Nov. 7, 2005

With a convincing 3-0 win over UCF Sunday afternoon in Orlando, Fla., Marshall (21-5, 13-1 C-USA) clinched the Conference USA regular season title. Marshall improved to 21-5 overall and 13-1 in Conference USA with at least a two-match lead over all other teams in C-USA with two to play. The Thundering Herd holds the tie-breaker head-to-head over second place Houston, giving them the Conference USA title in its first season in the league. Against, the Golden Knights, the Herd was once again led by reigning AVCA Player of the Week Kelly-Anne Billingy with 17 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Amber Sims finished with 11 kills and .562 hitting percentage with five block assists and one solo, while teammate Nickie Sanlin hit .833 on the day with 10 kills on 12 swings with no errors. Senior setter Katie Stein added to her collection of stellar performances with 45 assists, seven kills, a .600 hitting percentage and nine digs in the win. Marshall also swept Southern Miss Friday night, which clinched the Herd's fourth-straight 20-win season. Billingy put down almost eight kills per game with 23 in the match and a .656 hitting percentage. Marshall has two more matches remaining. The Herd welcomes UAB and Memphis this weekend in the Cam Henderson Center on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Houston's (15-10, 10-3 C-USA) 3-0 win over Rice improved its record to 10-3 in league play, claiming one of the four first round byes at the upcoming C-USA Championship at Rice on Nov. 17-20. Becca Sartori and Zuela Adom combined for 30 kills against the Mustangs Sunday. Sartori ripped 18 kills on 28 swings committing only one error for a season-best .609 attack percentage, while Adom fired home a career-best 12 kills connecting at a .421 rate. Jennifer Hohl dished out a match-high 47 assists, surpassing the 1,000 assist-mark on the season. Hohl also tallied 12 digs for her sixth double-double in C-USA action. On Friday, UH dropped a 3-0 decision to Tulsa, despite Kariny Ritter nailing 16 kills to go along with 12 digs for the Cougs. Houston steps out of C-USA for a non-conference tilt at Texas State on Tuesday night. First serve in San Marcos is set for 7 p.m. (CT).

Tulsa (22-5, 9-4 C-USA) remained strong in C-USA action this weekend as the Golden Hurricane went 2-0, including wins over Rice and Houston. TU showed its appreciation to the senior trio by defeating preseason Conference USA favorite Rice in three-straight sets on Sunday. Tulsa was led by sophomore Kassiana Urnau who finished with 21 kills as well as a pair of aces and a pair of solo blocks. Junior Germana Hilario also reached double-figures in kills for the Golden Hurricane against the Owls, with 14. Sophomore Julia Silva added 42 assists while senior Evyn Wills finished with 15 digs. On Friday, Tulsa blew past Houston, led by senior Dana Weddle's match-best 16 kills for the Golden Hurricane.Tulsa will now travel to Oral Roberts on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CT). TU then returns to C-USA action playing Tulane at College Station, Texas on Friday at 7 p.m. and UTEP on Sunday.

Memphis (16-13, 7-5 C-USA) improved its league standing as it split a pair of C-USA home matches this weekend. Ashley Liford and Shelby Burton led the Tigers to a 3-1 win over Tulane in their home finale, Sunday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Liford ripped down 20 kills and hit .487, while Burton added 18 kills, a .533 attack percentage and eight blocks in the winning effort. Memphis finished its 2005 home slate with a 10-2 mark. Freshman Laura Côté posted a double-double of 56 assists and 14 digs against the Green Wave, while Christen Clayton had a match-high 23 digs. Memphis opened its weekend dropping a 3-0 decision to UTEP. Fehi Tuivai finished the night with a Memphis-best 14 kills and a .565 attack percentage. Clayton led all performers with 20 digs, while Tuivai had four blocks. Memphis will now prepare for its final C-USA regular-season weekend. The Tigers will travel to ECU for a 7 p.m. (ET) match on Friday before heading to Huntington, W.V. to take on Marshall on Sunday. The Tigers handed the Thundering Herd its only league loss of the season in a 3-2 triumph on Oct. 16.

UTEP (18-9, 8-6 C-USA) recorded three road wins last week. The Miners cruised to victories at Tulane on Wednesday, Memphis on Friday and UAB on Sunday. UTEP's victory over Tulane in College Station snapped a 15-match conference road losing streak that dated back to 2003. Jaymie Swift led the Miners, recording her fifth double-double of the season with 43 assists and 11 digs. She also had three aces. Conference USA Player of the Week Kari Stacy recorded a team-high 17 kills. Brittany Stowers was the defensive leader as she posted 23 digs on the night, her seventh 20-dig match of the season. Against Memphis, Stacy hit a team-high .350 and pounded 18 kills. UTEP's Brooke Peugh also had a double-digit kill performance with 10 against the Tigers. Stacy collected 23 kills in Sunday's win at UAB. Peugh contributed 12 kills and Keisha Hyman-Gifth chipped in with 11. Four Miners registered double-figure digs led by Stacy with 19. UTEP's 18 victories are its most since 1996 (19 wins). The Miners concludes the regular season with home matches against SMU on Friday and Tulsa on Sunday.

East Carolina (16-10, 7-6 C-USA) improved its C-USA mark with a 3-0 shutout win against Southern Miss Saturday at the Payne Center. Pam Ferris led all players with 15 kills and three service aces while also finishing one dig short of her four straight double-double. Sophomores Kelley Wernert and Mignon Dubenion also finished with double-digit kills against the Golden Eagles, finishing with 13 and 12 respectively. Heidi Krug recorded 46 assists on Saturday, extending her streak of at least 40 assists per match to 12. Four Pirates finished with double-figure kills led by Dubenion's 13 on Friday to help ECU post another league sweep over UCF. The Pirates return home this weekend for the final two C-USA matches of the season. ECU will take on Memphis on Friday at 7 p.m. (ET) before hosting UAB on Sunday at 1 p.m.

SMU (11-14, 7-6 C-USA) dropped its senior day match to Houston on Sunday, 3-0, in front of a large and enthusiastic FCA crowd. Member from various FCA chapters helped fill Moody Coliseum and stayed afterwards to ask questions to head coach Lisa Seifert and various players. In game action, Rachel Giubilato paced the Mustangs with her 18th double-double of the season, recording 11 kills and 10 digs in the loss. Natalie Peters continues to climb the all-time SMU blocks list during her freshman campaign, adding five total blocks on Sunday to go along with nine kills. Peters now has 33 solo blocks on the year, the most in SMU single-season history and fifth-best total all-time. Her 129 total blocks are the second-best single-season total ever. On Friday, the Mustangs dropped a 3-0 decision to Rice. The SMU squad returns to action this weekend, closing out the regular season with matches against UTEP and Tulane on the road.

Rice (16-9, 7-7 C-USA) got off to a great start this weekend steamrolling SMU on Friday in three-straight sets. Olaya Pazo led all hitters with 21 kills, and Tessa Kuykendall finished with 19 after hitting .593 for the match. Pazo also posted her 20th double-double of the season with her team-leading 17 digs. Sophomore Yvette Kirk recorded 16 digs, and Kristinia Hoban chipped in 10 digs along with her 46 assists. The Owls then dropped a 3-0 decision to Tulsa in Conference USA action on Sunday in Tulsa. Kuykendall led the Owls with 11 kills, while Pazo and freshman Karyn Morgan added 10 each. Pazo and Morgan also finished with double-doubles, posting 11 and 10 digs, respectively. The Owls make their final regular-season home appearance on Thursday when they host Houston at 7 p.m. (CT).

UAB (14-10, 5-8 C-USA) posted a 3-0 loss to Tulane on Friday before dropping a 3-1 decision to UTEP on Sunday. Three UAB players notched double-doubles in the Blazers' final home match of the 2005 season against the Miners. Freshmen Ivana Bozic (23 kills, 12 digs, 6 service aces), Aleksandra Vujovic (22 kills, 22 digs) and Nevena Stefanov (65 assists, 11 digs) set the tone for the Blazers. Shaniquwa Cooper also added ten kills and Nicole Bowland led all players with 23 digs. UAB had six players recorded double-digit dig performances against the Green Wave. The Blazers return to action this weekend with matches at Marshall and East Carolina. UAB squares off against the first-place Thundering Herd on Friday at 7 p.m. (ET) before finishing out the regular season against the Pirates on Sunday at 1 p.m.

UCF (7-15, 5-10 C-USA) dropped a 3-0 Conference USA match to visiting Marshall on Sunday. UCF started the match slowly, hitting just .065 as a team in the first game, compared to .500 for the Thundering Herd. Senior middle blocker Chaz Arah and junior middle blocker Jana Mitchell both totaled nine kills and four total blocks in the losing effort. On Friday, UCF fell to East Carolina. Sophomore outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder had a double-double with a match-high 17 kills and 17 digs, while junior setter Leah Alexander recorded 43 assists in the losing effort. UCF will next face North Florida on Tuesday in its last non-conference tilt of the season. First serve is set for 7 p.m. (ET).

Freshman Sara Radosevic had 20 kills and rookie setter Luna Rebrovic had 53 assists, but it was not enough as Tulane (3-13, 2-11 C-USA) dropped a 3-1 decision to C-USA foe Memphis Sunday at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Radosevic was one of three Tulane players to post double-digit kill totals, as senior Blair Moon had 13 and rookie middle blocker Jen Linder had a career-best 10. Moon, Rebrovic and Radosevic had double-doubles with 13, 12 and 10 digs, respectively, while senior libero Kelli Dickson led the squad with 16. On Friday, the Green Wave snapped a five-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over UAB. Moon and Radosevic combined for 29 kills, while Dickson tallied a match-high 24 digs in the winning effort. The Green Wave returns to action on Friday when they take on Tulsa at 7 p.m. (CT) at the G. Rollie White Coliseum at Texas A&M University. Tulane battles SMU on Sunday to close out the regular season.

Ashley Petrinec continues to led Southern Miss (6-16, 0-13 C-USA) this season. Despite her 10-kill and eight-kill efforts, Southern Miss dropped two league matches this weekend against East Carolina and league leader Marshall. Against the Pirates on Sunday, Petrinec led the Golden Eagles with 10 kills, while Morgan Johnson added eight kills. Amanda Blunck led the team with eight digs. On Friday against the Thundering Herd, Petrinec led with eight kills, while Johnson added seven. Southern Miss plays its third home match on Monday against Florida A&M at 7 p.m. (CT), in the Payne Center.