Cincinnati leads Conference USA with an 8-1 league mark; Michelle Collier is on her way to breaking the C-USA career record in kills; Catch up with all the C-USA Volleyball action in this week's notes.

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JULIE DUPONT, MB, Cincinnati/
COLLEEN HUNTER, MH, Saint Louis

JULIE DUPONT of Cincinnati shares Conference USA Player of the Week honors with Saint Louis' COLLEEN HUNTER for the period ending Oct. 14. Dupont led the Bearcats with wins over No. 22 Louisville, DePaul and Marquette, posting 64 kills, a 324 hitting percentage and 36 digs for the week. Against the Cardinals, DuPont notched 18 kills, 10 digs and eight blocks, just two blocks short of posting her fourth triple-double in school history. She tallied a career-high 30 kills and 21 digs against the Golden Eagles, becoming the first Bearcat to reach 30 kills this year.

Hunter posted three double-double performances to lead the Billikens with wins over Indiana, Tulane and Southern Miss last week. SLU's 3-1 win over Indiana was its first over a Big Ten team. Hunter notched a season-high 19 digs against Southern Miss, while also tallying 30 kills and a .349 hitting percentage against Tulane. She posted 74 kills, a .358 hitting percentage and 46 digs for the week. Out of 16 conference matches, she has posted five double-double performances.


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

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Kansas State (71), San Diego (52), Louisville (36), Utah State (24), Missouri (14), Arkansas (11), Texas (9), San Jose State (7), Duke (7), Nevada (6), Michigan State (6) and Cincinnati (4).

BEARCAT WIN STREAK
After posting their first win over a nationally-ranked team against 22nd-ranked Louisville last Tuesday, the Bearcats continued their winning ways this past weekend with wins over DePaul, 3-0 and Marquette, 3-2. Cincinnati has now extended its win streak to nine matches and lead the league with an 8-1 C-USA mark.

FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
- Last weekend South Florida's MICHELLE COLLIER recorded 19 kills to move into second place on the C-USA career kill list with 1,778. Becky Tenkman of Cincinnati (1995-98) holds the all-time career kill record with 1,843.

- Memphis AMIE HAMILTON has compiled 54 services aces this season to move into a tie for second place on the league's all-time list with 191 aces. Ozlem Ozkan of Charlotte (1997-2000) is ranked first with 195 service aces.

LEADING THE CONFERENCE
As a team, DePaul continues to lead the conference in kills (16.50) assists (14.95) and digs (17.32) per game.
Cincinnati is ranked first in blocks (2.56 pg), while Louisville has posted the best hitting percentage (.259).

Houston's JENNIFER WITTENBURG gained control of the top marking for most kills in the conference with 5.32 per game. South Florida's MICHELLE COLLIER is ranked second with an average of 5.63 kills per game.

Cincinnati's TRISH LADUSAW, who set the UC career record for digs with 1,331 this past weekend, is ranked first in the conference with an average of 3.86 per game.

MIDWEST REGIONAL RANKINGS
Here is a look at the Oct. 2 Midwest Volleyball Regional Rankings. The next poll will be released on Oct. 17.
1. Louisville
2. DePaul
3. South Florida
4. Loyola-Chicago
5. Eastern Illinois
6. UW-Milwaukee
7. Wright State
8. Cincinnati
9. Southeast Missouri
10. Houston

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
O8 Sonja Percan, Louisville
O15 Julie DuPont, Cincinnati
Colleen Hunter, Saint Louis

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

HITTING PERCENTAGE
.765 (12-1-7) by Rachel Jobes (USF) vs. CIN, 10/5

KILLS
36 by Michelle Collier (USF) vs. Loyola, 9/8

ASSISTS
74 by Gemma Greer (MAR) vs. LOU, 10/12

ATTEMPTS
82 by Michelle Collier (USF) at Florida State, 9/18

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 Oct. 9-14:

CHANDA WALLER, CHA: Knocked down a career-high 16 kills against both South Florida and UAB.

TRISH LADUSAW, CIN: With her 23-dig performance against DuPaul, Ladusaw broke the Bearcats' career digs record, compiling a total of 1,331.

JENNIFER WITTENBURG, HOU: Blasted a .445 attack percentage with only six errors in 33 chances against the Horned Frogs.

ADRIANNE EDMONDS, MEM: Recorded a career-high 24 kills against Tulane, while also totaling a .328 hitting mark.

JOLENE PATTON, USF: Led South Florida to wins over Charlotte and East Carolina, after posting 32 kills, a .556 hitting percentage and 11 digs for the week.

BRIDGET FILES, USM: Notched a double-double performance against Saint Louis with 18 kills and 13 digs.

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. 16 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.

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: Charlotte fell to South Florida, 3-0 and UAB, 3-1 last weekend. The 49ers were led by CHANDA WALLER, who tallied a match-high 16 kills against South Florida. COURTNEY BURG also posted a strong performance against the Blazers, notching 17 kills and 10 digs. The 49ers will next host Appalachian State on Tuesday.

CINCINNATI: With wins over DePaul
(3-0) and Marquette (3-1), the Bearcats extended their win streak to nine matches and are tied for the eighth-longest win streak in school history. JULIE DUPONT led Cincinnati for the week, posting 64 kills and a .324 hitting percentage. Junior TRISH LADUSAW broke UC's career digs, after compiling 23 against the Blue Demons. She now has 1,311 digs in her career.

DE PAUL: DePaul suffered losses against Cincinnati (3-0) and No. 22 Louisville (3-1) to drop its first matches in conference play this season. The Blue Demons' KATIE ENGEL notched 11 kills and six digs against Cincinnati, while adding 14 kills in their loss against Louisville. STEPHANIE BISHOP also chipped in 16 kills and 13 digs. DePaul returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Illinois State.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates defeated UAB, 3-1, but fell to South Florida, 3-0 last weekend. Senior AMANDA RUDOLPH recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 18 kills and 19 digs against UAB. Sophomore ALEXIS JONES provided eight kills and eight blocks, while CHRISSY MCPHEETERS posted eight kills and two digs.

HOUSTON: The Cougars defeated TCU, 3-0 in only their second meeting in school history. As a team, Houston recorded a season-best 58 kills and a .331 attack percentage against the Horned Frogs. JENNY TANNEBERGER hit .444 with only two errors in 27 chances and JANE ANNE KARASEK tallied 13 kills and a .367 hitting percentage. DONNA SELLEN also added 47 assists, a Cougar single-match high for three games.

LOUISVILLE: The No. 22 Cardinals fell to Marquette, 3-2, but bounced back to defeat DePaul, 3-1 last weekend. Louisville hit a blistering .500 attack percentage with 23 kills on 44 attempts. SONJA PERCAN notched 20 kills, while ANASTASIA ZAITSEVA and STACEY MERCER notched 16 and 12 kills, respectively.

MARQUETTE: Marquette went 1-1 for the weekend, defeating No. 22 Louisville, but dropping a 3-2 decision to Cincinnati. JENNIFER AMOBI had a match-high 23 kills and a .413 hitting percentage against the Cardinals. MEGHAN DEVINE also chipped in 16 kills and 10 digs. The Golden Eagles return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 16 against UW-Green Bay.

MEMPHIS: Memphis claimed wins over Southern Miss, 3-0 and Tulane, 3-1. Memphis' five league wins this season is the best C-USA total for the Tigers since their six conference wins during the 1998 season. They are also on pace to record their first 20-win season since 1994. ADRIANNE EDMONDS led the Tigers for the week, totaling a .328 hitting mark against the Green Wave. Edmonds notched 17 kills and a .324 attack percentage against Southern Miss. In non-conference action, Memphis will host Samford on Tuesday.

SAINT LOUIS: COLLEEN HUNTER led the Billikens to wins over Tulane (3-2) and Southern Miss (3-2) last weekend. Hunter recorded double-double performances in both matches, while also posting her fifth in conference play. EMBER KNOBELOCH also notched 17 kills and hit .366 against the Golden Eagles, while BROOKE MINNIEAR added 12 kills and 19 digs. Saint Louis will have the week off before hosting Cincinnati on Friday and Louisville on Saturday.

SOUTH FLORIDA: South Florida went undefeated for the weekend, sweeping both Charlotte and East Carolina. JOLENE PATTON led the Bulls, notching 32 kills and 11 digs for the weekend. MICHELLE COLLIER also added 12 kills and eight digs against Charlotte.

SOUTHERN MISS: Southern Miss fell to Memphis, 3-0 and Saint Louis, 3-2. BRIDGET FILES tallied 28 kills and 17 digs over the weekend, while KELLY TRIBBLE posted her second 20-plus kill performance this season against Saint Louis. Freshman BRYNN OLSSON also recorded her six consecutive match with double-digit digs with 13 against the Billikens.

TCU: TCU dropped a 3-0 decision against Houston. MARCI KING recorded a team-high eight kills and nine digs against the Cougars. DOMINKA SZABO and LINDSAY HAYES both posted six kills. The Horned Frogs will compete against Sam Houston State on Wednesday.

TULANE: Tulane dropped two matches over the weekend with a 3-2 loss against Saint Louis and a 3-1 loss against Memphis. BRITNEY HURST led the Green Wave, posting 22 kills, a .315 hitting percentage and 18 digs. ANASTASIA KENON also recorded a double-double performance with 18 kills and 15 digs. LAUREN JONES-MCCLAIN and ERIN DOBYANSKI led Tulane defensively, notching nine and seven blocks, respectively. Tulane takes on New Orleans on Tuesday.

UAB: UAB fell to East Carolina, 3-1, but earned a 3-1 win over Charlotte last weekend. KRISTI LEE led the Blazers with a team-high 18 kills, while SHELLY GREENE recorded a match-high 20 digs against the 49ers. MARTINA SHIELDS chipped in 15 kills, eight digs and two blocks. The Blazers return to action on Tuesday when they take on Alabama.