Cincinnati and Louisville earned berths to the 2003 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Bearcats (27-5), who claimed a share of the 2003 Conference USA regular season title with Louisville, will meet UCF on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. (EST) in Gainesville, Fla. The Cardinals (24-5), who earned C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA's after capturing the 2003 C-USA Tournament, take on Notre Dame in a first round showdown on Friday at 6 p.m., in Champaign, Illinois.



AMONG THE RANKED
Here is a look at this week's polls:

AVCA/USA Today poll. - (Dec. 1)
1. USC (65)
2. Hawai'i
3. Florida
4. Pepperdine
5. Stanford
6. Kansas State
7. UCLA
8. California
9. Nebraska
10. Penn State
11. Georgia Tech
12. Colorado State
13. Santa Clara
14. Washington
15. Loyola Marymount
16. Northern Iowa
17. Minnesota
18. Illinois
19. Louisville
20. UC Santa Barbara
21. Notre Dame
22. Arizona
23. Southwest Missouri State
24. Texas A&M
25. Maryland

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Florida A&M; Ohio; Colorado; San Francisco; Arkansas; Kansas; Pittsburgh; Utah; Wisconsin; Michigan State; Long Beach State; UC Irvine; Michigan; Missouri; CINCINNATI

Volleyball Magazine poll - (Dec. 1)
1. USC
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Pepperdine
5. Stanford
6. Nebraska
7. Penn State
8. California
9. Colorado State
10. UCLA
11. Kansas State
12. Georgia Tech
13. Northern Iowa
14. Washingotn
15. Santa Clara
16. Notre Dame
17. LOUISVILLE
18. Loyola Marymount
19. UC Santa Barbara
20. Minnesota

Others receiving votes: Illinois; Southwest Missouri State; Arizona; Pittsburgh; Florida A&M; Maryland; Ohio; CINCINNATI; Texas A&M; Arkansas; Michigan State; Wisconsin; San Francisco; Utah; Colorado; Long Beach State.

2003 NCAA TOURNAMENT
Cincinnati and Louisville earned berths to the 2003 NCAA Volleyball Tournament, as announced Sunday night. The Bearcats (27-5), who claimed a share of the 2003 Conference USA regular season title with Louisville, will meet UCF on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. (EST) in Gainesville, Fla. The Cardinals (24-5), who earned C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA's after capturing the 2003 C-USA Tournament, take on Notre Dame in a first round showdown on Friday at 6 p.m., in Champaign, Illinois.

The first and second round matches will be played at 16 different campus sites from Dec 4-6, and the regionals will be held Dec. 12-13. For the first time, there are pre-determined regional sites (Gainesville, Florida; Lincoln, Nebraska; Long Beach, California and Honolulu, Hawaii). The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by the Big 12 Conference and the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas on Dec. 18 and 20.

Cincinnati is making its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth overall. The Bearcats, who posted their ninth-consecutive 20-plus win season with a 27-5 record, battle UCF (22-6), the winner of the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. The winner moves on to take on either third-seeded Florida (31-1) or Georgia Southern (27-9) on Friday night.

Louisville will be making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cardinals advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1996 and 1998. With a win on Friday, U of L will face 15th-seeded Illinois (24-6) or Murray State (24-5) on Saturday at 8 p.m.

2003 C-USA TOURNEY
Louisville captured the 2003 Conference USA Volleyball Tournament title after sweeping Memphis, 3-0 (31-29, 30-22, 30-13) on Monday at Fogelman Arena. It marked the Cardinals third C-USA Tourney crown in school history, after also claiming the 1998 and 2000 titles.

Louisville's LENA USTYMEKO earned Tournament MVP honors, recording 12 kills for a .286 attack percentage. Teammates SONJA PERCAN and BING SUN also claimed all-tournament accolades after notching 10 and 12 kills, respectively.

For Memphis, HEATHER WATTS was named to the all-tournament team after posting 35 assists, 12 digs and two service aces. Joining Watts on the team was TIARA GILKEY, who led the Memphis offense with 10 kills.

Houston's KELLY MCANELLY also was named to the All-Tournament team after leading Houston to the C-USA Tournament semifinals.

SAINT LOUIS' NOLEN RETIRES
Saint Louis head coach MARILYN NOLEN announced her retirement from coaching last Friday. A true pioneer in the sport of volleyball and the advancement of women's athletics, the 59-year old Nolen was in her 32nd year of collegiate coaching and her 10th at the helm of the Billikens. She ranked third on the active NCAA Division I coaching victory list and concluded with a career record of 809-358-12 and 190-140 at SLU. Nolen coached in her last match on Friday in the first round of the 2003 Conference USA Tournament.

THE 20-PLUS WIN CLUB
For only the second time in C-USA history, six schools have compiled 20 or more victories in a season. Cincinnati (27-5), Southern Miss (27-6), Memphis (30-6), Tulane (25-7), Louisville (24-5) and TCU (20-16) have claimed 20 or more victories. Five C-USA schools have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons.

TIGERS' 30TH VICTORY
After posting a 3-1 victory over Tulane in the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals on No. 23, Memphis recorded its 30th victory of the season, marking only the third time in school history that a Tiger squad has reached this milestone. Memphis becomes only the second squad in C-USA history to reach 30 victories in a season. USF posted a 30-7 record in 2002.

DÉJÀ VU REGULAR SEASON FINALE
In a case of reverse déjà vu, USF, who was denied an undefeated Conference USA season last year in the season's final game, did the same to Cincinnati on Nov. 15. The Bearcats, who entered the match with a 12-0 C-USA record, suffered their first and only conference loss against the Bulls. Cincinnati captured its third regular season title, sharing the 2003 crown with Louisville, who also finished the season with a 12-1 league mark. The Cardinals are the only squad in the league's nine-year history to have gone undefeated in C-USA play. In the first year of league action (1995), Louisville notched a 12-0 conference record.

ALL-CONFERENCE
Conference USA announced its 2003 volleyball awards winners. Here is a list of honorees:

First Team All-Conference
Julie DuPont, OH, Cincinnati
Laura Lauder, S, Cincinnati
Sonja Percan, OH, Louisville
Lena Ustymenko, OH/MB, Louisville
Shameka Mitchell, MB, USF
Deva Fowler, MB, Tulane
Karlyn Daly, L, Tulane

Second Team All-C-USA
Loure Dewes, MH, Houston
Jaci Gonzalez, L, Houston
Theresa Coughlin, OH, Marquette
Brittany Barnett, OH, Memphis
Andrea Bush, OH, Southern Miss
Bridget Files, MB, Southern Miss
Anastasia Kenon, OH, Tulane

Third Team All-C-USA
Lindsey Garrison, L, Cincinnati
Rachel Torblaa, MB, Cincinnati
Bing Sun, OH, Louisville
Tiara Gilkey, OH, Memphis
Heather Watts, S, Memphis
Dominika Swabo, OH, TCU
Martina Shields, OH, UAB

All-Freshman Team
Myanna Hellsten, MB, Cincinnati
Jamie Bevan, MB, East Carolina
Kelly McAnelly, OH, Houston
Anastasia Yartseva, OH/MB, Louisville
Anna Vaughn, MB, TCU
Bilun Gunal, S, UAB

Player of the Year
Julie DuPont, Cincinnati

Coach of the Year:
Santiago Restrepo, Southern Miss

Setter of the Year:
Laura Lauder, Cincinnati

Defensive Player of the Year:
Karlyn Daly, Tulane

Freshman of the Year:
Myanna Hellsten, Cincinnati

C-USA NOTEBOOK

CHARLOTTE: The 49ers closed out the 2003 season with an 8-22 overall record and 1-12 conference mark. Senior JESSICA KELLY finished her career with 288 total blocks, just 11 short from cracking the school's career top 10 list. She finished her career only four block assists out of the top 10 with 219. This season, ABBEY SZLANFUCHT led the 49ers with 3.33 kills per game, while CHANDA WALLER followed with 2.91 kills per game.

CINCINNATI: Cincinnati went 1-1 at the C-USA/MAC Thanksgiving Challenge last weekend, defeating Ball State, but falling to Western Michigan. The Bearcats will be making their fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance, travelling to Gainesville, Fla. for a first round match-up with Atlantic Sun Conference Champion Central Florida (22-6) on Thursday. The Bearcats and Golden Knights have met just once, a 1978 meeting at the Princeton Invitational. UCF, known at the time as Florida Tech, was victorious by scores of 15-3 and 15-5.

DE PAUL: The Blue Demons finished out the year 11-20 overall and 3-11 in C-USA. MANDY MOOREBERG led the team in kills with 3.50 per game, while JANET COTTER followed with 3.34 per game.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates concluded the 2003 season with a 10-21 overall record and 1-12 league mark. SARAH VICK led the squad with 2.86 kills per game, while JAIME BEVAN followed with 2.56 per contest for a team-high .259 attack percentage.

HOUSTON: Houston closed out the 2003 season with a 3-0 loss to No. 1 USC on Saturday. The Cougars were led by BECCA SARTORI and CINTHIA PIVA, who both finished with 10 kills in the match. LOURE DEWS added eight kills for UH while setter MIRELA VASCONCELLOS passed out 20 assists. The Cougars concluded the season with a 12-20 overall record.

LOUISVILLE: Louisville defeated Western Michigan, but fell to Ball State at the C-USA/MAC Thanksgiving Challenge last weekend. The Cardinals, who will be making their 14th NCAA appearance, will play Notre Dame in Champaign, Ill., on Friday. If the Cardinals advance, they will meet the winner of the Illinois/Murray State match on Saturday. The two teams have not met since 1999 when they lost 3-0. Under head coach LEONID YELIN, the Cardinals are 1-2 against the Irish. U of L won 3-2 in 1996. Should U of L and Illinois both advance, the Cardinals will square off against head coach Don Hardin's Illini. Hardin coached at U of L from 1988-1995.

MARQUETTE: Marquette finished its season with a record of 14-16, one half-match better than last year's mark of 13-16. THERESA COUGHLIN ranked fifth in the conference with 4.17 kills and GEMMA GREER was fourth in C-USA with 12.41 assists per game.

MEMPHIS: With a 30-6 overall record, Memphis became only the second team in C-USA history to post 30 wins in a season. BRITTANY BARNETT finishes her career as the program's third ranked player with 1,349 career kills and eighth with 1,174 career digs. SHELLA NEBA finishes her career ranked fourth in career block assists and eighth in career block solos. In all, the two seniors guided the Tigers to two 20+ win seasons and one 19 win season.

SAINT LOUIS: SLU head coach MARILYN NOLEN announced her retirement after 32 seasons, 10 with Saint Louis. She concluded her career with a record of 809-358-12, the fourth most wins in NCAA Division I history. KAYLA KMITTA finished the season with a team-high 2.52 kills, while Alexis Cooley led the squad with a .260 attack percentage.

USF: USF fell to Houston, 3-2, in the first round of the C-USA Tournament. The loss finalized the Bulls season out at 12-20 overall and 6-7 in the conference. It also marked the final match in a USF uniform for four Bull seniors: BONNYE GLOVER, MELAYNE WOOTAN, FRAN POZZI and JENNY SCHOLLE, who all made significant contributions in the match. Pozzi and Wootan both notched double-doubles with Pozzi tallying a team-leading 26 kills and 10 digs and Wootan recording a team-leading 18 digs and 74 assists. Pozzi's kills and Wootan's digs marked career highs for both in that category. Pozzi led three USF players in double-digit kills as junior SHAMEKA MITCHELL had 22 and JOHARI WILLIAMS recorded her first career double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.

SOUTHERN MISS: Southern Miss fell to Marquette, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. The match possibly was the final competition for the team's three seniors - ANDREA BUSH, BRIDGET FILES and NICKI TRIBBLE. The trio combined to lead Southern Miss to a school record 27 wins and the best winning percentage of all-time. Bush and Files were both selected to the All-Conference USA Second Team.

TCU: TCU went 0-3 at the Baden Thanksgiving Tournament last weekend. The Frogs finish the 2003 season with a school-record 20-16 overall and a 5-8 mark in Conference USA play. TCU advancing to the quarterfinals was a best-ever finish for the Frogs in the C-USA Tournament.

TULANE: Tulane dropped a 3-1 match to Memphis at the C-USA Tournament. ANASTASIA KENON led three Green Wave players with double-digit kill totals with 18, followed by junior DEVA FOWLER with 14 and LINDSEY NORMAN with 12. The Green Wave finish with a 25-7 overall record, marking the second consecutive 20-plus win season. Tulane held a 12-match winning streak at home, before falling to Memphis in the quarterfinals. They led C-USA in home wins with 17.

UAB: UAB fell to Pittsburgh 3-0 last Saturday in consolation round play at the Banker¹s Classic hosted by the University of the Pacific. For the third straight season, UAB improved its overall and C-USA win totals under fourth-year head coach MELINDA CLAIBORNE. UAB¹s 14 wins overall are the most since the 1997 season and the Blazers' six league wins are the most since joining C-USA in 1995, and the most conference wins overall since 1993. Six Blazers joined the double-double club in 2003, recording double digit performances in two of the following categories during a match: kills, assists, service aces, digs, block solos, block assists or total blocks. MARTINA SHIELDS and BREANNE SWENSON led the team lead with 15; KAREN BOYD had eight; BILUN GUNAL posted six; and sophomore outside/right side hitter LINDSAY CARNOHAN and JENNA LINK each had five.