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2005 Conference USA Volleyball Championship
Marshall 3, Houston 2

Nov. 20, 2005

Final Stats

Houston, Texas - Marshall captured this year's Conference USA Volleyball Championship crown, earning the league's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Houston Sunday in Rice's Autry Court. Charging the way for the Thundering Herd was 2005 C-USA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP Kelly-Anne Billingy.

Marshall beat Houston for the second time this season with scores of 30-26, 25-30, 30-28, 28-30 and 15-8. It w as the third five-game match this week for the Herd after only playing two five-game contests all season.

"Today was a tough match between two really good teams," said Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs. "The first games could have fallen either way as both teams were impressive. Both Bill (Walton, UH head coach) and I agreed that whatever team passed well, was the team that won."

The Cougars and the Herd went back and forth between games one through four, forcing a deciding game five, which fell in Marshall's favor, 15-8. With the win, the Herd improves its record to 26-5 overall, passing the 1995 squad that was 25-11 and is the last Marshall team to compete in an NCAA Tournament.

"We knew we were coming out today to play a great team," said Billingy, who had 28 kills on 63 swings and 19 digs in the match. "But what was important is that we started the match 0-0 and concentrated point for point. I think we finally relaxed and just played volleyball."

Joining Billingy on the All-Tournament team was teammate Nickie Sanlin. The senior had 14 kills, one of four Herd players to post double-digit tallies. Also impressive for MU was Amber Sims and Stephanie Cahill. Sims had 19 kills with only three errors on a .615 hitting percentage, while Cahill recorded 12 kills and 14 digs for her 15th double-double performance of the season.

"Sims was the reason we are here tonight," Jacobs, who was named Conference USA Coach of the Year earlier in the week, reiterated. "She played like a true champion night."

The Cougars were relentless for the match as senior Kariny Ritter led the squad with 21 kills and added six digs. Classmate and C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Jaci Gonzalez had a match-high 28 digs. Both were named to the All-Tournament team.

Becca Sartori and Justine Farmer also had double-digit kills for the Cougs, adding 14 and 13, respectively.

A crowd of 485 came out to Autry Court to see the victory as a national audience participated live on CSTV. Chris MaGee and Holly McPeak provided color for the event.

For complete C-USA Championship coverage, please go to:Tournament Central

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Kelly-Anne Billingy, Marshall
Jaci Gonzalez, Houston
Sara Radosevic, Tulane
Kariny Ritter, Houston
Nickie Sanlin, Marshall
Brittany Stowers, UTEP

TOURNAMENT MVP
Kelly-Anne Billingy, Marshall

2005 C-USA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Thursday, November 17, 2005: Match 1 - (9) UCF def. (8) Memphis, 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-24) Match 2 - (5) East Carolina def. (12) Southern Miss, 3-0 (30-21, 32-30, 30-27) Match 3 - (11) Tulane def. (6) Rice, 3-2 (31-33, 30-23, 30-27, 18-30, 15-13) Match 4 - (7) SMU def. (10) UAB, 3-1 (27-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-21)

Friday, November 18, 2005 (Quarterfinals): Match 5 - (1) Marshall def. UCF, 3-2 (24-30, 23-30, 30-25, 30-23, 15-10) Match 6 - (4) UTEP def. East Carolina, 3-0 (30-25, 31-29, 30-25) Match 7 - Tulane def. (3) Tulsa, 3-2 (26-30, 30-25, 21-30, 30-15, 15-13) Match 8 - (2) Houston def. SMU, 3-1 (30-19, 17-30, 30-25, 30-13)

Saturday, November 19, 2005 (Semifinals): Match 9 - Marshall def. UTEP, 3-2 (23-30, 21-30, 30-24, 30-28, 15-6) Match 10 - Houston def. Tulane, 3-0 (30-20, 30-22, 30-27)

Sunday, November 20, 2005 (Championship): Match 11 - Championship Match - Marshall def. Houston, 3-2 (30-26, 25-20, 30-28, 28-30, 15-8)