Cincinnati’s Julie DuPont was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Third Team, as announced by the AVCA on Wednesday. The league also had six players - Cincinnati’s Laura Lauder, Louisville’s Sonja Percan, Bing Sun and Lena Ustymenko, USF's Shameka Mitchell and Tulane's Deva Fowler - earn honorable mention All-America honors.


This category was added to the awards list this season. The awards will be presented on Friday at the AVCA All-America/Player of the Year banquet at the Dallas Wyndham Anatole Hotel.

DuPont, the 2003 Conference USA Player of the Year, is only the second C-USA player in league history to earn the distinction of third-team All-America. Michelle Collier of USF also claimed this honor in 2002. DuPont led the Bearcats to a 27-6 record and their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. UC fell in the NCAA first round to UCF, 3-2. A two time all-region honoree, DuPont finished 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 was also an all-region honoree, earned C-USA Setter of the Year after leading Cincinnati and 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.

Louisville led the league with three players named to the honorable mention team. Percan finished her career as U of L’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 ranked third in the team in kills (3.18 pg) and points (393), while teammate Lena Ustymenko finished the year ranked third in the conference with 4.26 kills per game and fifth in points (4.94 pg). She also claimed C-USA Tourney MVP honors after helping the Cardinals to their third league title in school history.

USF’s Mitchell 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.

Tulane’s Fowler led C-USA while ranking 13th in the NCAA with 1.49 blocks per game during the 2003 season. 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).


AVCA ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM
Julie DuPont, Cincinnati

AVCA ALL-AMERICA HONORABLE MENTION
Laura Lauder, Cincinnati
Sonja Percan, Louisville
Bing Sun, Louisville
Lena Ustymenko, Louisville
Shameka Mitchell, USF
Deva Fowler, Tulane