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Oct. 15 C-USA Volleyball Recap
Tulsa's Tyler Henderson records 1,000 career kills; Kerry Messersmith picks up her 100th win at UAB.

	Tyler Henderson

Oct. 16, 2010

IRVING, Texas - - With six matches on tap Friday night three went the distance and four teams picked up critical home court wins. Headlining the night was Tulsa and SMU's 3-0 victories at Marshall and East Carolina, respectively, to remain as the No. 1 and 2 teams in the league. The Golden Hurricane extends its winning-streak to 17-consecutive victories, while the Mustangs have won eight of their last nine matches.

Winning at home in five sets was Memphis, UAB and Southern Miss. The Tigers defeated Houston, who had won four of its last five outings. Rice was dropped by the Blazers to give UAB its second conference win and snap a three-match losing skid. Defending C-USA regular season champion Southern Miss returned to the win column with a victory over UCF. Tulane also picked up an important win by sweeping UTEP in New Orleans.

RECENT RESULTS
Fri., Oct. 15
Memphis 3, Houston 2
UAB 3, Rice 2
Southern Miss 3, UCF 2
SMU 3, East Carolina 0
Tulsa 3, Marshall 0
Tulane 3, UTEP 0

Wed., Oct. 13
Tulsa 3, Oral Roberts 0

UPCOMING MATCHES
(all times Central)
Sun., Oct. 17
SMU at Marshall Noon
Tulsa at East Carolina Noon
Houston at UAB 1 p.m.
Rice at Memphis 1 p.m.
UTEP at Southern Miss 1 p.m.
UCF at Tulane 1 p.m.

C-USA VOLLEYBALL SNAP SHOTS (Friday, Oct. 15)
Memphis 3, Houston 2
Sophomore OH/RS Altrese Hawkins of Memphis downed a team-high 16 kills and hit .406 in a 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-17) come from behind victory over Houston. She also led Memphis's blocking efforts with five total blocks. Memphis (12-7, 3-4 C-USA) was held under .200 hitting in each of the first three sets, but came alive with a combined 21 kills in the fourth and fifth. The win was Memphis's first against Houston since 2007.

Junior MB Lucy Charuk led the Cougars (11-9, 5-3 C-USA) with 17 kills and seven blocks. Chandace Tryon added 12 kills and 10 blocks, while Amanda Carson turned in a match-high 20 digs.

UAB 3, Rice 2
With a 3-2 win (18-25, 26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 12-15) Rice, UAB fifth-year head coach Kerry Messersmith picked up her 100th win with the program. Messersmith, who owns 574 total victories in her career, now has a record of 100-58 at UAB. The Blazers' middle blockers were keys on both the offensive and defensive sides of the net. Sam Serley finished with a match-best 18 kills and a .552 attack percentage. The sophomore also led all players with eight blocks for a UAB (5-4, 2-5 C-USA) team that posted a season-high 17 total blocks in the contest. Fellow middle Michelle Uzoh managed 13 kills and contributed on seven blocks. Freshman Ally Slaughter put down a career-high 14 kills and 10 digs for her first collegiate double-double. Blazer setter Alison Woods also turned in a double-double with a match-high 57 assists to go along with 15 digs.

Rice (11-9, 6-2 C-USA) was led by freshman Mariah Riddlesprigger's career-high 16 kills and Nancy Cole's 14 kills and seven block assists. The Owls tallied a season-high 26 block assists, as freshman MB Megan Shepard carded six block assists and had eight kills.

Two of the top liberos in the country were also on display Friday night. Rice's Tracey Lam, who ranks 10th in the nation in digs-per-set, posted a match-high 32 digs, while UAB's Heather Thomas, who ranks 12th nationally, finished with 20.

Southern Miss 3, UCF 2
Redshirt junior OH Ashley Mell and sophomore OH Halie Ecker tallied 23 and 18 kills, respectively, as Southern Miss outlasted UCF, 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 19-25, 15-12). Juniors Lauren Sears and Amelia Hendrickson each provided eight kills, while junior S Kelsea Seymour dished out a 57 assists as junior L Lisa Knecht led five Eagle players in double-digit digs with a match-high 34. Mell collected her 12th double-double with 14 digs as sophomore defensive specialist Elizabeth Rinaudo picked up 13 digs and Ecker added in 16 digs for her seventh double-double and Seymour finished with 13 digs as well.

Juniors Kristin Fisher and Rachel Vukson each posted double-doubles for UCF (9-10, 2-5 C-USA). Fisher totaled a team-best 22 kills and 11 digs for her eighth double-double of 2010, while Vukson added 54 assists, 14 digs and a career-high seven total blocks for her third double-double on the season.

SMU 3, East Carolina 0
Junior OH Dana Powell led SMU (15-4, 7-1 C-USA) with 12 kills and 14 digs for her 13th double-double of the season as the Mustangs swept (25-18, 25-16, 25-11) host East Carolina. Junior L Sidney Stewart had a team-high 16 digs. ECU (1-18, 0-7) freshman L Shelby Beasley tallied a career-high 23 digs while redshirt junior DS Nicole Jones and senior OH Marina Gusman-Brown racked up 17 and 13, respectively.

Tulsa 3, Marshall 0
The AVCA and the CVU.com National Player of the Week, Tyler Henderson recorded 18 kills to eclipse the 1,000 kills mark in Tulsa's 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) sweep of Marshall. Henderson became the sixth player in TU history to record 1,000 kills and joins teammate Hannah Stout, who recently moved into the 1,000-kill club. The Hurricane won its 16th straight match and improved to 18-2 overall and 8-0 in C-USA play, extending its best start in school history both overall and in conference matches.

Senior S Elizabeth Fleming posted her seventh double-double of the season with 25 assists and 12 digs for Marshall (9-10, 3-4 C-USA). Senior OH Elizabeth Herman posted a team-high nine kills.

Tulane 3, UTEP 0
Freshman MB Cori Martone paced all players with 15 kills in Tulane's 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21 ) victory over UTEP. Sophomore RS Milica Jovic added 14 kills and a pair of blocks in the victory. Freshman S Mel Mandelbaum handed out 42 assists. The Green Wave (5-14, 2-5 C-USA) posted a .320 hitting percentage.

UTEP's Bridget Logan, Taylor Nix and Melissa Toth each tallied team-highs of five kills each. The Miners (12-8, 4-3 C-USA) were stellar once again in the frontcourt, posting 8.5 blocks to Tulane's three.

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