Cincinnati's Myanna Hellsten and Louisville's Lena Ustymenko share C-USA Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 20-26; Cincinnati knocked off Southern Miss and Tulane last weekend to take sole possession of first place in the league standings with a 7-0 mark. It marks the best start in C-USA play for the Bearcats since 2000, when UC went 10-0. Catch up on all the latest news in this week's C-USA Volleyball Notebook.


C-USA CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Cincinnati's MYANNA HELLSTEN and Louisville's LENA USTYMENKO share C-USA Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 20-26.

MYANNA HELLSTEN, Cincinnati
MB, Fr., Austin, Texas (St. Michael's Academy)

Hellsten was an important ingredient in helping the Bearcats keep a lock on first place in the league standings with crucial wins over Southern Miss and Tulane last weekend. For the week, the freshman middle blocker averaged 2.75 kills, 1.62 blocks and 1.12 digs per game, while hitting a team-best .326. Against Southern Miss, Hellsten matched her career-high with 12 kills, while then notching a career-high eight blocks and eight digs against Tulane. Cincinnati remains undefeated in the league with a 7-0 mark, and currently on an eight-match winning streak.

LENA USTYMENKO, Louisville
OH/MB, So., Kiev, Ukraine (Secondary School No. 187)

Ustymenko led the Cardinals to a 2-0 weekend, sweeping both Tulane and Southern Miss. She finished the weekend, notching 34 kills and only seven errors for a .318 attack percentage. Against Southern Miss, she tallied a team-best 21 kills for a .354 hitting percentage, while adding seven digs and one block. Louisville has now won its last four matches for a 6-1 mark in league action.


AMONG THE RANKED
Here is a look at this week's polls:

AVCA/USA Today poll. - (Oct. 27)
1. USC (65)
2. Hawai'i
3. Florida
4. Georgia Tech
5. Pepperdine
6. California
7. Kansas State
8. UCLA
9. Stanford
10. Washington
11. Nebraska
12. Northern Iowa
13. Loyola Marymount
14. Notre Dame
15. Santa Clara
16. Colorado State
17. Penn State
18. San Diego
19. UC Santa Barbara
20. Wisconsin
21. Texas A&M
22. LOUISVILLE
23. Minnesota
24. Missouri
25. Illinois

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: CINCINNATI (103); Michigan; Southwest Missouri State; Florida A&M; Ohio; San Francisco; Arkansas; Maryland; Long Beach State; Cal St. Northridge; Pacific.

Volleyball Magazine poll - (Oct. 27)
1. USC
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Pepperdine
5. Georgia Tech
6. Kansas State
7. California
8. Stanford
9. Northern Iowa
10. UCLA
11. Nebraska
12. Washington
13. Notre Dame
14. Penn State
15. UC Santa Barbara
16. LOUISVILLE
17. Wisconsin
18. Loyola Marymount
19. Colorado State
20. Minnesota

Others receiving votes: Texas A&M, CINCINNATI; Illinois; Santa Clara; San Diego; Missouri; Southwest Missouri State; San Francisco; Arkansas; Michigan State; Long Beach State; Pacific; BYU; UC Irvine.

UNDEFEATED IN C-USA ACTION
Cincinnati knocked off Southern Miss and Tulane last weekend to take sole possession of first place in the league standings with a 7-0 mark. It marks the best start in C-USA play for the Bearcats since 2000, when UC went 10-0.

DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that only one school in the nine-year history of the league has gone undefeated in league play. In the first year of C-USA play, the Louisville Cardinals notched a 12-0 conference record in 1995. Most recently, USF was the closest to becoming only the second team to reach this mark, when it posted 11 straight victories in conference play, before falling to Louisville in the final game of the 2002 regular season.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Here are some of the top individual performers in C-USA from Oct. 20 - Oct. 26.

CINTHIA PIVA, HOU: Recorded double-doubles against UAB and USF ... posted 24 kills and 12 in the Cougars' win over USF ... notched 18 kills and 17 digs against the Blazers.

ERIN FREER, MAR: Against Memphis, collected 21 kills and 20 digs while boasting a hitting percentage of .304 ... racked up 12 kills and 14 digs against Saint Louis ... moved into ninth on Marquette's top ten for career digs with 862.

BRITTANY BARNETT, MEM: Put up double-digit kills in all three matches last week ... against Marquette, added 22 kills ... posted 12 kills and six blocks in win over DePaul.

ALEXIS COOLEY, SLU: Helped Saint Louis to its first conference win with 17 kills, three blocks and a hitting percentage of .412 in match against DePaul ... registered 11 kills against Marquette.

SHAMEKA MITCHELL, USF: Averaged 4.44 kills, 2.11 blocks and 1.56 digs last weekend ... posted a career-high 14 blocks against Houston and nearly notched a triple-double with 18 kills, 14 blocks and nine digs.

ELLEN REHME, TCU: Posted a 20-plus kill performance against UAB and bolstered the Horned Frogs to their first five-game win this season ... notched 26 kills and picked up seven digs against the Blazers.

MARTINA SHIELDS, UAB: Consecutive double-double performances against Houston and TCU ... against the Cougars, put down 28 kills while collecting a hitting percentage of .423 ... in the match against TCU, she posted 21 kills and 12 digs.

2003 C-USA TOURNAMENT
The 2003 C-USA Volleyball Tournament will be held on Friday-Monday, Nov. 21-24 at Tulane's Fogelman Arena in New Orleans, La. The C-USA Television Network will carry the tournament final on Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. EST. Please check your local listings for details.

COACHING MILESTONES
DePaul head coach DAWN DOCKSTADER will be looking to join the ranks of USF's NANCY MUELLER and Cincinnati's REED SUNAHARA, who each claimed their 100th career victory this season. With a 99-118 all-time record, Dockstader is only one win away from accumulating her 100th victory.

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: Charlotte returned to the win column last week, defeating Radford, 3-1, on Wednesday, but falling to East Carolina on Saturday. The 49ers did receive a pickup with the return of ABBEY SZLANFUCHT and KATIE HALL. Both had missed the past several weeks due to injury. LISA NEWELL led the team in kills for the week, knocking down 24 for a 3.43 average. Charlotte remains on the road for their next two matches, playing at Southern Miss and Tulane this weekend.

CINCINNATI: The Bearcats defeated Southern Miss and Tulane last weekend to remain undefeated in league play with a 7-0 record. In Cincinnati's win over Tulane, sophomore LINDSEY GARRISON registered a career-high 30 digs. The effort was the first 30-plus dig performance by a Bearcat player since Sept. 6, 2000 when TRISH LADUSAW registered 35 against Louisiana-Lafayette. For the second time this year, the Bearcats had five players in double-figure kills. Against the Green Wave, JULIE DUPONT (18), MARIA PONGONIS (17), RACHEL TORBLAA (14), LISA NEWELL (11) and MYANNA HELLSTEN (10) all placed in double figures. MYANNA HELLSTEN matched her career-high 12 kills against Southern Miss and then posted a career-high eight blocks and eight digs against Tulane. UC returns to action this weekend when it takes on Saint Louis and Memphis.

DE PAUL: DePaul dropped matches to Saint Louis and Memphis last weekend. JANET GOREHAM notched two double-digit kill matches for the Blue Demons. Against Marquette, she had a team-high 12 kills and a .385 hitting percentage. She also added eight total blocks on the weekend. DePaul travels to the state of Texas, where it will face TCU and Houston next weekend.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates captured their first C-USA victory of the season with a 3-0 win over Charlotte last weekend. Sophomore ERICA WILSON recorded 12 kills on a .455 attack percentage. Wilson has now recorded double-digit kills in six of ECU's last seven matches. JAIME BEVAN added eight kills and three total blocks for East Carolina. The Pirates will hit the road to take on Tulane on Friday and Southern Miss on Saturday.

HOUSTON: CINTHIA PIVA helped the Cougars split their weekend series by defeating USF, but falling to UAB. Piva notched 24 kills and 12 digs against the Bulls. She finished the weekend, averaging 4.7 kills per game and 3.2 digs per game. JACI GONZALEZ currently ranks second in the league with 4.43 digs per game, while LOURE DEWS is also ranked second with 1.47 blocks per game. Houston hosts Marquette on Friday and DePaul on Saturday.

LOUISVILLE: The 22nd-ranked Cardinals swept both Southern Miss and Tulane last weekend. LENA USTYMENKO posted a 21-kill performance against Southern Miss to finish with a .318 attack percentage. Currently, ANASTASIA YARTSEVA leads C-USA with a .432 attack percentage, while Ustymenko (.302) ranks ninth in the league. Head coach LEONID YELIN only needs three more wins to reach 300 career victories. Only 55 coaches in the country have reached this mark. Yelin entered the season ranked No. 10 on the NCAA's active Division 1 coaches list for winning percentage. U of L has won 12 of its last 13 matches and will look to extend its four-match win streak against Memphis and Saint Louis this weekend.

MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles split their home series last weekend, falling to Memphis, but defeating Saint Louis. Sophomore THERESA COUGHLIN has 13 straight matches of double-figure kills. This past weekend, she totaled 22 against Memphis and 17 versus Saint Louis. ERIN FREER moved into Marquette's top 10 for career digs. She currently ranks ninth with 862 all-time digs. Marquette faces Houston on Friday and TCU on Saturday.

MEMPHIS: The Tigers defeated Marquette and DePaul last weekend. Memphis also posted a 3-1 win over non-conference foe Chicago State to close out the weekend. HEATHER WATTS moved to second on Memphis' career assists list with 2,887. She is less than 200 assists away from notching her second straight 1,500 assist season. BRITTANY BARNETT led the Tigers, posting 55 kills and only 16 errors for a .293 attack percentage. She also added 23 kills and nine total blocks. Memphis will look to continue its eight-match win streak when it hosts No. 21 Louisville on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday.

SAINT LOUIS: Saint Louis defeated DePaul, but fell to Marquette last weekend. The Billikens' .216 hitting percentage against DePaul was their highest thus far in C-USA play. SLU also added a season-high 89 digs against the Blue Demons. ALEXIS COOLEY had her second-best kill output of the season with 17 against DePaul. She registered a .412 hitting percentage and finished the weekend with a total of 28 for a .356 attack percentage. JESSICA POORBAUGH became the second Billiken with at least 20 digs in a match this season with 20. Saint Louis hosts Cincinnati on Friday and Louisville on Saturday.

USF: USF suffered a 3-0 loss to Florida State on Wednesday. Senior BONNYE GLOVER was the only Bull to tally double-digit kills with 10, while also contributing on all three USF blocks. Last weekend, the Bulls set a new USF and C-USA record for block assists with 48 against Houston. SHAMEKA MITCHELL posted a career-high 14 blocks against Houston for her first career double-double performance of 18 kills and 14 blocks. She also was only one dig shy of a triple-double. USF faces UAB on Saturday.

SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles suffered losses to Cincinnati and Louisville last weekend. BRIDGET FILES joined the 30-dig club this season, following her 30-dig performance against Louisville. NICKI TRIBBLE is the only other Golden Eagle to record 30 or more digs this year. Files accumulated 37 digs for a 6.17 digs per game average. She moved into 12th on the all-time dig list with 901. AMY TRUONG continues her steady work for the Eagles, finishing the week with eight kills, 71 assists and 22 digs. Southern Miss host Charlotte and East Carolina this weekend.

TCU: The Horned Frogs split their matches last weekend, falling to USF, but defeating TCU in five games. ELLEN REHME posted 26 kills for a .418 attack percentage against UAB. She also added 14 digs and three total blocks. Rehme ranks seventh in the league with 4.15 kills per game, while ranking eighth in service aces (0.43). The Horned Frogs will host DePaul on Friday and Marquette on Saturday.

TULANE: Middle blockers DEVA FOWLER and KIM SWAFFORD combined for 22 kills, eight blocks, six service aces and five digs to give Tulane a 3-0 victory over Southern on Tuesday. Combined with last season's 21-14 finish, Tulane now has back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1986 and 1987 seasons. Tulane hosts East Carolina on Friday and Charlotte on Saturday.

UAB: MARTINA SHIELDS recorded consecutive double-double performances in leading the Blazers to a 1-1 record last weekend. UAB defeated Houston, but fell to TCU. Shields recorded a career-high 28 points and 28 kills to go along with a season-high .423 hitting percentage. She has now had six matches with 20 or more points and has 18 matches with double digits in both points and kills. Shields currently leads the team in kills (329), kills per game (3.78), digs per game (2.78) and points (356.0). BREANNE SWENSON posted a career-high 22 digs and BILUN GUNAL had a career-high 63 assists against the Cougars. Swenson and Shields both lead the team with 11 double-doubles on the season. UAB hosts USF on Friday.