Aug. 9, 2005
IRVING, Texas - The Conference USA volleyball coaches have selected Rice as the preseason favorite to win the 2005 C-USA Championship. The Owls return four starters and six letterwinners from a club that is coming off its most successful season in program history after receiving their first NCAA Championship bid with a 25-5 (12-1 Western Athletic Conference) record in 2004. Marshall's Kelly-Anne Billingy was named the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year after earning All-America honorable mention honors last year.
UCF was selected eighth in the poll. The Golden Knights will be competing in C-USA for the first time after moving from the Atlantic Sun.
The four Rice returnees include starters Tessa Kuykenall, Kristina Hoban and Olaya Pazo, who was first team All-WAC in 2004, and libero Yvette Kirk. Head coach Genny Volpe enters her second year at the helm for Rice after guiding the Owls to a 25-5 record in 2004, including a perfect 11-0 mark at Autry Court where they won every match 3-0. Autry Court will be the site of this year's Conference USA Volleyball Tournament, a four-day event beginning Nov. 17.
Marshall is picked to finish second as the Thundering Herd comes off of its third straight 20-plus win season since head coach Mitch Jacob's arrival and two appearances in the Mid-American Conference finals. Marshall returns all of its starters and every player on scholarship from 2004, including Billingy, who was named the 2005 C-USA Preseason Player of the Year. The Trincity, Trinidad native was not only named the 2004 MAC Freshman of the Year, but shattered several records at Marshall in her first season. Her 694 single-season kill tally dwarfed the former mark of 502 set in 1996 by Alisha Bable. Billingy also set the new record for kills in a match with 34, her 65 service aces led the team and league, her 694 kills was the third highest total in the nation, she was sixth in the nation with 5.64 kills/game, she was the only freshman in the country in the top 25 in kills and her .318 hitting percentage set a school record..
Memphis, which returns eight letterwinners from its 27-10 2004 squad, is third in the preseason poll. The Tigers will see the return of senior outside hitter Nancy Nellans, who led the team in kills against C-USA opponents in 2004. Nellans reached the 1,000-kill mark last year and is 12 digs shy of the 1,000-dig plateau. She would become just the 10th Tiger to record 1,000 kills and digs in a career.
SMU and Houston follow in a tie for fourth place. The Mustangs claimed their first consecutive .500 season with a 37-21 record over the last two seasons. Senior middle blocker Kelly Larkin is one of SMU's three returning starters, averaging 2.43 kills per game and hitting .269 in 2004. The Cougars return five starters, including the reigning C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Jaci Gonzalez. Gonzalez is expected to spearhead the defense after setting school and C-USA single-match records with 43 digs and single-season records with 698 digs in 2004.
The Green Wave is slated at sixth in the poll despite having a very different look to the squad in 2005. Liz Kritza will begin her first year as the head coach of the Green Wave in 2005. Kritza, however, is no stranger to the program as she was a standout middle blocker during her playing career with the Green Wave from 1995-98 and served as an assistant coach from 1999-2004.
Tulsa was chosen to finish seventh in Conference USA action as the Golden Hurricane welcomes back two starters and its libero, Evyn Wills. The senior currently stands second all-time on the TU charts with 1,059 and owns the second and third most digs for a single-season in school history. Head coach Matt Sonnichsen owns the best winning percentage in the program's history with a current mark of .490. UCF follows in eighth place as the Golden Knights return three starters from a year ago, including senior setter Katie Kohnen. Kohnen averaged a team-high 4.09 digs per game last season. Her 33 digs in a match against Florida Atlantic last season made her the second player in Golden Knights history to record at least 30 digs in a contest.
Rounding out the final four positions are UTEP, Southern Miss, East Carolina and UAB. The Miners will be looking to improve their 10-15 overall record in 2004 as they welcome the return of five starters and the libero for 2005. Southern Miss' six returnees accounted for 81 percent of their offense, 75 percent of the digs and 66 percent of the blocking from the previous session. Four of the returning players recorded over 100 or more kills during the 2004 season. East Carolina enters 2005 with a new coaching staff as Chris Rushing became the Pirates' 10th head coach in Pirate history. UAB's addition of seven newcomers and its four returning starters should help the Blazers improve their 1-24 record from last season.
2005 CONFERENCE USA PRESEASON POLL
1. Rice (25-5, 12-1 WAC in 2005)
2. Marshall (22-11, 11-5 MAC)
3. Memphis (27-10, 9-4 C-USA)
T4. Houston (11-21, 5-8 C-USA)
T4. SMU (14-14, 5-8 WAC)
6. Tulane (17-12, 6-7 C-USA)
7. Tulsa (17-10, 5-8 WAC)
8. UCF (8-15, 5-5 Atlantic Sun)
9. UTEP (10-15, 2-11 WAC)
10. Southern Miss (7-20, 2-11 C-USA)
11. East Carolina (11-18, 5-8 C-USA)
12. UAB (1-24, 0-13 C-USA)
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR Kelly-Anne Billingy, Marshall