Seven C-USA Volleyball Players Earn All-Midwest Region Honors

Julie DuPont

Seven Conference USA volleyball players were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Team, as announced Wednesday by the AVCA. Cincinnati’s Julie DuPont and Laura Lauder, Louisville's Sonja Percan, Bing Sun and Lena Ustymenko, USF's Shameka Mitchell and Tulane's Deva Fowler were all named to the All-Region Team.


By earning outright All-Region honors, all seven players are automatically eligible for AVCA All-America recognition, which will be announced on Dec. 17.

Cincinnati’s MYANNA HELLSTEN, Marquette’s THERESA COUGHLIN and Memphis’ HEATHER WATTS received All-Region honorable mention accolades, while Hellsten was also named Midwest Region Freshman of the Year.

Louisville led C-USA with three players named to the All-Region team – SONJA PERCAN, BING SUN and LENA USTYMENKO. The Cardinals, who captured the C-USA Tournament title and a share of the regular-season crown, finished with a 25-6 overall record and earned their 14th trip to the NCAA Tournament. U of L fell to Illinois, 3-0, in the second round of the tourney. Percan, who also earned first-team all-conference honors, finished her career as Louisville’s all-time leader in kills (1,850) and attacks (4,273). During the 2003 season, she ranked 10th in the conference in both hitting percentage (.297) and kills (3.88 pg). Sun was named to her second All-Region team after ranking third in the team in kills (3.18 pg) and points (393). Earning her first All-Region accolades, Ustymenko also claimed C-USA Tourney MVP honors after helping the Cardinals to their third league title in school history. She finished the year ranked third in the conference with 4.26 kills per game and fifth in points (4.94 pg).

Cincinnati’s JULIE DUPONT captured her second All-Region honor after leading the Bearcats (27-6) to their fifth straight NCAA Tournament. UC fell in the NCAA first round to UCF, 3-2. DuPont was named C-USA Player of the Year, finishing first in the conference with 5.43 kills per game and ranking seventh in digs (3.43 pg). She also set a school record for single season kills (624) and kills per game (5.43). Lauder, who claims her first All-Region accolade, earned C-USA Setter of the Year after ranking fourth in the nation with 13.87 assists per game. She ends her career in second place on C-USA’s all-time assists list with a total of 5,946. Hellstein became the third UC player in the last five years to earn the Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, joining Bonita Wise (1999) and Becky Stahl (2001). She placed second in the league with 1.30 blocks per game, while also setting a C-USA freshman record with 149 total blocks in 2003.

USF’s SHAMEKA MITCHELL was named to her first All-Midwest Region Team. She finished the 2003 season ranked second in the league in both kills (5.43 pg) and points (5.45 pg), and notched the conference season high in total blocks with 14 against Houston on Oct. 25.

Rounding out the All-Region team is Tulane’s DEVA FOWER, who led C-USA while ranking 13th in the NCAA with 1.49 blocks per game. She tallied double-digit kill totals in 25 of Tulane’s 32 matches, including four 20-plus kill outings. Fowler also paced the team in kills (3.83 pg), service aces (39), and total blocks (173).

Memphis’ HEATHER WATTS is the first-ever Tiger to earn All-Region honorable mention accolades under Tiger head coach CARRIE YERTY. She placed second in the league in assists (13.27 pg) and set a school record with 1,792 single-season assists. Watts was also one of two Tigers named to the C-USA All-Tournament team after helping the Tigers to their first-ever appearance in the C-USA championship finals.

Marquette’s THERESA COUGHLIN earned honorable mention honors after leading the Golden Eagle squad and finishing third in the league with 4.17 kills per game. She also posted a team-best .260 hitting percentage while leading Marquette to a 14-16 record, one half-match better than last year's mark of 13-16.


All-Midwest Region Team
Areal Bienemy, Butler
Julie DuPont, Cincinnati
Deva Fowler, Tulane
Laura Lauder, Cincinnati
Shameka Mitchell, USF
Sonja Percan, Louisville
Allie Smerz, Wright State
Lindsey Spoden, UW -Milwaukee
Bing Sun, Louisville
Paige Sun, Murray State
Janelle Tomlinson, UW-Green Bay
Lena Ustymenko, Louisville

Honorable Mention: Theresa Coughlin, Marquette, Myanna Hellsten, Cincinnati, Heather Watts, Memphis

Region Freshman of the Year: Myanna Hellsten, Cincinnati


--www.conferenceusa.com--