C-USA Announces Volleyball Awards

HOUSTON – Conference USA announced its 2001 volleyball awards winners at the championship banquet Wednesday evening at the Radisson Astrodome Hotel in Houston. The Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament will be contested Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 15-18 at the Hofheinz Pavilion.

In his second season at the helm of the Cincinnati program, Reed Sunahara earned Coach of the Year accolades after directing the Bearcats to a 19-6 record overall and a 14-2 league mark. This marks the third consecutive season that the Bearcats have either shared or claimed the regular season title. The Bearcats are also only one win away from posting their seventh consecutive 20-win season. Sunahara currently holds a 43-16 overall record at Cincinnati.

Houston’s Jennifer Wittenburg earned C-USA Player of the Year honors, after posting five 30-plus kill performances this season, including back-to-back matches with a school record-tying of 37 kills. She currently leads the league in kills with an average of 6.15 per game and ranks second in digs (3.52 pg). She became only the fourth player in league history to earn three C-USA Player of the Week honors (Sept. 24, Nov. 5 and Nov. 12) during the season.

Wittenburg was joined on the all-league first team by Cincinnati’s Trish Ladusaw, Becky Stahl and Bonita Wise, DePaul’s Stephanie Bishop, Houston’s Gabriela Carbone and Jennifer Tanneberger, Louisville’s Sonja Percan, Marquette’s Meghan Devine, Saint Louis’ Colleen Hunter and South Florida’s Michelle Collier and Alessandra Domingos.

The second team consists of Charlotte’s Courtney Burg, Cincinnati’s Rachel Bercan and Laura Lauder, DePaul’s Christa Dirr, Kara Jakusz and Lara Marks, Louisville’s Jing Ding and Lesley Drury, Marquette’s Vesna Grbavac, Memphis’ Amie Hamilton and Tulane’s Britney Hurst and Anastasia Kenon.

For the second consecutive season, Ladusaw earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year laurels, becoming only the third player to earn back-to-back honors. South Florida’s Erica Berggren earned Player of the Year honors in 1995 and 1996, while Louisville’s Stephanie Storen was named Setter of the Year in 1995 and 1996. Ladusaw leads the league in digs with an average of 3.96 per game and owns the best single-match dig performance in three games (23 vs. DePaul).

South Florida’s Alessandra Domingos captured the Setter of the Year honor. Domingos is second in the conference with 13.14 assists per game.

Stahl is the Freshman of the Year, marking the third consecutive season that a Bearcat has either won or shared this honor. Lauder shared 2000 Newcomer of the Year honors with Louisville’s Anastasia Zaitseva, while Wise shared the award with Percan in 1999. Stahl ranks sixth in the league with an average of 4.56 per game and ranks second among conference freshmen with a total of 355 kills.

Thursday and Friday matches of the C-USA Volleyball Tournament will be held at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The semifinal rounds will be at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday. The championship game starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday and will be televised by the Conference USA Television Network. The match will air live on WFTE/WDRB in Louisville, WBII in Memphis and Charter Communications in Saint Louis. The satellite coordinates are Telstar 6, Transponder 14, KU Band.

2001 CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL AWARDS

First Team All-C-USA
TRISH LADUSAW, OH, Cincinnati
BONITA WISE, MB, Cincinnati
BECKY STAHL, OH, Cincinnati
STEPHANIE BISHOP, OH, DePaul
GABRIELA CARBONE, DS, Houston
JENNIFER TANNEBURGER, MH, Houston
JENNIFER WITTENBURG, RH, Houston
SONJA PERCAN, OH, Louisville
MEGHAN DEVINE, MB, Marquette
COLLEEN HUNTER, MH, Saint Louis
MICHELLE COLLIER, OH, South Florida
ALESSANDRA DOMINGOS, S, South Florida

Second Team All-C-USA
COURTNEY BURG, OH, Charlotte
RACHEL BERAN, DS, Cincinnati
LAURA LAUDER, S, Cincinnati
CHRISTA DIRR, MB, DePaul
KARA JAKUSZ, S, DePaul
LARA MARKS, MB, DePaul
JING DING, S, Louisville
LESLEY DRURY, OH, Louisville
VESNA GRBAVAC, OH, Marquette
AMIE HAMILTON, S, Memphis
BRITNEY HURST, OH, Tulane
ANASTASIA KENON, OH, Tulane

All-Freshman Team
JULIE DUPONT, OH, Cincinnati
BECKY STAHL, OH, Cincinnati
JENNIFER AMOBI, OH, Marquette
RACHEL JOBES, MH, South Florida
SHAMEKA MITCHELL, MH, South Florida
ANASTASIA KENON, OH, Tulane

Player of the Year:
JENNIFER WITTENBURG, Houston

Coach of the Year:
REED SUNAHARA, Cincinnati

Setter of the Year:
ALESSANDRA DOMINGOS, South Florida

Defensive Player of the Year:
TRISH LADUSAW, Cincinnati

Freshman of the Year:
BECKY STAHL, Cincinnati