Conference USA announced its 2002 volleyball awards winners at the C-USA Tournament banquet Thursday at the Chicago Hilton in Chicago. The Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament will be contested Friday-Monday, Nov. 22-25 at the DePaul Athletic Center.

Nancy Mueller claimed Coach of the Year accolades after directing the South Florida Bulls to a 20-win season for the third consecutive year and ninth time in 12 seasons. This year, USF posted a 26-6 overall record and 12-1 league mark to claim a share of the league regular season title, its third C-USA crown. Mueller currently has a career record of 90-39 (.698) in four years at South Florida.

South Florida’s Michelle Collier earned C-USA Player of the Year honors for the second time in her career. She earned the award in 2000 as a sophomore. Collier currently leads the conference in kills with an average of 5.51 per game and ranks ninth in digs (3.44 pg). She broke the C-USA all-time record in kills with a total of 2,560 kills in 453 games played and became only the second C-USA player to break the 2,000 kill milestone.

Collier was joined on the all-league first team by USF teammate Alessandra Domingos, Cincinnati’s Bonita Wise, Houston’s Jenny Tanneberger, Louisville’s Bing Sun and Sarah Drury, and Saint Louis’ Colleen Hunter.

The second team consists of Cincinnati’s Julie DuPont and Trish Ladusaw, Houston’s Jaci Gonzalez, Louisville’s Benny Flynn and Stacey Mercer, Tulane’s Britney Hurst and UAB’s Martina Shields

Earning third team All-Conference honors were Charlotte’s Courtney Burg and Laura Darnell, Cincinnati’s Laura Lauder, Houston’s Jane Anne Karasek, South Florida’s Bonnye Glover, Southern Miss’ Andrea Bush and TCU’s Dominika Szabo.

Ladusaw earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year laurels, becoming the first player in league history to earn the honor in three consecutive seasons. She leads the league in digs with an average of 4.81 per game and broke the career record with a total of 2,006 in 452 games played. Ladusaw ranks seventh all-time on the NCAA all-time digs list.

South Florida’s Alessandra Domingos captured the Setter of the Year honor for the second consecutive season, becoming only the second setter in C-USA history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons. Stephanie Storen of Louisville earned the honor in 1998 and 1999. Domingos is second in the league with 13.17 assists per game.

Jennifer Craven of Louisville is the Freshman of the Year. She ranks first among conference freshmen and third in the league with 13.16 assists per game.

She was joined on the all-freshman squad by Charlotte’s Lisa Newell, Louisville’s Lena Ustymenko, Marquette’s Theresa Coughlin, South Florida’s Corinne Walsh and Tulane’s Kelli Dickson.

Friday and Saturday’s matches of the C-USA 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 Sunday. The championship game starts at 7 p.m. on Monday and will be televised by the Conference USA Television Network. Don Russell will announce the play-by-play with Amy Prichard providing the commentary. Saint Louis’ Charter Communications, Fox Sports Net Florida and UNC-Charlotte Cable Television will carry the event live. Fox Sports Net Chicago, Comcast Charter Sports Southeast, WXIV-TV-Greensboro, New Orleans’ Cox Productions and WFTE-TV will air the event tape delayed. Please check your local listings for times.


2002 CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL AWARDS

First Team All-C-USA
Bonita Wise, MB, Cincinnati
Jenny Tanneberger, MH, Houston
Sarah Drury, L, Louisville
Bing Sun, OH, Louisville
Colleen Hunter, OH, Saint Louis
Michelle Collier, OH, South Florida
Alessandra Domingos, S, South Florida

Second Team All-C-USA
Julie DuPont, OH, Cincinnati
Trish Ladusaw, OH, Cincinnati
Jaci Gonzalez, L, Houston
Benny Flynn, OH, Louisville
Stacey Mercer, MB, Louisville
Britney Hurst, OH, Tulane
Martina Shields, OH, UAB

Third Team All-C-USA
Courtney Burg, OH, Charlotte
Laura Darnell, L, Charlotte
Laura Lauder, S, Cincinnati
Jane Anne Karasek, MB, Houston
Bonnye Glover, MB, South Florida
Andrea Bush, OH, Southern Miss
Dominika Szabo, OH, TCU

All-Freshman Team
Lisa Newell, MB, Charlotte
Jennifer Craven, S, Louisville
Lena Ustymenko, OH, Louisville
Theresa Coughlin, OH, Marquette
Corinne Walsh, MB, South Florida
Kelli Dickson, S, Tulane

Player of the Year:
Michelle Collier, South Florida

Coach of the Year:
Nancy Mueller, South Florida

Setter of the Year:
Alessandra Domingos, South Florida

Defensive Player of the Year:
Trish Ladusaw, Cincinnati

Freshman of the Year:
Jennifer Craven, Louisville