C-USA Oct. 25 Volleyball Notebook

Molly McDonald

PLAYER OF THE WEEK (10/25)
A pair of middle blockers share the C-USA Player of the Week honors as Saint Louis’ Aida Antanaviciute earns her fourth weekly honor of the season and DePaul’s Janet Goreham receives her first.

AIDA ANTANACIUTE, Saint Louis
MB, Jr., Siauliai, Lithuania (Geguziu)

Antanaviciute posted a trio of double-doubles during the week for the Billikens. The junior had 32 kills and 20 digs in a five-game victory over Cincinnati, which was the team’s first over the Bearcats since the 1996 season. She added 30 kills and 20 assists in a mid-week loss to Southwest Missouri State.

JANET GOREHAM, DePaul
MB, Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill. (Hersey)

Goreham led DePaul to its first sweep of weekend matches in C-USA play this season. The senior recorded a pair of double-doubles finishing the weekend with 30 kills and 25 digs. Goreham was a block assist shy of a triple-double in the Houston match (16 kills, 11 digs, nine block assists).

SETTER OF THE WEEK (10/25)
Charlotte’s Molly McDonald is the second C-USA player to earn back-to-back Setter of the Week honors. Memphis’ Heather Watts captured back-to-back awards for the weeks of Sept. 20th and 27th.

MOLLY MCDONALD, Charlotte
S, Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif. (Harbor)

McDonald led Charlotte to a 3-0 record and a pair of sweeps in Conference USA play last week. She had 46 assists (15.33 per game) in each of the weekend league matches and finished the week with 127.

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: The 49ers won three straight matches last week, including a pair of conference sweeps at home over the weekend. Charlotte fittingly had 49 digs against Tulane in its “Dig for the Cure” match to raise money for the Susan. G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Senior Molly McDonald averaged 15.33 assists per game in the two conference wins, while junior Lisa Newell led the 49ers’ offensive attack with 3.6 kills per game. At 18 wins for the season, Charlotte matches its highest win total for a season under head coach Lisa Marston.

CINCINNATI: The Bearcats had their 23-match home winning streak snapped over the weekend in a five-game loss to Saint Louis. It was the nation’s third-longest active streak. A pair of Bearcats moved up the school’s all-time block assists list as Rachel Torblaa moved from fourth to third with 404 and senior Julie DuPont moved from ninth to fifth with 336. Junior Maria Pongonis registered a new career-high with 18 digs vs. Saint Louis.

DE PAUL: The Blue Demons recorded their first weekend sweep of league opponents this season with victories over TCU (3-2) and Houston (3-1). It was DePaul’s first weekend sweep since October of 2003 when the Blue Demons swept East Carolina and Charlotte during the same weekend. Sophomore libero Ellen Hayes registered her second 30-plus dig performance of the season in the victory over the Cougars. Hayes tallied 32 digs in the match. The Blue Demons will take a break from C-USA play on Tuesday, facing UW-Milwaukee at 7 p.m. DePaul travels to Saint Louis and Memphis this weekend.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates split a pair of conference matches this past weekend losing in three games to Tulane, before bouncing back to sweep Southern Miss on “Dig for the Cure” night in Greenville. Johanna Bertini notched a career-high 26 digs in the Tulane match and added 19 digs in the Pirates’ DFTC match against the Golden Eagles. Pirate setter Heidi Krug ranks eighth in the league in assists per game with an 11.59 average. Teammate Paige Howell is fourth in the league in hitting percentage with a .348 clip. East Carolina travels to Charlotte Saturday for its lone match of the week.

HOUSTON: The Cougars dropped both of its conference matches on the road last week losing a pair of 3-1 matches to Marquette and DePaul, respectively. Houston will try to snap a four-match losing streak this weekend as they host UAB and USF on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals continue to roll despite dropping two spots in the latest USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll to No. 23. Louisville swept both Memphis and Saint Louis over the weekend to extend its overall match winning streak to 10. The Cardinals have the league’s top two players in hitting percentage on their roster. Anastasia Yartseva leads the league with a .458 percentage (158 kills, 34 errors) and teammate Jennifer Hoffman is second with a .398 percentage (134 kills, 33 errors). Louisville takes to the road for a Southern swing this weekend with matches at Tulane on Friday and Southern Miss on Saturday.

MARQUETTE: Senior libero Erin Freer broke the school’s all-time digs record over the weekend as the Golden Eagles swept visiting Houston and TCU. The two victories extend Marquette’s winning streak to six matches. Freer broke the mark in the second game of the Houston match. The Golden Eagles, who are 15-5 on the season, have yet to play a five-game match this season. Marquette travels to Memphis and Saint Louis this weekend.

MEMPHIS: After opening C-USA play with a 5-0 record, the Tigers finally fell victim to a league opponent over the weekend. Both Cincinnati and Louisville dealt Memphis defeats as the Bearcats won in five games and the Cardinals swept the visiting Tigers. The Tigers boast two of the league’s top four servers in terms of aces. Christen Clayton is tied for the league-lead with 57, while teammate Melissa Nance is fourth with 45. The Tigers host Marquette on Friday night in a match that has been designated as the team’s “Dig for the Cure” match.

SAINT LOUIS: The Billikens defeated Cincinnati in five games on Sunday afternoon for the school’s first win over the Bearcats since 1996 and their first ever victory at UC. Middle blocker Aida Antaviciute continued her dominance with a 32-kill, 20-dig outing against the Bearcats. Setter Erin McClanahan added 70 assists in the win over UC. The Billikens host a pair of matches this weekend against DePaul and Marquette.

SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles suffered through a 0-3 week, dropping a pair of league matches to Charlotte and East Carolina. Southern Miss will close out its home non-conference schedule on Tuesday against Southeastern Louisiana. Amanda Blunck tallied 40 digs in the three matches for the week, which was good for an average of 4.44 per game.

TCU: The Horned Frogs have dropped three-straight C-USA tilts after opening conference play with five-consecutive wins. TCU dropped a pair of road matches in league play this past weekend losing in five games to DePaul before being swept by Marquette. Outside hitter Talaya Whitfield posted her second 30-dig performance of the season against DePaul registering 33 in the match. Whitfield then broke the school record for digs in a season in the Horned Frogs’ loss to Marquette. For the season, the freshman is just one dig shy of the 400-dig plateau and ranks second in the league with a total of 399. Setter Erin Ludeke had 93 assists in the two weekend matches, including a 65-assist total vs. DePaul.

TULANE: The Green Wave was on both ends of a sweep this past weekend as Tulane took three straight games from East Carolina on Friday before dropping three straight games to Charlotte on Saturday. The Green Wave welcome the league’s top two squads to New Orleans this weekend with a match against league-leader and No. 23 Louisville on Friday. Tulane hosts the 6-2 Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday.

UAB: The Blazers dropped their only match of the week losing a league contest at USF on Friday. The loss extended their overall losing streak to nine games. Blazer libero Brianna Galvin ranks third in the league in digs with an average of 4.29 per game. Galvin has a team-leading 249 digs on the season. UAB will stay on the road for a pair of matches in Texas this weekend as the Blazers face Houston on Friday and TCU on Saturday.

USF: The Bulls split a pair of matches over the weekend taking a 3-0 sweep from league-foe UAB, while dropping a four-game match to No. 25 Florida A&M on Saturday. Jullana Nogueira collected 141 assists in the three matches, which was good for an average of 12.82 per game. She ranks sixth in the league with an overall average of 11.82 assists per game. The player she has set up the most this season is teammate Flavia Silveira, who ranks third in the league in kills per game (4.40) and points per game (4.82). USF travels to the Lone Star state for a pair of conference tilts at TCU and Houston on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

FOUR-PEAT
With her Co-Player of the Week honor, Saint Louis middle blocker Aida Antanaviciute became the first player in C-USA Volleyball history to earn the award four times in one season. The junior leads C-USA in kills with 591 on the season and 7.3 points per game.

SWAT DID YOU SAY
Marquette’s Jenn Brown set a school record for block assists with 12 in the 49ers’ 3-1 victory over Houston on Friday. The freshman broke the previous record of 11.

DIG THIS
TCU outside hitter Talaya Whitfield broke the school record for digs in a season after registering 21 in a loss to Marquette. Whitfield currently has 399 for the season breaking the old mark of 388. She had 33 digs in the Friday match at DePaul.

SWEET SWEEPM
DePaul earned its first sweep in C-USA play this season with home victories over TCU and Houston. Middle blocker Janet Goreham shared Player of the Week honors, which was the school’s first weekly honor since the 2001 season.

MCCLANAHAN CAN
Saint Louis setter Erin McClanahan made her first start since The Billiken Invitational on Sept. 18 and performed admirably. The junior tallied the second-highest assist total of her career with 70 helpers in a five-game match win over Cincinnati.

DOOOOOOO-PONT
Cincinnati outside hitter Julie DuPont led the Bearcats to a 2-1 record for the week as she posted a trio of 20-kill match performances. The senior totaled 74 kills for the week and with her 13 block assists, she moved from ninth to fifth on the UC’s all-time list.

SILVER LINING
USF outside hitter Flavia Silveira averaged 4.91 kills per game as the Bulls went 2-1 for the week dropping their only match to No. 25 Florida A&M. Silveira posted back-to-back double-doubles against UAB and Florida A&M.

LENA ON ME
Louisville outside hitter Lena Ustymenko continues to lead a potent Cardinal squad that is undefeated through eight matches in league play. The junior hit .283 in a pair of sweeps over Memphis and Saint Louis this past weekend. She had 19 kills in the six games to go with 14 digs.

“DIG FOR THE CURE”
Under Charlotte Head Coach Lisa Marston’s initiative, the 49ers have brought together the 13 other league schools to join forces in hopes to raise $42,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Charlotte raised nearly $3,000 last year and has challenged every school to match this figure.

Each school has designated one match either in October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or November as its DFTC match. Individual sponsors can pledge money per dig earned by their team in the match as well as provide flat donations. The money raised will go directly to the Komen Foundation in each respective local community.

To find out more about Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, please go to www.komen.org.

DFTC MATCHES

Oct. 16 - Marquette at UAB
Oct. 19 - Mississippi State at Southern Miss
Oct. 22 - Memphis at Louisville
Oct. 23 - Tulane at Charlotte
Houston at DePaul
Southern Miss at East Carolina
Oct. 24 - Saint Louis at Cincinnati
Oct. 29 - Marquette at Memphis
Nov. 5 - Tulane at Marquette
Nov. 6 - Memphis at USF


AMONG THE RANKED
Here is a look at the Oct. 25, AVCA poll:

USA Today/CSTV poll
1. Washington (63)
2. Minnesota
3. Hawai’i (2)
4. Nebraska
5. Southern California
6. Penn State
7. Ohio State
8. Florida
9. Colorado State
10. Texas
11. Stanford
12. UCLA
13. California
14. Saint Mary’s (Calif)
15. Texas A&M
16. Tennessee
17. Utah
18. Kansas State
19. Santa Clara
20. UC Santa Barbara
21. Illinois
22. San Diego
23. LOUISVILLE
24. Arizona
25. Florida A&M

C-USA CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Conference USA celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2004-05. A significant milestone for the league, the 10th year finds the conference preparing to embark on a new era in its already remarkable history.

C-USA will commemorate this milestone throughout the year with a multimedia campaign celebrating the past, present and future of the league. Several activities have been planned for the upcoming season that capture the history of C-USA and promote the student-athletes’ achievements in all 19 conference-sponsored sports.

One of the biggest aspects of this campaign is the naming of All-Decade teams, as well as a Player of the Decade and a Coach of the Decade for each of the league’s sports. In order to best determine the recipients of these honors, we will have a nomination process through the SIDs and then each current head coach in that sport will fill out a ballot with their selections after reviewing the list of nominees and supporting information. The winners will then be announced on November 17.

C-USA TOURNEY IN LOUISVILLE
The 2004 ChevronTexaco Conference USA Volleyball Tournament will take place Nov. 19-22 in Louisville, Ky. The University of Louisville will serve as the host school for the four-day event, with all matches being held at Cardinal Arena on the U of L campus. The championship match on Monday, Nov. 22 will be televised by CSTV and affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. Louisville is the defending tournament champion. The championship match is set for 8:00 p.m. EST.

DID YOU KNOW?
Since 1996, no C-USA school has been able to repeat as tournament champions. USF is the only school to win consecutive C-USA Tournament titles. No C-USA Tournament champion has been able to repeat since the Bulls captured the 1995 and 1996 titles. Here is a look at the last eight champions.

1995 USF
1996 USF
1997 Houston
1998 Louisville
1999 Cincinnati
2000 Louisville
2001 DePaul
2002 USF
2003 Louisville

REGULAR SEASON HISTORY
In the last eight years, Louisville either claimed or shared a league-record – five C-USA regular season titles. USF follows with four titles, while Cincinnati has claimed three. Here is a look at each year’s winner:

1995 Louisville (12-0)
1996 USF (13-1)
1997 USF (15-1)
1998 Louisville (14-2)
1999 Cincinnati (13-3)
Louisville (13-3)
2000 USF (5-1)
2001 Cincinnati (14-2)
2002 USF (12-1)
Louisville (12-1)
2003 Cincinnati (12-1)
Louisville (12-1)

TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
With numerous tournaments dotting the schedules of most C-USA teams, a number of league squads and individuals have fared well claiming tournament titles and MVP honors. Below is a look at those accomplishments through the start of 2004 conference play:

SpringHill Suites Tournament (Charlotte)
Champion: Charlotte
MVP: Abbey Szlanfucht
Vernon Manor Bearcat Invitational (Cincinnati)
Champion: Cincinnati
MVP: Julie DuPont
Mizuno Wildcat Classic (Davidson, N.C.)
Champion: DePaul
MVP: Janet Goreham
Memphis Volleyball Invitational (Memphis)
Champion: Memphis
MVP: Heather Watts
IU Credit Union Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)
Champion: Saint Louis
MVP: Aida Antanaviciute
Kathy Trosclair Tournament (New Orleans, La.)
Champion: Tulane
MVP: Katie Case
UofL Courtyard by Marriott Tournament (Louisville)
Champion: Louisville
MVP: Not awarded
SpringHill Suites Classic (Charlotte)
Champion: Charlotte
MVP: Lisa Newell
New England Challenge (Boston, Mass.)
Champion: TCU
MVP: Ellen Rehme
Ashbury Suites Classic (Mobile, Ala.)
Champion: Southern Miss
MVP: Not awarded
MSU/Microtel Classic (Starkville, Miss.)
Champion: Memphis
MVP: Tiara Gilkey
Raider Challenge (Dayton, Ohio)
Champion: Louisville
MVP: Bing Sun
Fairfield Invitational (Fairfield, Conn.)
Champion: Saint Louis
MVP: Aida Antanaviciute
UNC-Greensboro Invitational (Greensboro, N.C.)
Champion: Memphis
MVP: Heather Watts
Toyota Husky Classic (Storrs, Conn.)
Champion: Marquette
MVP: Erica Heisser

C-USA VS. OTHER CONFERENCES
Here is a look at how C-USA schools have fared against other Division I Conferences.

America East 4-0
ACC 3-5
Atlantic 10 3-0
Atlantic Sun 6-7
Big EAST 6-2
Big South 5-1
Big 10 1-6
Big 12 0-3
Colonial 4-1
Gateway 1-0
Horizon 6-6
Independent 0-2
Ivy 1-0
MAC 3-5
Metro Atlantic 4-0
Mid Continent 3-5
Mid-Eastern 4-1
Missouri Valley 4-6
Mountain West 0-2
Non Division I 3-1
Northeast 1-0
OVC 9-3
Pac 10 2-5
Patriot 1-0
SEC 1-9
Southern 10-4
Southland 4-5
SWAC 7-2
Sun Belt 9-6
WAC 1-2
West Coast 1-4

2004 COACHES RECORDS
Coach School Career
Lisa Marston, CHA 72-81 157-160
Reed Sunahara, CIN 113-41 132-81
Dawn Dockstader, DPU 109-136 109-136
Colleen Munson, ECU 50-95 50-95
Bill Walton, HOU 372-234 582-289
Leonid Yelin, LOU 213-63 327-99
Pati Rolf, MAR 42-37 352-206
Carrie Yerty, MEM 160-135 160-135
Anne Kordes, SLU 11-13 11-13
Ricci Luyties, USM 5-15 5-15
Prentice Lewis, TCU 46-42 46-42
Betsy Becker, TUL 105-74 183-132
Melinda Claiborne, UAB 46-99 46-99
Claire Lessinger, USF 5-14 5-14

2004 GAME REC0RDS
School 3 4 5 Total
Charlotte 9-5 5-2 4-1 18-8
Cincinnati 10-3 5-3 1-2 16-8
DePaul 6-7 3-1 1-5 10-13
East Carolina 5-8 3-3 1-3 9-14
Houston 1-6 1-7 2-3 4-16
Louisville 12-0 5-2 1-0 18-2
Marquette 11-3 4-2 0-0 15-5
Memphis 11-3 7-2 2-2 20-7
Saint Louis 5-5 4-3 2-5 11-13
Southern Miss 1-9 1-5 3-1 5-15
TCU 4-4 8-2 2-2 14-8
Tulane 9-3 1-2 3-0 13-5
UAB 0-16 1-1 0-1 1-18
USF 4-7 0-7 0-1 5-14

LEADING THE CONFERENCE
Here is a look at several of the top single-match performances in Conference USA during the 2004 season.

HITTING PERCENTAGE
.696 (17-1-23) by Deva Fowler (TUL) vs. Southern Miss, 10/16

KILLS
45 by Aida Antanaviciute (SLU) at Tulane, 10/8

ASSISTS
74 by Erin Ludeke (TCU) at East Carolina University, 10/9

ATTEMPTS
112 by Aida Antanaviciute (SLU) at Tulane, 10/8

ACES
12 by Kate Juedes (USM) vs. Alcorn, 10/5

BLOCKS
16 by Deva Fowler (TUL) vs. Saint Louis, 10/8

DIGS
35 by Jaci Gonzalez (HOU) at Ball State, 9/18

2004 PLAYER/SETTER OF THE WEEK
Here is a look at C-USA’s Players/Setters of the Week for the 2004 season:

S7 P- Julie DuPont (Cincinnati)
P- Aida Antanaviciute (Saint Louis)
S- Heather Watts (Memphis)
S13 P- Ellen Rehme (TCU)
S- Sarah Vernon (Marquette)
S20 P-Tiara Gilkey (Memphis)
S-Heather Watts (Memphis)
S27 P- Aida Antanaviciute (Saint Louis)
P-Tiara Gilkey (Memphis)
S-Heather Watts (Memphis)
O4 P-Dominika Szabo (TCU)
S-Erin Ludeke (TCU)
O11 P- Aida Antanaviciute (Saint Louis)
P- Anna Vaughn (TCU)
S- Sarah Vernon (Marquette)
O18 P-Kimberley Todd (Marquette)
S-Molly McDonald (Charlotte)
O25 P- Aida Antanaviciute (Saint Louis)
P- Janet Goreham (DePaul)
S- Molly McDonald (Charlotte)