Nov. 19, 2004

MEMPHIS, Tenn.-- - Conference USA announced its 2004 Volleyball awards and Memphis seniors Tiara Gilkey and Heather Watts were among those honored for their performances throughout the year. Gilkey was named a C-USA Second Team All-Conference performance, while Watts earned first team accolades and was recognized as the league's best setter by being selected as the 2004 C-USA Setter of the Year. Cincinati's Julie DuPont was named the eague's Player of the Year, while Louisville's Leonid Yeltsin garnered Coach of the Year honors.

Watts, who became the first All-C-USA preseason pick under heach coach Carrie Yerty earlier this season, leads the league with 1,688 assists. She is a five-time Setter of the Week honoree and ranks 15th in the country with 13.50 assists per game. Watts is just 104 assists shy of breaking the C-USA record of 1,792 assists, which she set last season. The Sandy, Utah native set a Memphis Volleyball record with 81 assists against TCU last Thursday. Watts has already begun earing postseason recognition as she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV First team on Nov. 13.

Gilkey receives Second team All-Confernce honors a year after claiming Third team recognition. The St. Louis, Mo. native leads the Tigers on both sides of the net, pacing the team with 480 kills (3.87 kills/game) and 378 digs (3.05 digs/game). Gilkey earned Player and Co-Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks this season. One of two Memphis seniors, Gilkey has posted 20 double-doubles this season. She has led the team in kills all season and has put down double-digits in kills on 26 occasions in her senior season and now ranks second all-time in Memphis hostory with 1,487 kills.

Fifth-seeded Memphis will face the 12-seed DePaul Blue Demons in the first round of the 2004 ChevronTexaco Conference USA Volleyball Tournament. Match time is set for 3 p.m. at Louisville's Cardinal Arena. Memphis is 2-0 all-time against DePaul in postseason play. The Tigers swept the Blue Demons back on Oct. 30.

The Conference USA All-Conference honors are as follows:

2004 ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS

All-Conference First Team
Aida Antanaviciute, Saint Louis
Julie DuPont, Cincinnati
Jaci Gonzalez (L), Houston
Bing Sun, Louisville
Dominika Szabo, TCU
Lena Ustymenko, Louisville
Heather Watts (S), Memphis

All-Conference Second Team
Theresa Coughlin, Marquette
Deva Fowler, Tulane
Tiara Gilkey, Memphis
Rachel Torblaa, Cincinnati
Sarah Vernon (S), Marquette
Talaya Whitfield (L), TCU
Anastasia Yartseva, Louisville

All-Conference Third Team
Janet Goreham, DePaul
Ellen Hayes (L), DePaul
Myann Hellsten, Cincinnati
Jennifer Hoffman, Louisville
Erin Ludeke (S), TCU
Kelly McAnelly, Houston
Anna Vaughn, TCU

All-Freshman Team
Svetlana Dukule, Louisville
Kristina Fabris, USF
Sutton Lasater, Saint Louis
Elenda Pilnikova, Louisville
Kimberly Todd, Marquette
Talaya Whitfield, TCU

Player of the Year
Julie DuPont, Cincinnati

Coach of the Year
Leonid Yelin, Louisville

Defensive Player of the Year
Jaci Gonzalez, Houston

Setter of the Year
Heather Watts, Memphis

Freshmen of the Year
Kristina Fabris, USF