Sept. 16, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA Volleyball had a solid week as the league established an overall record of 32-12, for a winning percentage of .727 for the week. C-USA had five teams to produce a flawless record led by Southern Miss' 5-0 performance last week. Memphis and East Carolina both were 4-0, while Tulsa and Houston also went undefeated at 3-0.

The Lady Eagles won the Alabama State Tournament, while Houston, Tulsa and Memphis won its own invitational. Southern Miss picked up four straight-games victories over Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State and Southern. The team also defeated Nicholls State, 3-1, earlier in the week. Tulsa won the Hurricane Festival with sweeps over New Jersey Institute of Technology, North Texas and Grambling State. Houston defeated Stephen F. Austin and Wake Forest, while Memphis eliminated Stetson, Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State. The Tigers and UAB were actually declared co-champions of the Tiger Invitational as each produced identical 3-0 records as UAB also defeated the same opponents.

Memphis, Houston and Tulane opened Conference USA schedule with wins over UAB, Rice and UTEP, respectively.

East Carolina's Kelley Wernert led the league with 6.08 KPG, followed by Tulsa's Fabiola Nepomuceno and Justine Farmer of Houston who averaged 5.44 and 5.17 KPG, respectively. Tulane's Jenn Miller topped C-USA with 6.64 DPG and Memphis'Laura Cote dished out a league best 14.17 APG for the week.

C-USA VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS, RECENT RESULTS & UPCOMING MATCHES

TEAM CAPSULES

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina (9-6) was one to two C-USA teams that went 4-0 and one of five that went undefeated last week. Three of the four Pirates wins were in straight games, included a sweep of the George Washington Tournament. ECU defeated host GW, Howard and Hartford. Senior OH Kelley Wernert was named tournament MVP after averaging a league-best 6.08 KPG Sophomore OH Melissa Zentner and junior L Trish Monroe were also named to the all-tournament team. The duo averaged 3.25 KPG and 3.38 DPG, respectively.

HOUSTON
Houston (6-6) was one of five teams that went undefeated last week. The Cougars opened the C-USA slate with a 3-0 victory over city-rival Rice, followed by picking up victories over Stephen F. Austin, 3-2, and Wake Forest, 3-1, in the Houston Invitational. Junior OH Justine Farmer paced UH with 5.17 KPG, third best in the league for the week. Freshman MB Lucy Charuk established a .388 hitting efficiency, while rookie S Robin Fitzgerald dished out 8.44 APG. Houston will be back in action Sept. 21 for a C-USA match-up against UCF at 6 p.m.

MARSHALL
Marshall (7-7) went 2-1 for the week with wins over West Virginia, 3-1, and Akron, 3-0. Pepperdine handed UM a 3-1 loss. Senior OH Kelly-Anne Billingy led Marshall with 4.50 KPG and 0.60 SAPG. Maggie Arias hustled for a team-best 4.73 DPG, while Elizabeth Fleming dished out 12.36 APG, third-best in C-USA for the week. The Herd makes their first CSTV appearance Friday at 7 p.m. at SMU before hosting Tulsa Sunday at 1 p.m.

MEMPHIS
Memphis (11-4) was one to two C-USA teams that went 4-0 on the week and one of five that went undefeated. The team put together a pair of consecutive sweeps to earn the Tiger Invitational Co-Championship Saturday at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Memphis, who went 3-0 in the tournament, downed UL-Lafayette and Arkansas State to claim a share of the tournament title with fellow UAB. Both teams won all three contests via the sweep. Senior MB Shelby Burton was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while senior OH Ashley Liford and junior MB Sarah Bury earned all-tournament honors. Memphis returns to C-USA action at UTEP Friday at 7 p.m.

RICE
Rice (5-8) opened its C-USA schedule with a 3-0 loss to cross-town rival Houston. The Owls also suffered a pair of losses last week at the Houston Invitational to Wake Forest, 3-0, and Stephen F. Austin, 3-2. Sophomore MB Natalie Bogan established a .436 hitting efficiency for the week, while sophomore S Channing Grigsby averaged 11.00 APG. The Owls get back to C-USA action on Friday with a trip to Southern Miss. Rice returns to Fox Gym on Sept. 23, hosting UCF at 1 pm.

SMU
SMU (10-4) lost to New Hampshire, 3-0, Saturday in the final match of the New Hampshire Invitational. Senior OH Rachel Giubilato and freshman OH Kathryn Wilkerson were named to the all-tournament. Giubilato and Wilkerson both notched double-doubles against UNH. Giubilato pounded out 11 kills and 15 digs, while Wilkerson racked up 13 kills and 12 digs. SMU returns home to open conference action as it plays host to C-USA rival Marshall in the only televised match of the season Friday at 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.

SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss (8-7) concluded its play at the Alabama State Invitational with four wins, finishing the week with a 5-0 record. The team swept host Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State, Southern and Alabama A&M for the tournament title. The Eagles had four players that averaged better than 3.0 KPG. Sophomore L Maia Ivanova led the team with 4.20 DPG, while freshman S Jillian Neave averaged 11.41 APG. The Eagles return to action on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match at Southeastern Louisiana.

TULANE
Tulane (11-3) placed second in the Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport Classic after posting a 3-1 win over Florida A&M and a 3-0 win over VCU Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena. Junior OH Bridget Wells turned in a career-best performance with 18 kills and a .469 hitting percentage against Florida A&M, and hit .360 for the tournament. Sophomore L Jenn Miller pulled out 31 digs, her second 30-dig match in the last four contests, against FAM. Miller led the league with 6.64 DGP. Junior OH Sara Radosevic had two double-doubles during tournament play, pushing her total to four for the season. The Green Wave returns home to face UAB on Friday, at Fogelman Arena at 7 p.m.

TULSA
Tulsa (11-3) won its second tournament title of the season with a perfect 3-0 record at the Tulsa Invitational. The Golden Hurricane capped off the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of Grambling State Saturday. Senior MH Fabiola Nepomucenco led the Hurricane hitters with 15 kills, for her eighth straight double-figure kill performance. Senior S Julia Silva posted her 12th double-double of the season with 35 assists and 10 digs for TU. The Hurricane will return to action on Tuesday, as it hosts cross-town rival Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. in the Reynolds Center.

UAB
UAB (8-5) earned three of shutout victories and co-champion title honors at the Memphis Invitational, beating Louisiana Lafayette, Stetson, and Arkansas State. The Blazers opened their conference schedule with a 3-0 loss to Memphis Thursday. UAB was paced by junior OH Ivana Bozic's 4.67 KPG and 5.08 DPG for the week. Bozic also had three double-doubles for a season total of eighth. UAB will be back in action when it resumes C-USA play at Tulane on Friday at 7 p.m.

UCF
UCF (8-6) secured two wins at the USF Invitational Friday, posting a 3-2 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, before downing George Mason 3-1. The Knights have won six of their last seven matches. Sophomore OH Erin Campbell recorded her third double-double of the season with 16 kills and 20 digs over TAMCC. Four of UCF's eight wins have come in the decisive fifth game. The Knights return home Friday against C-USA foe Houston. The match will be played at Hagerty High School at 7 p.m.

UTEP
Sophomore MB Aidan Mooney pounded a career-high 14 kills and hit a team-best .393, but it could not boost the Miners over Tulane, as UTEP fell 3-1 in its conference opening match Wednesday in Memorial Gym. Mooney also chipped in six blocks, one ace and three digs, to post a team-high 18 points for the Miners. Earlier in the week, UTEP dropped a 3-0 decision to New Mexico State. UTEP (6-6) will look to snap its five-match losing streak when it resumes conference action against Memphis at Memorial Gym on Friday at 7 p.m.