Several teams will finish out their 2002 regular season this weekend. Cincinnati and Louisville will compete at the C-USA/Atlantic 10 Challenge on Friday, while Houston will face Arkansas on Friday at the University of Central Florida Tournament. Marquette closes out the 2002 season with a matchup against No. 14 North Carolina this Friday. Catch up on the latest C-USA Volleyball news in this week's notebook.

AMONG THE RANKED
Here is a look at the latest AVCA/USA Today poll for the week of Nov. 25

1. USC
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Stanford
5. Nebraska
6. Minnesota
7. UC Santa Barbara
8. Pepperdine
9. Minnesota
10. Long Beach State
11. Washington State
12. Arizona
13. Santa Clara
14. North Carolina
15. Wisconsin
16. Penn State
17. Georgia Tech
18. Eastern Michigan
19. Missouri
20. Ohio State
21. UCLA
22. Kansas State
23. South Carolina
24. Utah
25. San Diego

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: California (105), Washington (77), Texas (49), LOUISVILLE (28), Arkansas (26), Michigan State (23), Northwestern (16), SOUTH FLORIDA (16), Colorado State (13), Fresno State.

MIDWEST REGIONAL RANKINGS
Here is a look at the Midwest Volleyball Regional Rankings for the week of Nov. 25. Conference USA had five schools ranked in the region, including three of the top five.

1. South Florida
2. Louisville
3. Cincinnati
4. Loyola
5. UW-Milwaukee
6. Saint Louis
7. UT-Martin
8. Morehead State
9. Tulane
10. Wright State

COACHING MILESTONES
Saint Louis’ MARILYN NOLEN posted her 800th win of her career against Marquette on Saturday, Nov. 23. She has a career record of 800-336-12 in 31 years of coaching. Southern Miss head coach SANTIAGO RESTREPO captured his 100th career win in the first round of the C-USA Tournament with a win over UAB. He currently holds a 100-66 career record.

2002 C-USA TOURNAMENT
South Florida captured the 2002 Healthy Choice C-USA Volleyball Tournament title after defeating Louisville, 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-20) on Monday, Nov. 25 at the DePaul Athletic center. It marked the Bulls third tournament title in school history, after also claiming the 1995 and 1996 crowns.
“It was just a phenomenal match,” said USF head coach Nancy Mueller. “Our goal was to out-block and out-dig them and that is what we did well. Ale (Domingos) set an unbelievable match and Michelle (Collier) stepped up when we needed her. This was a team victory, because every player contributed.”

South Florida’s ALE DOMINGOS notched 42 assists and eight digs to earn All-Tournament MVP honors. C-USA Player of the Year MICHELLE COLLIER led the Bulls with a match-high 24 kills and 13 digs. She also earned all-tournament honors, as well as teammate SHAMEKA MITCHELL, who fired off 14 kills for a .333 hitting percentage.
Louisville’s LENA USTYMENKO posted 10 kills for a .304 attack percentage, while BING SUN ANASTASIA ZAITSEVA nabbed eight kills apiece. SARAH DRURY also added 11 digs. STACEY MERCER, who led the tournament with 2.17 blocks per game, and Sun were named to the All-Tournament team.

2002 All-Tournament Team
Michelle Collier, South Florida
Stacey Mercer, Louisville
Shameka Mitchell, South Florida
Bing Sun, Louisville
Bonita Wise, Cincinati
MVP – Ale Domingos, South Florida
.


DID YOU KNOW?
For the third consecutive year, C-USA has five schools that compile 20 or more win seasons. South Florida (29-6), Louisville (25-5), Tulane (21-14), Cincinnati (21-8) and Saint Louis (21-10) have all reached the 20-plus win total. Five C-USA schools have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons.


ALL-CONFERENCE
Conference USA announced its 2002 volleyball awards winners at the C-USA Tournament banquet on Nov. 21 at the Chicago Hilton in Chicago. Here is a list of honorees:

First Team All-Conference
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

DOMINGOS’ TOURNEY RECORD
South Florida’s ALE DOMINGOS broke the C-USA Tournament record for hitting percentage, after notching an .857 attack percentage in the championship final. On Saturday, BONITA WISE became the third player to tie the record with an attack percentage of .750 against the Niners. However, the record was short lived, as Domingos notched eight kills and no errors against Louisville two days later. Louisville’s Jackie Byrne (vs. USM, 11-17-95) and DePaul’s Amy Schmelzer (vs. Tulane, 11-21-96 had previously set the mark.

BEARCAT REIGN ENDS
With South Florida and Louisville sharing the 2002 C-USA regular season title, it ended Cincinnati’s reign of this crown. The Bearcats had won the 2001 and 2000 out right, while sharing the 1999 title with Houston.

NCAA RECORD
TRISH LADUSAW of Cincinnati is only 20 digs away from breaking into the Top 3 of the NCAA all-time career digs leaders. She currently ranks third with 2,024 digs. UL-Lafayette’s Nia Kiggundu is in third place with 2,043



THE 30-KILL CLUB
During the 2001 season, Conference USA led the nation with six players who had posted 30-plus kills in a game. This season, the league has already surpassed that mark with nine C-USA players tallying a total of 16 30-plus kill performances.

C-USA'S CAREER PERFORMANCES
After posting 15 kills against Northeastern on Sept. 5, South Florida's MICHELLE COLLIER captured the league's career record in kills. Collier currently has a total of 2,683 kills in 464 games played. On Oct. 22, Saint Louis’ COLLEEN HUNTER surpassed DePaul's Stephanie Bishop (1998-01) for second place on C-USA all-time kills list. Hunter became only the third player in league history to reach 2,000 career kills. She now has 2,230 kills in 490 matches played.

CAREER KILLS G KILLS
MICHELLE COLLIER, USF 464 2683
COLLEEN HUNTER, SLU 490 2230
Stephanie Bishop, DPU 493 2052
Becky Tenkman, CIN 488 1843
Tonja Larson, UAB 470 1760
Laura Risley, SLU 445 1636


Cincinnati's TRISH LADUSAW became the first C-USA player to reach 2000 career digs. She broke the C-USA all-time digs record with a total of 2,024 in 459 games played. She surpassed former Blue Demon Stephanie Bishop (1998-01), who notched 1,842 career digs in 493 games played.

CAREER DIGS G DIGS
TRISH LADUSAW, CIN 459 2024
Stephanie Bishop, DPU 493 1842
Kristin Guidish, HOU 458 1602
Shalini Job, USM 465 1597
Tosha Barnicoat 402 1593

NCAA STATISTICS
Here is where C-USA ranks among the 2002 national statistical leaders as of Nov. 18.

KILLS
6. Michelle Collier, USF 5.58
7. Britney Hurst, TUL 5.46
11. Colleen Hunter, SLU 5.32
15. Jenny Tanneberger, HOU 5.24
19. Julie Dupont, CIN 5.13

ASSISTS
16. Laura Lauder, CIN 13.19
14. Alessandra Domingos, USF 13.26
22. Jennifer Craven, LOU 13.07

BLOCKS
12. Rachel Torblaa, CIN 1.52

DIGS
11. Trish Ladusaw, CIN 4.65
15. Sarah Drury, LOU 4.54

HITTING PERCENTAGE
20. Benny Flynn, LOU .374

TEAM KILLS
8. Louisville 16.92
14. Cincinnati 16.59
24. South Florida 16.42

TEAM ASSISTS
8. Louisville 15.52
12. South Florida 15.29

TEAM BLOCKS
16. Cincinnati 2.96
23. Louisville 2.84

TEAM DIGS
19. Houston 18.15
30. Louisville 17.66

HITTING PERCENTAGE
26. Louisville .265
27. South Florida .264

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: The 49ers went 1-1 at the C-USA Tournament, defeating Memphis, 3-2, but falling to Cincinnati in three games. The 49ers finish the year with an 18-15 record, their highest win total and first winning season since 1994. LAURA DARNELL, a senior and third-team All-Conference USA selection, finished the season with 482 digs, a school record. Against Memphis, COURTNEY BURG reached the 1,000 career kill milestone. She has a total of 1,125 kills in four years at Charlotte.

CINCINNATI: The Bearcats swept Charlotte in the quarterfinals, before falling to eventual C-USA Tournament Champion South Florida, 3-1 last weekend. BONITA WISE matched a C-USA Tournament record by hitting .750 against the Niners. That record was short lived though as USF setter ALE DOMINGOS established a new mark of .857 attack percentage in the tourney final. Wise was named to the All-Tournament team for the second year in a row and third time in her career. TRISH LADUSAW currently ranks fourth on the NCAA’s career digs chart with 2,024. She only needs 20 to surpass Nia Kiggundu of UL-Lafayette to move into third place.

DE PAUL: The Blue Demons finished the 2002 season with a 5-25 overall record and 1-12 conference mark. LARA MARKS led DePaul and ranked sixth in the conference with a .323 hitting percentage. AMIE WEST also finishes 10th in the conference with 10.82 assists per game.

EAST CAROLINA: East Carolina finishes the 2002 season with a 6-26 overall record and 0-13 in the conference. SARA VICK ranked first in the conference with an average of 0.54 service aces per game.

HOUSTON: Houston advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over TCU, 3-1, but fell to South Florida, 3-1 at the C-USA Tournament. Against the Bulls, JENNY TANNEBERGER, a 2002 First-Team C-USA selection and three-time 2002 Player of the Week, led all hitters with 23 kills (.333) and three block assists. LAURA KOSTER tallied her third double-double of the season, adding 12 kills and 10 digs. Senior DONNA SELLEN added 31 assists eight digs and four blocks assists. The Cougars will face Arkansas on Friday and Kentucky on Saturday at the University of Central Florida Tournament. Both matches are slated for 3:30 p.m. (CST).


LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals fell to South Florida, 3-0, in the C-USA Tournament Championship game on Monday. Louisville’s LENA USTYMENKO posted 10 kills for a .304 attack percentage, while BING SUN and ANASTASIA ZAITSEVA nabbed eight kills apiece. Sarah Drury also added 11 digs. STACEY MERCER, who led the tournament with 2.17 blocks per game, and Sun were named to the All-Tournament team. Louisville will next compete at the C-USA/Atlantic 10 Challenge this weekend in Dayton.

MARQUETTE: Marquette upset Tulane in the first round, before falling to Saint Louis at the C-USA Tournament last weekend. For the Golden Eagles, SHANNON DEVINE knocked down 11 kills and committed only two errors for a .300 hitting percentage against the Billikens. Gemma Greer finished the weekend, averaging 11.14 assists per game, while ERIN FREER notched a total of 29 digs. Marquette closes out the 2002 season with a match on Friday against North Carolina.

MEMPHIS: Memphis suffered a 3-2 setback against Charlotte in the opening round of the C-USA Tournament. The Tigers conclude the season with a 19-15 overall record and 4-9 conference mark. Despite the loss, BRITTANY BARNETT posted an outstanding tournament, ranking sixth with 4.60 kills per match in the tourney stats. This season, she led the team in kills with 4.16 per game to finish eighth in the conference.

SAINT LOUIS: Head coach MARILYN NOLEN earned her 800th career win, as the Billikens downed Marquette in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. She now has a record of 800-336-12 in 31 years coaching. Saint Louis would later fall to Louisville, 3-0, in the semifinals. COLLEEN HUNTER paced the Billikens for the weekend, totaling 33 kills in the two matches for an average of 5.50 per game. She currently ranks third in the league with 5.32 kills per game.

SOUTH FLORIDA: South Florida won its third C-USA Tournament title with a 3-0 sweep over Louisville in the championship game. ALE DOMINGOS earned Tournament MVP honors after posting six kills and no errors for a tournament record .857 hitting percentage against the Cards. C-USA Player of the Year MICHELLE COLLIER recorded her fifth 30-plus kill performance of the season with 31 kills against Cincinnati. USF earned the NCAA Tournament berth and will await to hear its opponent on Sunday when the NCAA announces the 2002 tournament pairings. The Bulls improve to 29-6 for the year and are only one win away from notching their second 30-plus win season in school history. (USF posted a 34-14 record in 1986).

SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles went 1-1 at the C-USA Tournament, defeating UAB, but falling to Louisville in the quarterfinals. Head coach SANTIAGO RESTREPO claimed his 100th win of his career against UAB. He is now 100-65 in five years as a head coach. Southern Miss finishes the season with a 16-15 overall record and 6-7 conference mark. ANDREA BUSH led the Golden Eagles with a total of 485 kills this season to rank ninth in the league (4.11 kpg). AMY TRUONG also ranked third in the conference with 0.45 services aces per game.

TCU: The Horned Frogs suffered a 3-1 loss to Houston in the first round of the C-USA Tournament. The Horned Frogs finish the 2002 season with a 12-18 overall mark and 4-9 league record. Under first-year head coach PRENTICE LEWIS, TCU advanced to its first C-USA Tournament. DOMINIKA SZABO led the squad with 4.38 kills per game and earned third-team All-Conference honors.

TULANE: Tulane fell to 21-14 on the season, after falling to Marquette in the opening round of the C-USA Tournament. It snapped the Green Wave’s seven match win streak, its longest win streak since 1994, when they won eight in a row. In 2002, Tulane posted its highest win total since 1992 when the Green Wave finished 24-16. BRITNEY HURST ranks seventh in the nation with 5.45 kills per game.

UAB: The Blazers ended the 2002 season with a 3-1 loss to Southern Miss at the C-USA Tournament. MARTINA SHIELDS the squad in kills for the 12th time this season with 13 kills. SAMANTHA TUCILLO and KAREN BOYD followed with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. The Blazers finish the 2002 season with a 13-20 overall record. For the second straight season, UAB increased its win total from the previous season under third-year head coach MELINDA CLAIBORNE. The Blazers posted a 12-17 record in 2001.