 12-1, while also earning their fifth tournament title with a 3-0 victory over Memphis in the championship game. SONJA PERCAN concluded her career ranked fourth on C-USA all-time kills list with 1,850. In 2003, she ranked second on the team and 10th in C-USA with 3.89 kills per game, while earning her second all-conference first team honor. Joining Percan on the C-USA all-conference team was fellow teammate LENA USTYMENKO. Ustymenko led the Cardinals in kills (4.36) and points (4.94) per game.

MARQUETTE: Marquette finished its season with a record of 14-16, one half-match better than last year's mark of 13-16. THERESA COUGHLIN ranked fifth in the conference with 4.17 kills and GEMMA GREER was fourth in C-USA with 12.41 assists per game. In only her second year at Marquette, head coach PATI ROLF led the Golden Eagles to the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament, falling to eventual winner Louisville.

MEMPHIS: With a 30-6 overall record, Memphis became only the second team in C-USA history to post 30 wins in a season. BRITTANY BARNETT finished her career as the program's third ranked player with 1,349 career kills and eighth with 1,174 career digs. SHELLA NEBA concluded her career ranked fourth in all-time block assists and eighth in career block solos. In all, the two seniors guided the Tigers to two 20-plus win seasons and one 19-win season.

SAINT LOUIS: SLU head coach MARILYN NOLEN announced her retirement after 32 seasons as a collegiate coach. She concluded her career with a record of 809-358-12, the fourth most wins in NCAA Division I history. In January, ANNE KORDES was named head volleyball coach for Saint Louis. Kordes arrives at SLU after serving as the top assistant at Illinois from 1999-2003. The Billikens finished the 2003 campaign with a 9-22 overall record. KAYLA KMITTA led the Billikens with 2.52 kills per game, while Alexis Cooley ranked first on the squad with a .260 attack percentage.

USF: USF finished 2003 at 12-20 overall and 6-7 in the conference. BONNYE GLOVER, who ranked ninth in the league with 1.13 blocks per game, and FRAN POZZI, who led the team in service aces (0.38), concluded their final season for the Bulls. SHAMEKA MITCHELL earned all-conference honors after ranking second in the league with 4.71 kills per game.
SOUTHERN MISS: Southern Miss concluded the 2003 season with a school-record 27 wins and the best winning percentage of all-time (.818). Southern Miss had three players ranked among the C-USA's top 10 kill list this past season. NIKKI TRIBBLE led the Golden Eagles and ranked sixth in the league with 4.13 kills per game, while ANDREA BUSH (4.12) and BRIDGET FILES (3.98) followed in seventh and ninth place, respectively. Bush and Files were both selected to the All-Conference USA second team.

TCU: The Frogs finished the 2003 season with a school-record 20-16 overall and a 5-8 mark in Conference USA play. TCU advancing to the quarterfinals was a best-ever finish for the Frogs in the C-USA Tournament. ANNA VAUGHN ranked second in the league with a hitting percentage of .365, while ELLEN REHME led the team in kills (3.82). For the second year in a row, DOMINIKA SZABO earned C-USA All-Conference honors. Szabo closed out her junior year, ranked first on the team in digs (2.91) and second with 3.78 kills per game.

TULANE: The Green Wave finished with a 25-7 overall record, marking the second consecutive 20-plus win season. KARLYN DALY earned the league's Defensive Player of the Year accolade, after ranking second in the conference with 4.45 digs per game and helping the Green Wave pace C-USA with 18.22 digs per outing. Her 494 total digs in 2003 are a Tulane single-season record, besting the mark of 464 set by Britney Hurst in 2002, while also posting a new career mark of 1,366 digs. DEVA FOWLER became the first Tulane player to earn All-America honorable mention distinction after leading the conference in blocks (1.49) and ranking seventh with a .385 attack percentage.

UAB: For the third straight season, UAB improved its overall and C-USA win totals under fourth-year head coach MELINDA CLAIBORNE. UAB's 14 wins overall are the most since the 1997 season and the Blazers' six league wins are the most since joining C-USA in 1995, and the most conference wins overall since 1993. Six Blazers joined the double-double club in 2003, recording double digit performances in two of the following categories during a match: kills, assists, service aces, digs, block solos, block assists or total blocks. MARTINA SHIELDS and BREANNE SWENSON led the team lead with 15; KAREN BOYD had eight; BILUN GUNAL posted six; and LINDSAY CARNOHAN and JENNA LINK each had five.