After just two weeks of play, only Louisville and DePaul remain unbeaten in a highly competitive Conference USA race. Catch up with all the action in C-USA Volleyball in this week's notebook.


PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BECKY STAHL, OH, Cincinnati
BECKY STAHL is the Conference USA Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 30. Stahl led the Bearcats for the week, posting 72 kills, 25 digs and a .323 attack percentage. In a win against Western Kentucky, she set season-highs in kills (26), aces (five), blocks (four) and digs (10). She followed her WKU performance, helping the Bearcats defeat C-USA foes Houston and TCU. Against Houston, she tallied a match-high .513 hitting percentage, while also adding eight digs. She currently holds a streak of four consecutive 20-plus kill performances this season.

NATIONAL POLLS
Here is a look at the Oct. 1 AVCA/USA Today Poll.
1. Long Beach State
2. Nebraska
3. USC
4. Stanford
5. UCLA
6. Wisconsin
7. Arizona
8. Florida
9. Colorado State
10. Penn State
11. Ohio State
12. Pacific
13. Hawaii
14. BYU
15. Pepperdine
16. Texas A
17. South Florida
18. Northern Iowa
19. Utah
20. UC Santa Barbara
21. Minnesota
22. Notre Dame
23. Louisville
24. Santa Clara
25. Kansas State

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Texas (88), Nevada (66), Michigan State (66), Missouri (20), North Carolina (17), San Diego (16), Colorado (6), Duke (4).

AMONG THE RANKED
Louisville has moved up two spots to No. 23 in the AVCA/USA Today rankings. Louisville stands in first place in the league standings with a 4-0 conference and 9-1 overall record. The Cardinals extended their nine-game winning streak after defeating TCU, 3-0 and Houston, 3-1 this past weekend.

LEADING THE CONFERENCE
As a team, DePaul is ranked first in assists (16.10 pg), kills (17.85 pg) and digs (19.10) in the conference.

Houston's JENNIFER WITTENBURG moved into first place and leads the conference with an average of 5.57 kills per game. South Florida's MICHELLE COLLIER follows in second with 5.62 kills per game.

Marquette's MEHGAN DEVINE continues to lead C-USA with a .327 hitting percentage. Most recently, Devine posted 12 kills and a .286 attack mark against UAB.

COACHING MILESTONE
Saint Louis head coach MARILYN NOLEN coached in her 1,100th career match against Memphis on Sept. 28. In 29 years of coaching, she currently holds a career mark of 770-318-2.

MOVIN' UP
Southern Miss junior CRYSTAL ZANE moved into third on the Golden Eagles' all-time assist list with 2,866.

The Billikens' SHANNAN SWINEY topped the 1,000 career assist mark against Memphis on Sept. 25. She has now compiled 1,071 in her two years.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Each Monday, Conference USA selects a Player of the Week. Here is a look at the 2001 winners.

S4 Stephanie Bishop, DePaul
S10 Amie Hamilton, Memphis
S24 Jennifer Wittenburg, Houston
O1 Becky Stahl, Cincinnati

SEASON SUPERLATIVES
Here are several of the top single-match performances in Conference USA this season.

HITTING PERCENTAGE
.667 (12-0-18) by Christa Dirr (DPU) vs. UAB, 9/28

KILLS
33 by Colleen Hunter (SLU) vs. Austin Peay, 8/31

ASSISTS
71 by Megan Mosness (CHA) at Auburn, 9/9

ATTEMPTS
82 by Michelle Collier (USF) at Florida State, 8/18

ACES
9 by Michelle Collier (USF) at New Orleans, 9/23

BLOCKS
12 by Robyn Drewes (ECU) vs. UMBC, 8/8

DIGS
29 by Shelly Greene (UAB) at Miami, 8/8

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Here are some of the top individual performers in C-USA from Sept. 24-30:

CHRISTA DIRR, DPU: Led the team in kills and hitting percentage against UAB (12 kills; .667 average).

JENNIFER WITTENBURG, HOU: She blasted 28 kills against Louisville to tie for the ninth-best single-match perfomance in her UH career.

LESLEY DRURY, LOU: Led the Cardinals to wins over TCU and Houston. Recorded 30 kills and a .323 hitting percentage for the week.

VESNA GRBAVAC, MAR: Posted team-highs in both kills (20) and digs (12). Posted three consecutive matches of double-figures in both attacks and digs.

SHELLA NEBA, MEM: Recorded a .613 hitting mark of nine kills and just one error in 13 total attempts against Saint Louis.

MARCI KING, TCU: She posted her 46th career double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs against Cincinnati.

BRITNEY HURST, TUL: She led the Green Wave with .288 hitting percentage for the week, while averaging 4.89 kills and 3.78 digs per game.

COLLEEN HUNTER, USL: Averaged 4.8 kills per games, while posting her 24th and 25th career double-double performance against Memphis.

JOLENE PATTON, USF: Recorded 39 kills, 24 digs and a .256 attack percentage for the week.

KELLY TRIBBLE, USM: Posted her second double-double of the season with her 13 kill and 12 dig performance against Charlotte.

2001 HEALTHY CHOICE C-USA TOURNAMENT
The 2001 Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament will take place Nov. 15-18 at Houston's Hofheinz Pavilion. The top 12 teams in the regular season standings advance to the tournament. Thursday, Nov. 15 and Friday, Nov. 17 matches will be held at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The semifinal rounds on Nov. 17 will begin at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Nov. 18 championship will be televised by the Conference USA Television Network. Please check your local listings.

COACHES RECORDS
Coach School Career
Lisa Marston, CHA 21-24 106-103
Reed Sunahara, CIN 30-15 49-55
Dawn Dockstader, DPU 71-70 71-70
Colleen Farrell, ECU 19-24 19-24
Bill Walton, HOU 325-183 535-238
Leonid Yelin, LOU 125-43 239-79
Laura Farina, MAR 33-42 33-42
Carrie Yerty, MEM 80-100 80-100
Marilyn Nolen, SLU 151-100 770-318-12
Nancy Mueller, USF 51-28 51-28
Santiago Restrepo, USM 7-7 82-39
Sandy Troudt, TCU 53-117 247-278
Betsy Becker, TUL 40-39 118-97
Melinda Claiborne, UAB 12-30 12-30

C-USA NOTEBOOK
CHARLOTTE
Charlotte dropped two matches against Tulane, 3-0 and Southern Miss, 3-0. COURTNEY BURG was the 49ers' top hitter this week with 3.11 kills per game. She also led the team in digs with 3.78 per game. JESSICA KELLY posted a strong performance, tallying 10 kills and four blocks against Southern Miss, while ESRA AKGUN added a match-high 14 kills.

CINCINNATI
The Bearcats have won four-straight matches, including wins over Houston (3-1) and TCU (3-1). Freshman JULIE DUPONT hit .382 for the week, with 3.08 digs and a team-leading 1.08 blocks per game. For her fourth-straight match, BECKY STAHL posted over 20 kills against TCU. Her 63 attempts against the Horned Frogs was also a career-high.

DE PAUL
After falling to Loyola-Chicago on Sept. 25, DePaul bounced back defeating UAB, 3-0 and South Florida, 3-2. The Blue Demons are undefeated in C-USA play (3-0), while also posting their best start in school history (11-1). Senior CHRISTA DIRR paced DePaul against the Blazers with a team-high 12 kills and a .667 hitting percentage. She also led the team against South Florida, posting 16 kills and five digs. The Blue Demons remain at home, when they host Charlotte on Friday and East Carolina on Saturday.

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina dropped two matches against Tulane,
3-0 and Southern Miss, 3-0 last weekend. AMANDA RUDOLPH led the Pirates, posting 11 kills in each loss. She also posted a season-high 14 digs against Southern Miss. SARAH VICK made strong contributions, tallying nine digs against the Golden Eagles. The Pirates compete against Marquette on Friday and DePaul on Saturday.

HOUSTON
Houston fell to 2-2 in conference play after dropping 3-1 matches against Cincinnati and Louisville. JENNIFER WITTENBURG led the Cougars, blasting 28 kills against Louisville to tie for the ninth-best single-match performance in her career. Against the Bearcats, Freshman LOURE DEWS posted career bests of nine kills and a .467 attack percentage with only two errors in 15 chances. JANE ANNE KARASEK posted 16 kills and 19 digs, while JENNY TANNEBERGER recorded 11 kills and 10 digs at Louisville. Houston plays host to Lamar on Tuesday and Hawaii on Wednesday.

LOUISVILLE
The No. 23 Cardinals remain unbeaten in C-USA play, defeating TCU and Houston last weekend. LESLEY DRURY led Louisville, posting a total of 30 kills and 18 digs for the weekend. SONJA PERCAN also added 12 kills and a 304 hitting mark for the week, while STACEY MERCER recorded a game-high 12 digs. 58 kills and hitting .254 for the week.

MARQUETTE
Marquette went 1-1 for the weekend, falling to South Florida,
3-1, but bounced back to sweep UAB on Saturday. Senior VESNA GRBAVAC recorded team-highs in both kills (20) and digs (12), while also hitting .372 against South Florida. In a three-game win over UAB, Grbavac registered a match-high 14 kills and finished with 12 digs. Junior DANIELLE HAGEN also turned in a strong weekend, recording 10 digs against South Florida, while hitting a season-high .389 hitting percentage against UAB. The Golden Eagles will next compete against Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday.

MEMPHIS
Memphis fell to Saint Louis in a five-game decision on Sept. 28. The Senior EMILY EICHMANN led the Tigers' hitting effort with 22 kills and a .405 attack percentage. Three other Tigers recorded double-digit kills, including sophomore BRITTANY BARNETT, who followed Eichmann with 15 kills, and senior Ginger Garrett and sophomore Shella Neba, who recorded 14 and 12 kills, respectively.

SAINT LOUIS
COLLEEN HUNTER and BROOKE MINNIEAR both posted double-double performances to lead Saint Louis to a 3-2 win over Memphis on Sept. 28. Hunter posted 19 kills and 12 digs, while Minniear added 10 kills and 10 digs. Hunter has now moved into seventh place with 1,214 kills on the all-time kills list at SLU.

SOUTH FLORIDA
South Florida defeated Marquette, 3-1, but fell to DePaul, 3-2. JOLENE PATTON recorded consecutive double-double performances for the week. MICHELLE COLLIER also posted an impressive weekend, notching 21 kills and 19 digs against Marquette. The Bulls return to conference play on Tuesday when they host UAB.

SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss snapped a five-game losing streak by sweeping both Charlotte and East Carolina. KELLY TRIBBLE finished the week with 34 kills, 19 digs and eight total blocks. CRYSTAL ZANE posted 38 assists for the weekend to rank third on the Golden Eagles' all-time assist list with a total of 2,866. Southern Miss will meet Alabama in non-conference action on Tuesday.

TCU
TCU fell to Louisville, 3-0 and Cincinnati, 3-1. MARCI KING led TCU, recording her 46 career double-double performance with 16 kills and 10 digs against Cincinnati. The Horned Frogs will next compete against SMU on Tuesday.

TULANE
Tulanehas now won four straight matches, sweeping East Carolina and Charlotte. BRITNEY HURST led the Green Wave, tallying 44 kills and 34 digs for the week. ANASTASIA KENON also posted a team-high 12 kills and 15 digs against East Carolina. Tulane will next compete against Southern B.R. on Tuesday.

UAB
UAB fell to DePaul (3-0) and Marquette (3-0). MARTINA SHIELDS recorded 19 kills and 16 digs over the weekend. KAREN BOYD also followed with eight kills and five digs against Marquette. The Blazers continue their road trip on Tuesday, when they meet South Florida.