Oct. 15, 2007

IRVING, Texas - The race for the 2007 Conference USA regular season title remains tight as Marshall suffered its first league loss of the year in a five-game battle to UAB Friday in a CSTV match. The Herd still sports the best conference record at 7-1, followed closely by Tulane who's in second place at 7-2. Three teams - Tulsa, UAB and Houston - are tied for third with 6-2 C-USA marks.

UAB enters this week with a league-best eight match winning streak and will host Houston and Rice this weekend. Tulsa is the next hottest team as the Golden Hurricane has won five straight and will face SMU twice this week. Houston has rattled off three-consecutive wins including a 3-2 victory over UTEP Sunday.

C-USA VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK - OCT. 15

UPCOMING MATCHES (ALL TIMES CT)

Mon., Oct. 17
Stephen F. Austin at Tulane, 7 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 19
*East Carolina at Marshall, 6 p.m.
*Houston at UAB, 7 p.m.
*Rice at Memphis, 7 p.m.
*SMU at Tulsa, 7 p.m.
*UCF at Tulane, 7 p.m.
*Southern Miss at UTEP, 8 p.m.

Sun., Oct. 21
*Marshall at East Carolina, 12 p.m.
*UCF at UTEP, 12 p.m.
*Houston at Memphis, 1 p.m.
*Rice at UAB, 1 p.m.
*Tulsa at SMU, 1 p.m.
*Southern Miss at Tulane, 1 p.m.

Tue., Oct. 23
Ole Miss at Memphis, 7 p.m.

*C-USA matches

TEAM CAPSULES

EAST CAROLINA
Despite 30 kills from senior OH Kelley Wernert, East Carolina droped a 3-2 decision to Memphis Friday and suffered a 3-1 loss to UAB Sunday inside Minges Coliseum. Wernert broke the Pirates all-time kills record against the Tigers. She now owns 1431 career kills. She also had 10 digs for a double-double Friday. Fellow senior Mignon Dubenion and sophomore Peyton Thompson also turned in double-digit efforts, tallying 12 and 11 kills respectively. ECU will face Marshall twice this weekend.

HOUSTON
Houston (11-8, 6-2 C-USA) swept Tulane and downed UTEP, 3-2, to extend its home court winning streak to seven. Junior OH Justine Farmer notched 31 kills and 15 digs for her 12th double-double, eaning her C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. Her 31 kills was the third highest of the season. Freshman OH Hannah Sullivan also had a DD with 17 kills and 13 digs. UH is 4-1 when playing five games. Houston takes its three-match winning streak on the road this weekend with matches at UAB and Memphis.

MARSHALL
Marshall (14-8, 7-1 C-USA) split a pair of five-game home matches over the weekend. The Herd suffered its first confernece loss of the season to UAB before bouncing back to defeat Memphis Sunday. Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Herd poised themselves for a second comeback in as many matches. Senior MH Uche Ndubisi registered a career-high 18 kills and had seven assisted blocks to help lift the Herd over Memphis at the Cam Henderson Center. Marshall will face East Carolina twice this weekend.

MEMPHIS
Memphis (16-8, 5-3 C-USA) saw its four-match win steak end with a 3-2 loss at Marshall Sunday. The Tigers picked up a five-game win at East Carolina Friday, marking the first time in two years that Memphis has defeated ECU on the road. Junior OH Sarah Bury slammed six of her team-high 22 kills in the final set to lead Memphis to a gutsy come-from-behind win. Senior Ashley Liford posted a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs, while Shelby Burton produced 17 kills and added five blocks. Junior S Laura Côté ran the offense with 65 assists, the most for an individual C-USA single match this season. The Tigers host Rice and Houston this weekend.

RICE
Rice (9-11, 4-4 C-USA) split its C-USA matches last week with a 3-0 win over UTEP and a 3-1 loss to Tulane. Junior Jessica Holderness was solid across the boards for the Owls, leading the way with 12 kills and 20 digs, while adding a pair of blocks against the Miners. The middle blockers were also solid as sophomore Natalie Bogan and freshman Caroline Gill both posted .478 hitting percentages. The Owls return to the road next week, traveling to Memphis on Friday and UAB on Sunday.

SMU
SMU (14-8, 4-4 C-USA) collected 3-1 road victories over Southern Miss and UCF last weekend. Three SMU players notched double-doubles against UCF, while two had DD performances against the Eagles. Kathryn Wilkerson and Caitlin Rainbird both recorded DD against Southern Miss. Wilkerson had a team-leading 26 kills with 14 digs, while Rainbird contributed 18 kills and 23 digs. The duo also recorded DD vs. UCF with 19 kills and 13 digs (Wilkerson) and 17 kills and 20 digs (Rainbird). SMU will face Tulsa twice this weekend.

SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss (10-14, 1-7 C-USA) finished the weekend 0-2, losing to SMU in four (3-1) and Tulsa in three (3-0). The Eagles out blocked their opponents 24.5 to 12.0 this past weekend Senior Morgan Johnson recorded a season-high eight blocks against the Golden Hurricane, while averaging 3.29 KPG and 2.14 BPG. Maia Ivanova recorded her fourth match with 20-or-more digs, when she tallied 20 against TU. Stevi Cherry averaged 3.14 KPG. Southern Miss travels to UTEP and Tulane for a weekend series.

TULANE
Tulane (18-5, 7-2 C-USA) went 2-1 for the week with wins over McNeese State, 3-0, and at Rice, 3-1. The Green Wave was swept by Houston. In the Rice win, junior OH Sara Radosevic and junior RS Bridget Wells each recorded 19 kills, while sophomore OH Ksenija Vlaskovic chipped in 18. Defensively, four members of the Wave reached double-figure digs, led by sophomore L Jenn Miller with 30, her fifth career 30+ dig match. Tulane will play three matches this week, starting with Stephen F. Austin from the Southland Conference. The Green Wave return to league play by hosting UCF and Southern Miss Friday and Sunday, respectively.

TULSA
Tulsa (18-5, 6-2) posted its 18th win of the season with a 3-0 victory over Southern Miss Sunday. The Golden Hurricane also defeated UCF 3-1 Friday night. Senior Fabiola Nepomuceno led the Hurricane attack Sunday by recording over 20 kills for the third consecutive match. Her 21 kills were a match high. Senior Julia Silva posted her league-leading 20th double-double with 47 assists and 10 digs. She was just two kills shy of a triple-double. Tulsa will face C-USA rival SMU twice this weekend.

UAB
UAB (16-6, 6-2 C-USA) sports a C-USA best eight-match winning streak after going 3-0 last week. The Blazers defeated Mercer, 3-1, league leader Marshall, 3-2, and finished the week with a 3-1 win at East Carolina. Junior S Nevena Stefanov recorded 56 assists in all three contests, earning her C-USA Setter of the Week honors. This marks the third time in her career and second time in three weeks Stefanov has earned the award. UAB will play host to Houston on Friday and Rice on Sunday.

UCF
UCF (9-14, 0-8 C-USA) dropped a pair of 3-1 matches to Tulsa and SMU to conclude its three-match homestand. Erin Campbell led the Knights with a season-high 21 kills and 15 digs, for her second-straight double-double against the Mustangs. Freshman Blaire Brueggemeyer and Campbell both recorded double-doubles against Tulsa. Brueggemeyer had a match-high 48 assists and 10 digs, while Campbell tallied 16 kills and 19 digs. UCF travels to Tulane and UTEP this weekend.

UTEP
Four Miners recorded double-figure kills and three had double-double performances as UTEP (6-14, 0-9 C-USA) fell in five games to Houston Sunday at the Athletics/Alumni Center in Houston, Texas. Amy Sanders led the Miners with 20 kills. Catherine Chavez notched 17 kills and contributed 18 digs and Christie Murphy tallied 10 kills and 13 digs for double-double performances. Patty Jarmoc registered her fourth double-double of her career, posting 53 assists and 11 digs. Elsa Reyes led the Miners in digs with 25. UTEP was also swept by Rice Friday. The Miners will host Southern Miss Friday and UCF Sunday.