Louisville defeated South Florida in the final regular season match to clinch the No. 1 seed in the 2002 Healthy Choice Conference USA Volleyball Tournament (Friday-Monday, November 22-25 ) in Chicago. The Cardinals (23-4, 12-1) snapped USF’s perfect 12-0 league record with a 3-1 win last Saturday and will share the C-USA regular season title with the Bulls.


CHICAGO, Ill. – Louisville defeated South Florida in the final regular season match to clinch the No. 1 seed in the 2002 Healthy Choice Conference USA Volleyball Tournament (Friday-Monday, November 22-25 ) in Chicago. The Cardinals (23-4, 12-1) snapped USF’s perfect 12-0 league record with a 3-1 win last Saturday and will share the C-USA regular season title with the Bulls.

South Florida garnered the No. 2 seed with a 12-1 conference mark and 26-6 overall record. Cincinnati (20-7, 11-2) earned the third seed, while Saint Louis (20-9, 10-3) captured the fourth seed and final first round bye for the tournament at DePaul Athletic Center.

Action gets underway at 1 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 22 as the 10th-seeded TCU Horned Frogs (12-17, 4-9) meet seventh-seeded Houston (17-11, 7-6). TCU will be making its first trip to the C-USA Tournament, while the Cougars will be vying for their second league title, after earning the 1997 title. Houston defeated TCU on Oct. 18 in regular season play. The winner of the Houston-TCU match will face No. 2-seed South Florida at 1 p.m., on Saturday.

Friday’s 3 p.m. match features 11th-seeded Memphis (19-4, 4-9), against sixth-seeded Charlotte (17-14, 7-6). Earlier in the season, the Tigers notched a tough 3-2 win over the 49ers in regular season play. The winner of the Memphis-Charlotte match squares off with third-seeded Cincinnati on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Bearcats are after their second league tournament title and have been a semifinalist in six of the first seven C-USA Tournaments.

Friday’s evening sessions begins with ninth-seeded UAB (13-19, 5-8) meeting eighth-seeded Southern Miss (15-14, 6-7) at 6 p.m. The Blazers will look to avenge a 3-1 loss to the Golden Eagles in regular-season action. The winner of the UAB-Southern Miss match will then play No. 1 Louisville at 6 p.m., on Saturday. The Cards are aiming for their third Conference USA Tournament title.

The final first round match pits 12th-seeded Marquette (12-14, 3-10) and fifth-seeded Tulane (21-13, 9-4) at 8 p.m. The Green Wave earned their first 20-plus win season since 1994 with a 21-13 mark this year and currently are on a seven-match win streak. The winner of the Marquette-Tulane match will face Saint Louis in Saturday’s 8 p.m. quarterfinals. Head coach Marilyn Nolen is only one win away from becoming the third Division I coach to tally 800 wins in a career. She has an all-time record of 799-335-12 in 31 years of coaching.

The C-USA Television Network will carry the tournament final on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. (CST). Don Russell will announce the play-by-play with Amy Prichard providing the commentary. Please check your local listings for details.

For live play-by-play, statistics, photos and recaps of each 2002 Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament match, go to the league’s official website, www.c-usasports.com.

2002 Healthy Choice C-USA Volleyball Tournament
Friday-Monday, November 22-25
Chicago, Ill. – DePaul Athletic Center

FIRST ROUND
Friday, November 22
Match 1 – (10) TCU vs. (7) Houston, 1 p.m.
Match 2 – (11) Memphis vs. (6) Charlotte, 3 p.m.
Match 3 - (9) UAB vs. (8) Southern Miss, 6 p.m.
Match 4 – (12) Marquette vs. (5) Tulane, 8 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, November 23
Match 5 – TCU/HOU winner vs. (2) South Florida, 1 p.m.
Match 6 - MEM/CHA winner vs. (3) Cincinnati, 3 p.m.
Match 7 - UAB/USM winner vs. (1) Louisville, 6 p.m.
Match 8 – MAR/TUL winner vs. (4) Saint Louis, 8 p.m.

SEMIFINALS
Sunday, November 24
Match 9 – Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 1 p.m.
Match 10 – Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner, 3 p.m.

FINALS
Monday, November 25
Match 11 – Championship match, 7 p.m.

All Times Central.