Entering the final weekend of regular season, nine of the 12 teams competing in the Conference USA Tournament have been determined; If Cincinnati (11-0) earns wins at UAB and USF this weekend, the Bearcats will become only the second squad in the league's nine-year history to have gone undefeated in C-USA play. In the first year of league action (1995), the Louisville Cardinals notched a 12-0 conference record; Get ready for another exciting weekend of C-USA Volleyball by reading this week's notebook.

C-USA PLAYER OF THE WEEK

JULIE DUPONT, Cincinnati
Jr., OH, Muskego, Wis. (Muskego)

Cincinnati's JULIE DUPONT earned C-USA Player of the Week honors for the period ending Nov. 9. DuPont helped the Bearcats extend their win streak to 13 with a pair of victories over Houston and TCU. For the weekend, she averaged 5.29 kills, 2.57 digs and 1.00 blocks per game, while hitting .342. Against Houston, DuPont registered her 20th double-double of the year with 21 kills and 13 digs. She followed the next night, tallying 16 kills and five digs, while hitting a season-high .500 versus TCU. Cincinnati remains undefeated in league play with an 11-0 record. UC's 13-match win streak ranks fifth on C-USA's all-time longest winning streaks.


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

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

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Michigan State; Southwest Missouri State; Arizona; Florida A&M; San Francisco; Arkansas; Ohio; Missouri; Maryland; Kansas; Utah.

Volleyball Magazine poll - (Nov. 10)
1. USC
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Pepperdine
5. Georgia Tech
6. Kansas State
7. Stanford
8. Nebraska
9. UCLA
10. Notre Dame
11. Penn State
12. California
13. Northern Iowa
14. Colorado State
15. Washington
16. LOUISVILLE
17. Santa Clara
18. CINCINNATI
19. Texas A&M
20. Santa Barbara

Others receiving votes: Southwest Missouri State; Michigan State; Loyola Marymount; Illinois; Minnesota; Wisconsin; San Diego; San Francisco; Florida A&M; Arkansas; Pacific; Missouri; Ohio.


TOURNAMENT BERTHS
Entering the final weekend of regular season, nine of the 12 teams competing in the Conference USA Tournament have been determined. Cincinnati, with a perfect 11-0 record, could easily take the No. 1 seed, but cannot afford to lose a match as Louisville is 10-1 heading into weekend action. Southern Miss took sole possession of third place in the league standings after defeating Tulane, 3-1, on Saturday. Memphis, Marquette, UAB, USF and Houston have also earned a berth in this year's tournament.

TIE-BREAKER POLICY
TCU, DePaul, Saint Louis, East Carolina and Charlotte are battling it out for the last three remaining spots in the C-USA Tournament. Here is a look at the tournament tie-breaker policy.

Ties in winning percentage, and thus for seeding positions shall be broken according to the following formula (in order).

1. Overall conference win/loss percentage of all conference matches.
2. Head-to-Head competition
3. Games won/percentage (games won/total games) between tied teams.
4. Total point differential (pts. Scored minus opponents' points scored) between tied teams.
5. Coin toss

(note: once tie is broken, the process starts again at No. 1)

UNDEFEATED IN C-USA ACTION
If Cincinnati (11-0) earns wins at UAB and USF this weekend, the Bearcats will become only the second squad in the league's nine-year history to have gone undefeated in C-USA play. In the first year of league action (1995), the Louisville Cardinals notched a 12-0 conference record. Most recently, USF was the closest to reaching this mark, when it posted 11 straight victories in conference play, before falling to Louisville in the final game of the 2002 regular season.

THE 20-PLUS WIN CLUB
For three consecutive years, C-USA has had five schools that compiled 20 or more win seasons. In 2003, Cincinnati (25-2), Southern Miss (25-5), Memphis (27-4) and Tulane (23-5) have already accumulated 20 or more wins; while Louisville TCU are only three victories away. Five C-USA schools have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Here are some of the top individual performers in C-USA from Nov. 3 - 9.

CHANDA WALLER, CHA: Helped Charlotte to its first conference win of the season with a match-high 21.5 points against Saint Louis ... recorded her 10th and 11th double-double, totaling 35 kills and 37 digs over two league matches.

SONJA PERCAN, LOU: Recorded a double-double and an attack percentage of .351 in match against TCU ... tallied 16 kills, four service aces, and 10 digs against the Horned Frogs ... against Houston, she notched 15 kills and two service aces.

GEMMA GREER, MAR: Led the Golden Eagles to victories over USF and UAB ... totaled 58 assists against the Bulls ... against UAB, she chalked up four service aces and recorded her 1,000th assist of the year, her third consecutive season to do so.

HEATHER WATTS, MEM: Tallied 53 assists in three games over ECU and became just the second player in Memphis history to pass the 1,500 assist mark after dishing out 59 against Charlotte ... also picked up 20 digs and two blocks against the 49ers.

KAYLA KMITTA, SLU: Set a career-high 19 kills and tied her career-best seven digs against East Carolina ... recorded a season-high 23.5 points and posted an attack percentage of .349 against the Pirates.

BRIDGET FILES, USM: Led Southern Miss to a 2-0 week ... tallied 37 kills (4.62pg), 20 digs (2.40pg), one ace and 11 blocks (1.38pg) over matches against Alabama and Tulane ... nearly recorded a triple-double against Tulane with 18 kills, 14 digs, and nine blocks.

KAREN BOYD, UAB: Collected 31 kills, 41 points, 23 digs, 13 total blocks and a .329 attack percentage to lead UAB to a 2-1 record for the week ... against DePaul, she led the Blazers with 14 kills, three block assists, and an attack percentage of .367.

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. Don Russell will announce the play-by-play with Amy Prichard providing the commentary. Here is a list of local televisions that will be carrying the game (As of Nov. 3).
Charter Communications- Live
College Sports Television (CSTV), DirecTV Ch. 610 -Live
Comcast Charter Sports Southeast -Live
Cox Sports Television - New Orleans - Live
Fox Sports Net Chicago - Tape Delay on Nov. 25 at 11 a.m. (EST)
Fox Sports Net Florida - Tape Delay on Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. (EST)
Charlotte Cable Television, Ch. 22 - Live
WXIV-TV, Ch. 14 - Greensboro -Live

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

HITTING PERCENTAGE
.842 (17-1-19) by Dominika Szabo (TCU) vs. Grambling State, 9/26

KILLS
30 by Andrea Bush (USM) vs. Houston, 10/3

ASSISTS
72 by Jessica Vick (ECU) vs. USF, 10/4

ATTEMPTS
81 by Nicki Tribble (USM) vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 9/23

ACES
8 by Hristina Slancheva (MEM) vs. Saint Louis, 10/3

BLOCKS
14 by Shameka Mitchell (USF) vs. Houston, 10/25

DIGS
33 by Erin Freer (MAR) vs. Duke, 8/30

HOMECOURT MAGIC
Since falling to then-No. 6 Nebraska on Sept. 6, Tulane has not lost a match at home this season. They currently lead C-USA in home wins with a 16-1 record. The Green Wave will look for some home-court magic as they host the C-USA Tournament at Fogelman Arena on Nov. 21-24.


FIVE TIMES IN A ROW
For five consecutive years, three Conference USA teams have advanced to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. In 2002, USF and Louisville both advanced to the second round, while Cincinnati suffered a 3-2 loss to Arizona State in the first round.

NCAA STATISTICS
Here is where C-USA ranked among the Nov. 3 national statistical leaders:

KILLS
11. Julie DuPont, CIN 5.56

ASSISTS
2. Laura Lauder, CIN 14.59
13. Heather Watts, MEM 13.29
28. Amy Troung, USM 12.83

BLOCKS
27. Deva Fowler, TUL 1.41

DIGS
22. Jaci Gonzalez, HOU 4.51
29. Karlyn Daly, TUL 4.37

TEAM KILLS
2. Cincinnati 17.81
14. Louisville 16.51
25. Memphis 16.37

HITTING PERCENTAGE
7. Cincinnati .287
9. Louisville .285

TEAM ASSISTS
2. Cincinnati 16.33
14. Louisville 15.15
16. Memphis 15.12

ACES
11. TCU 2.27
14. Memphis 2.22
30. East Carolina 2.13

TEAM DIGS
21. Tulane 17.95

BLOCKS
26. Cincinnati 2.85

ON THE WEB
For the latest Conference USA volleyball match recaps, scores, standings and notes, please refer to the league's official web site: www.conferenceusa.com

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: Charlotte picked up its first Conference USA win of the season last Friday, defeating Saint Louis, 3-1, at Halton Arena. The 49ers nearly made it two in a row the following night, but fell to Memphis, 3-2, in their final home match of the season. CHANDA WALLER, one of the team's three seniors who made their final appearance in Halton, paced the 49ers with 35 kills in the two matches. She was second on the team with 37 digs for the week. This weekend, the team closes out the regular season at TCU and Houston.

CINCINNATI: The Bearcats (11-0) remain undefeated in conference play after claiming victories over Houston and TCU last weekend. On Saturday, the Bearcats established a school record for blocks in a four-game match, turning back 22 Tiger attacks. The effort bettered the previous mark of 18 established in 1993 against Eastern Kentucky. RACHEL TORBLAA averaged 3.71 kills, 2.14 blocks and 0.86 digs per game, while hitting .418. She helped the Bearcats break the school record for blocks against the Tigers after tallying 10. Against Saint Louis, she recorded 14 kills for a .565 attack percentage, while adding three blocks. No. 24 Cincinnati hosts Houston on Friday and TCU on Saturday.

DE PAUL: DePaul fell to UAB and USF last weekend. Junior JANET GOREHAM led the Blue Demons against UAB. Goreham notched 19 kills and a career-high .586 attack percentage. She also tallied seven total blocks. Sophomore MANDY MOORBERG led the offensive charge against the Bulls, recording 19 kills. Freshman ELLEN HAYES finished with eight digs. The Blue Demons will close out the regular season at home against Marquette on Friday.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates dropped matches to Memphis and Saint Louis last weekend. SARAH VICK posted a career-high 20 kills and added 13 digs for her third double-double of the season for East Carolina. Vick finished with a match-high 24.5 points adding three service aces, one solo block and one block assist. ECU finishes its regular season at Houston and TCU this weekend. The Pirates will need to win both matches and hope for a Saint Louis loss to make the C-USA Tournament.

HOUSTON: Houston suffered losses to Cincinnati and Louisville last weekend. Against the Bearcats, KELLY MCANELLY led the Cougars with 21 kills and a .321 hitting percentage while CINTHIA PIVA added 18 kills and 16 digs for a double-double. Houston closes out the regular season against East Carolina and Charlotte. The Cougars will earn a berth to the C-USA Tournament with at least one win.

LOUISVILLE: The 19th-ranked Cardinals defeated TCU and Houston last weekend. Head coach LEONID YELIN claimed his 300th career victory against TCU on Friday. Only 55 coaches in the country have reached this mark. SONJA PERCAN led the Cardinals with 31 kills for a .297 attack percentage last weekend. U of L, who is on an eight-match win streak, takes on Kentucky in non-conference action on Monday.

MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles downed USF and UAB last weekend to claimed a spot in the 2003 C-USA Tournament. Marquette has stretched its winning streak to five matches overall, and has clinched a winning record in C-USA for only the third time over nine seasons. GEMMA GREER tallied her 1,000 assist of the season, marking her third consecutive season with more than a grand. She also matched a career best with four service aces, all of them coming in game one against the Blazers. The five-game match against USF was the seventh of the season for MU, and the win brought Marquette to 4-3 in those games. Marquette battles UW-Green Bay on Tuesday, before taking on DePaul in Chicago this Friday.

MEMPHIS: The Tigers claimed victories over East Carolina and Charlotte last weekend. After recording 59 assists against Charlotte, HEATHER WATTS became only the second player in Memphis history to pass the 1,500 assist mark. Freshman CHRISTEN CLAYTON went over the 20-dig mark for the first time in her career with 22 digs versus the 49ers. Senior SHELLA NEBA set a school record with six solo blocks and finished just one block shy of tying the single-match total block mark (11) currently held by Tiger assistant coach JENNI ROSSELLI.

SAINT LOUIS: Saint Louis split its matches last weekend, falling to Charlotte, but defeating East Carolina. KAYLA KMITTA set a career high with 19 kills against the Pirates, while also tying a career-best of seven digs. ERIN MCCLANAHAN went over the 1,000 assist mark this season during the ECU match. The sophomore setter currently has 1,015 assists on the season. ALEXIS COOLEY was credited with eight solo blocks at Charlotte, just narrowly missing the school record. Saint Louis hosts Tulane and Southern Miss. SLU must win both matches or hope for East Carolina and Charlotte to lose their matches this weekend to claim the last C-USA berth.

USF: The Bulls went 1-1, falling to Marquette in five games, but defeating DePaul, 3-0. SHAMEKA MITCHELL is just 12 kills away from recording her 1,000th kill of her career. Mitchell averaged 5.0 kills per game this weekend and 5.69 points per game. Against Marquette she had a match-high 25 kills with only four errors for a .525 hitting percentage, while adding three blocks. Senior FRAN POZZI posted back-to-back double-doubles with 13 kills and 11 digs against Marquette, and 16 kills and 14 digs vs. DePaul. She led all players in digs against DePaul, while leading the Bulls in kills with 16. Senior MELAYNE WOOTAN had 104 assists this weekend, a 13.0 per game average, while adding 12 digs and five blocks. USF's 2-0 lead against Marquette marks the second time this season USF has won the first two games of a match only to fall in five. The first time it happened was against Tulane on Oct. 11. USF closes out the regular season against No. 19 Louisville on Friday and No. 20 Cincinnati on Sunday.

SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles captured a 3-1 victory over Tulane on Saturday. Southern Miss is now 25-5, marking the most victories by a Golden Eagle squad since 1985 (26). USM rallied for the win after dropping the first game of the match. NICKI TRIBBLE registered 25 kills against the Green Wave to move into 11th on the all-time kill list with 987 kills. She needs only 13 more kills to become the 11th player to have at least 1,000 in her career. AMY TRUONG averaged 13.38 assists per game, while ANDREA BUSH recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs. BRIDGET FILES took over the top spot in all-time career block assists with 340, passing current assistant coach KELLY TRIBBLE. Southern Miss takes on Memphis on Friday and Saint Louis on Saturday.

TCU: The Horned Frogs dropped matches to Cincinnati and Louisville last weekend. Against the Bearcats, ELLEN REHME performed the best for TCU, killing 13 and digging 14, while DOMINIKA SZABO added 18 digs and nine kills. TCU closes out the regular season, hosting Charlotte and East Carolina. With a win this weekend, TCU will claim a second consecutive trip to the C-USA Tournament.

TULANE: Tulane suffered a 3-1 loss to Southern Miss last weekend. Senior libero KARLYN DALY set a school four-game record with a career-best 31 digs. She led three Green Wave players with double-digit dig totals as the Green Wave posted 88 digs to Southern Miss' 81. ANASTASIA KENON led the Green Wave offense with 18 kills, followed by junior middle blocker DEVA FOWLER and senior LAUREN JONES-MCCLAIN with 10. Tulane closes out the regular season at Saint Louis on Friday and at Memphis on Saturday. The Green Wave will then host the 2003 C-USA Tournament. They are 16-1 at Fogelman Arena this season.

UAB: The Blazers split their matches last weekend, defeating DePaul, but falling to Marquette. KAREN BOYD recorded 31 kills, 23 digs and 13 blocks last weekend. She notched her eighth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs against Marquette. Currently, she ranks second on the team in kills per game (2.83) and points (391.5). Boyd is the only Blazer to start all 29 matches this season and has not missed a match during her UAB career (121). Senior MARTINA SHIELDS recorded her 13th double-double of the season with a match-leading 20 kills to go along with 10 digs, while hitting .292 against the Golden Eagles. UAB hosts. No. 19 Louisville on Friday and No. 20 Cincinnati on Saturday.