For the fifth consecutive year, three Conference USA teams have advanced to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati will represent the league at the 2002 NCAA Tournament, which begins this Friday.

South Florida (29-6), who earned C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAAs after capturing the 2002 Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament, takes on in-state rival Florida State in a first round showdown on Friday, Dec. 6 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center at the University of Florida. Louisville (27-5), who claimed a share of the 2002 C-USA regular season title with South Florida, will meet Ball State on Friday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Cincinnati (23-8) travels to Lincoln, Neb., to face Arizona State on Friday.

The Big Ten and Pacific-10 led all conferences with eight teams selected. The Big 12 placed five, and the Big West and Atlantic Coast conferences each placed four teams in the field, followed by Conference USA, West Coast and Western Athletic conferences with three apiece and the Big East, Mountain West and Southeastern conferences with two. The first and second round matches will be played at 16 different campus sites from Dec 5-7, and the regionals will be held Dec. 12-15 at campus locations yet to be determined. The University of New Orleans and the Sun Belt Conference will host the national semifinals and finals Dec. 19-21 in New Orleans at the New Orleans Sports Arena

Louisville will be making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth in the last 10 years. The Cardinals advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1996 and 1998. Last season, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell to No. 14 Pacific, 3-1.

Cincinnati is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth overall. Last year, the Bearcats defeated Xavier in the first round, before falling to No. 12 Ohio State. Cincinnati, who posted their eighth-consecutive 20-plus win season with a 23-8 record, will face Arizona State in the first round.

After sweeping Louisville in the finals of the 2002 Healthy Choice C-USA Tournament, South Florida earned its second NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Nancy Mueller and sixth in the last eight years. South Florida faces Florida State for the second time this season. The Bulls defeated the Seminoles, 3-2 (23-30, 30-28, 30-28, 27-30, 15-4) in non-league action on Oct. 29.

For the last five seasons, Conference USA has had at least three teams in the NCAA Tournament. C-USA has produced 23 NCAA teams in its first eight years.

AMONG THE RANKED
Here is a look at the latest AVCA/USA Today poll for the week of Dec. 2

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

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Washington (71), California (59), SOUTH FLORIDA (25), Arkansas (24), Michigan State (17), LOUISVILLE (16), Notre Dame (13), Texas (10), Northwestern (10), Colorado State (9), Texas A&M (6), Arizona State (5), Fresno State (5).

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


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.
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

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, Cincinnati's 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.. The Bearcats had won the 2001 and 2000 out right, while sharing the 1999 regular season title with Houston.

NCAA RECORD
TRISH LADUSAW of Cincinnati has broken into the Top 3 of the NCAA all-time career digs leaders. She currently ranks third with 2,054 digs.

COACHING MILESTONES
Saint Louis' MARILYN NOLEN posted her 800th win of her career against Marquette on 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.

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.

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 2,054 in 466 games played. She surpassed former Blue Demon Stephanie Bishop (1998-01), who notched 1,842 career digs in 493 games played.

NCAA STATISTICS
Here is where C-USA ranks among the 2002 national statistical leaders as of Nov. 25.

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 went 2-0 last weekend, defeating Xavier and Dayton at the Atlantic 10/C-USA Challenge. Cincinnati has recorded its eighth 20-win season in 2002 and earned its fourth consecutive berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats will face Arizona State in the first round on Friday. TRISH LADUSAW currently ranks third on the NCAA's career digs chart with 2,054. She only needs two more digs to pass Julie Groves of Evansville.

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 finished 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 fell to Arkansas, but defeated Kentucky at the UCF Tournament to end the 2002 season with a 19-13 overall mark. JENNY TANNEBERGER, a 2002 First-Team Conference USA selection and three-time 2002 Player of the Week, concluded her four-year career with 19 kills (.447) and five blocks against Kentucky. She ranked fourth in the conference with 5.26 kills per game. She also notched two 30-plus performances this season.

LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals swept both Xavier and Dayton at the Atlantic 10/C-USA Challenge last weekend. STACEY MERCER led Louisville with 14 kills against and two blocks against Dayton. Louisville will be making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth in the last 10 years, when it faces off against Ball State on Friday in the first round of the tournament. Last season, Louisville advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell to No. 14 Pacific, 3-1.

MARQUETTE: Marquette ended the 2002 season with a 3-1 loss to No. 14 North Carolina last weekend. Under first year head coach Pati Rolf, the Golden Eagles notched a 13-16 overall record and 3-10 league mark. THERESA COUGHLIN led the team in kills with 3.68 per game. She also ranked sixth in the league with 0.41 service aces per game.

MEMPHIS: The Tigers conclude the season with a first round loss to Charlotte at the C-USA Tournament. Memphis posted a 19-15 overall record and 4-9 conference mark. Despite the loss, BRITTANY BARNETT notched 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: After sweeping Louisville in the finals of the 2002 Healthy Choice C-USA Tournament, South Florida earned its second NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Nancy Mueller and sixth in the last eight years. South Florida faces Florida State for the second time this season. The Bulls defeated the Seminoles, 3-2 (23-30, 30-28, 30-28, 27-30, 15-4), in non-league action on Oct. 29. 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.