Oct. 29, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA saw four of its six matches go to five games Sunday and only one home team was able to hang on for the victory. The Thundering Herd of Marshall still remains at the top of C-USA Standings at 11-1 and 18-8 overall. In a close second is Tulane who sports a 11-2 conference record and is one of two teams in the league with 20-plus victories, 22-5. Tulsa is the other at 21-5. The Golden Hurricane is in a three-way tie for third with UAB and Memphis at 9-3.

UPCOMING MATCHES (ALL TIMES CT)
Tue., Oct. 30
No. 13 New Mexico State at UTEP, 8 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 31
Tulsa at Oral Roberts, 6 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 2
* UCF at East Carolina, 6 p.m.
* Southern Miss at Marshall, 6 p.m.
* Memphis at SMU, 7 p.m.
* Rice at Tulane, 7 p.m.
* UAB at Tulsa, 7 p.m.
* Houston at UTEP, 8 p.m.

Sun., Nov. 4
* Southern Miss at East Carolina, 12 p.m.
* UCF at Marshall, 12 p.m.
* Houston at Tulane, 1 p.m.
* Memphis at Tulsa, 1 p.m.
* Rice at UTEP, 1 p.m.
* UAB at SMU, 1 p.m.

* denotes C-USA matches.

TEAM CAPSULES

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina (13-14, 4-8 C-USA) snapped a six-game losing streak with a crucial 3-2 win at Rice Sunday. The match marks ECU's third-straight 3-2 win over the Owls. Senior OH Kelley Wernert had 22 kills to mark her 25th-straight match with double-digit kills. Freshman S Katie Koop moved into ninth-place on the ECU career chart as she tallied 52 assists to give her 1,094 on the season. Wernert and Koop recorded their 13th and ninth double-doubles, respectively, of the season. ECU plays host to UCF on Friday and Southern Miss on Sunday at Minges Coliseum.

HOUSTON
Houston (12-11, 7-5 C-USA) dropped a 3-0 decision to Marshall Sunday. Junior OH Justine Farmer led all players with 20 kills. Farmer leads the league with 5.57 kills and 6.17 points per game. Lucy Charuk also ranks third in the conference in hitting efficiency with a .373 clip, while Erin Rice ranks second with 1.24 blocks per game. Houston heads out on the road with a match at UTEP on Friday and at Tulane on Sunday.

MARSHALL
Marshall (18-8, 11-1 C-USA) senior OH Kelly-Anne Billingy tallied 17 kills to help lift the Herd to a 3-0 sweep of Houston Sunday. Freshman S Elizabeth Fleming handed out 48 assists, averaging 16 APG and directed the Herd offense to a .276 hitting percentage. Senior L Maggie Arias chipped in with 14 digs. Billingy and Fleming were named C-USA Offensive and Setters of the Week, respectively. The Herd returns to C-USA action when it hosts Southern Miss and UCF in its final conference home matches of the regular season.

MEMPHIS
Seniors Shelby Burton and Ashley Liford combined for 44 kills and accounted for 51 of Memphis' 91 points, as the Tigers defeated UCF in five games Sunday. The victory gave Memphis (20-9, 9-3 C-USA) its third 20-win season in four years. Burton led all players with 23 kills, and hit .538 in the contest, while S Laura Côté posted a double-double with 62 assists and 12 digs. Liford added 19 digs to a 21-kill afternoon and Sarah Bury rounded out the Tiger trio with double-doubles with 16 kills and 14 digs. Memphis will continue its four-match road swing this weekend when it travels to SMU on Friday and Tulsa Sunday.

RICE
Rice (10-14, 5-7 C-USA) dropped a pair of 3-0 C-USA matches to visiting Marshall and East Carolina over the weekend. Freshman Tracey Lam tied the Rice mark for the third-most digs in a match with 31 against ECU Sunday. Over the last six matches, Lam is averaging 5.48 dpg. Sophomore Natalie Bogan averaged 3.78 kpg and 1.56 bpg while hitting .391. Over the last six matches, Bogan is averaging team bests of 4.27 kpg and 1.45 bpg. The Owls travel to Tulane and UTEP this week.

SMU
SMU (14-11, 4-7 C-USA) cranked out a 3-2 win over UTEP Sunday at Moody Coliseum. Kathryn Wilkerson, Caitlin Rainbird, Stefanie Kons and Madison Hill all recorded double-doubles. Wilkerson notched her 17th DD of the season with a team-high 23 kills and 18 digs, Rainbird notched her ninth with 13 kills and 20 digs, Kons managed her eighth with 29 assists and 15 digs, and Hill had her second with 26 assists and 10 digs. SMU will hosts Memphis Friday and UAB Sunday in the final homestand of the season.

SOUTHERN MISS
Senior MB Morgan Johnson just missed a triple double against UAB Sunday, tallying 11 kills, 11 digs and eight blocks. Johnson averaged 2.38 kpg, 2.12 dpg and 1.12 bpg. Junior OS Mari Ruddick recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs against UAB. Southern Miss begins a three-match road swing, when the Golden Eagles travel to Marshall and East Carolina, followed by UCF on Nov. 9.

TULANE
Tulane (23-5, 11-2 C-USA) won its sixth-straight match with a 3-1 win over Tulsa on CSTV. Sophomore OH Ksenija Vlaskovic had a career-high 19 digs and had 25 kills, while tying her personal-best of four service aces. Junior OH Sara Radosevic added 24 kills on a .347 hitting percentage with 13 digs. Sophomore L Jenn Miller, the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week, led Tulane with 26 digs. The match will air nationally on CSTV on Tuesday at 9 p.m. CT. Tulane returns home to host Rice on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Houston on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tulane sports a 9-0 record at Fogelman Arena this season.

TULSA
Senior S Julia Silva posted her fifth triple-double of the season against Tulane Sunday, earning her C-USA Co-Setter of the Week honors. However, Tulsa (21-6, 9-3 C-USA) saw its 20-home match winning streak come to an end with a 3-1 loss. It was the first time as a member of C-USA the Golden Hurricane had lost a league match in the Reynolds Center. Silva had 12 kills, 44 assists and 16 digs, while senior OH Fabiola Nepomuceno posted a match-high 27 kills. Tulsa will face cross-town rival ORU Wednesday 6 p.m.

UAB
UAB (19-7, 9-3 C-USA) went five games with Southern Miss for the second time this season on Sunday and again the Blazers came out on top. The Blazers are within one win of turning in their first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1992-93. The win also improves the team to 6-0 in five-game matches this season. Five Blazers finished in double-figures in kills with senior Fernanda Domingos leading the way with 22. UAB will travel to play Tulsa on Friday and SMU on Sunday.

UCF
Sophomore OH Erin Campbell recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 22 digs, despite UCF (9-18, 0-12 C-USA), falling to Memphis, 3-2, Sunday. Campbell led the team with her 22 digs, while Cassie Ramaekers added 18. UCF had 12 aces, led by Andrea Youngblood who totaled seven. Youngblood is now in a tie for second on the UCF single-match register. The sophomore rattled off four-straight aces in the third game. The Knights return to action at East Carolina on Friday and Marshall on Sunday.

UTEP
Four Miners notched double-double performances in UTEP (8-16, 2-11 C-USA) five game loss at SMU Sunday. Amy Sanders tied her career-best with a team-high 25 kills. She also had 14 digs. Christie Murphy recorded 14 kills and 10 digs and Catherine Chavez had 11 kills and 18 digs while Patty Jarmoc registered 61 assists and 12 digs. Elsa Reyes continues her climb up the career-dig charts after tallying 32 digs against the Ponies. She now rates fourth in UTEP's record books with 1,154. The Miners will face 13th-ranked New Mexico State on Tuesday, followed by Houston and Rice this weekend.