Oct. 8, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Tulane, UAB and UCF will step out of Conference USA volleyball action Tuesday night. Tulane welcomes Southland Conference foe McNeese State, while Mercer, a member of the Atlantic Sun, travels to UAB and Southern member The Citadel faces UCF tomorrow.

Friday's C-USA match-ups feature the league's third CSTV appearance as league-leader Marshall plays host to the defending C-USA Tournament champion UAB a 6 p.m. CT. The match will be aired on a tape delay basic with a broadcast date of Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. CT. Marshall's Cam Henderson Center will be the host of the 2007 C-USA Championship on Nov. 15-18.

Four of the top five teams are on the road this weekend (Tulane, Tulsa, UAB and Memphis).

Oct. 8: C-USA VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK & STATS

Upcoming Matches (All times CT)
Tue., Oct. 9
The Citadel at UCF 3 p.m.
McNeese State at Tulane 7 p.m.
Mercer at UAB 7 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 12
* Memphis at East Carolina 6 p.m.
* UAB at Marshall (CSTV) 6 p.m.
* Tulsa at UCF 6 p.m.
* Tulane at Houston 7 p.m.
* UTEP at Rice 7 p.m.
* SMU at Southern Miss 7 p.m.

Sun., Oct. 14
* UAB at East Carolina 12 p.m.
* Memphis at Marshall 12 p.m.
* SMU at UCF 12 p.m.
* UTEP at Houston 1 p.m.
* Tulane at Rice 1 p.m.
* Tulsa at Southern Miss 1 p.m.

* C-USA matches.

TEAM CAPSULES

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina (12-9, 3-3 C-USA) split its matches last week with a 3-1 win over UTEP and a 3-1 loss to Tulane. Seniors Kelley Wernert and Mignon Dubenion, as well as sophomore Peyton Thompson, each enjoyed double-digit kills with 19, 13 and 10, respectively, against the Green Wave. Wernert now sits just nine kills away from breaking the career record. Freshman Katie Koop dished out 44 assists against Tulane. The Pirates continue their four-game homestand Friday at 7 p.m. against Memphis.

HOUSTON
Houston (9-8, 4-2 C-USA) jumped back into the win column Sunday when the Cougars defeated SMU 3-0 in Dallas. Houston was led by freshman Hannah Sullivan, who notched a game-high 20 kills for a .425 hitting percentage. Junior Justine Farmer added 16 kills and nine digs. Tulsa swept the visiting Cougars Friday despite a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs from Sullivan. UH returns home for two matches on Oct. 12 and Oct. 14 against Tulane and UTEP, respectively.

MARSHALL
Marshall (13-7, 6-0 C-USA) took over first place in the C-USA standings with a 3-0 sweep over then league-leader Tulane Friday and a 3-1 win over UTEP Sunday. Marshall extended its win streak to seven-straight. The Herd had three players record double-digit kills against UTEP, including a match-high 18 by senior OH Kelly-Anne Billingy. Senior OH Stepnanie Cahill earned C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors with two double-doubles. Marshall plays host to UAB Friday in a CSTV match at 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS
Memphis (15-7, 4-2 C-USA) went 3-0 for the week with wins over Central Arkansas, Southern Miss and UCF. Memphis got 11 kills from Shelby Burton and a team-high 14 digs from Sarah Bury versus UCF Sunday afternoon. Bury's performances earned her C-USA Co-Defensive Player of the Week honor. The Tigers extend their win streak to three matches, while claiming their third consecutive win over the Knights. The Tiger defense was solid, holding UCF to just .119 hitting. Christine Bach made 14 digs, while Burton added five blocks. Memphis returns to action Friday at East Carolina. First serve is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

RICE
Rice (8-10, 3-3 C-USA) lost a pair of tough marathon bouts at Tulsa and SMU, falling 3-2 in each. Junior Jessica Holderness led the Owls with 15 kills, while sophomore Jessie Boulavsky was next with 14 and a match-best .462 hitting percentage (14-2-26) against Tulsa. Boulavsky also matched her career-best of six blocks. Sophomore Natalie Bogan and freshman Caroline Gill also had six blocks each to lead the front row defense. The Owls host UTEP on Friday and Tulane on Sunday.

SMU
Two Mustangs hit over .500 but SMU (12-8, 2-4 C-USA) dropped its Sunday match in straight-set to Houston. Leading the Mustangs offense was the trio of Natalie Peters, Caitlin Rainbird and Kathryn Wilkerson. Peters led the team with 10 kills, while Rainbird and Wilkerson each contributed nine. Rainbird also notched 13 digs, making her just one kill shy of a double-double. The Mustangs take to the road to face Southern Miss Friday and UCF Sunday.

SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss (10-12, 1-5 C-USA) dropped a pair of C-USA matches to Memphis, 3-1, and UAB, 3-2. Ashley Petrinec led the Eagles with a double-double of 15 kills and 17 digs. She also recorded three service aces and three blocks. Maia Ivanova added 15 digs. The Golden Eagles took game three, 30-25, behind a team attack percentage of .349. Southern Miss returns to action on Sunday, traveling to UAB for a 1 p.m. match in Bartow Arena.

TULANE
Tulane (16-4, 6-1 C-USA) was handed its first C-USA loss of the season with a 3-0 setback at Marshall Friday before responding with a 3-1 victory at East Carolina Sunday. Junior OH Sara Radosevic led Tulane with a season-high 28 kills against the Pirates. Four members of the Green Wave were in double-figure kills as the team hit .396 for the match. Radosevic connected at a career-best .447 hitting percentage. Junior S Luna Rebrovic posted a season-high 44 assists and added nine digs. Jenn Miller paced Tulane defensively with 17 digs. The team steps out of league play to host McNeese State Tuesday at 7 p.m.

TULSA
Tulsa handed Rice its third straight 3-2 loss to the Golden Hurricane Sunday. The win extended TU's C-USA home win streak to 18 straight. Louisville holds the record with 21. Tulsa has won 15-consecutive C-USA matches, dating back to last season. Julia Silva and Malorney Grove were named this week's C-USA Setter and Co-Defensive Players of the week, respectively. Grove recorded the third most digs in a C-USA match with 36 against Rice. TU returns to action at UCF on Friday and Southern Miss Sunday.

UAB
UAB (13-6, 4-2 C-USA) fought back to earn a 3-2 victory over Southern Miss and extended its home winning streak to nine matches Sunday. Junior Lilly Domingos sparked the Blazer comeback, coming off the bench to finish with nine kills and seven blocks. Senior Fernanda Domingos and junior Ivana Bozic tied with 15 kills each. Bozic also had 14 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. Junior Nevena Stefanov finished with 55 assists and 11 digs for her fourth DD. UAB plays host Mercer Tuesday at 7 p.m.

UCF
Despite a match-high 15 kills from junior Stephanie Serna, UCF dropped a 3-0 decision at Memphis Sunday. The Knights also were swept at UAB Friday. Erin Campbell had an all-around solid outing with 14 digs, eight kills, three block assists and two service aces. Defensively, the Knights were led by junior Jenny Heppert's six blocks and freshman Kristen Petrasic's 15 digs. UCF hosts The Citadel Tuesday at the new UCF Arena at 3 p.m.

UTEP
UTEP (6-12, 0-7 C-USA) went 0-2 last week with road losses at East Carolina, 3-1, Friday and league leader Marshall, 3-0, Sunday. Catherine Chavez and Amy Sanders each contributed 15 kills against Marshall. Sanders ranks third in the league in service aces with an average of 0.55 per game. She also ranks 10 in points per game with 4.42. UTEP also put up 10 blocks to the Herd's nine. The Miners head to Houston to take on Rice and Houston on Oct. 12 and 14, respectively.