Volleyball Earns Post Season Honors
November 15, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2000
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Conference USA announced its 2000 volleyball awards winners at the championship banquet Wednesday evening at the Hilton at University Place. The Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament will be contested Thursday-Sunday at Halton Arena.
In her second season at the helm of the South Florida program, Mueller has directed the Bulls to a 25-4 record overall and a 15-1 league mark. This marks the fourth time in six years that South Florida has won the National Division title after losing just one conference match during the regular season. South Florida enters the tournament atop a school record 18-match winning streak.
After a torn ACL, MCL and lateral meniscus sidelined her for most of the 1999 season, South Florida's Michelle Collier has rebounded to earn C-USA Player of the Year honors. A two-time league Player of the Week honoree, she has had four 30+ kill performances this fall, including a school and Conference USA record 41 kills against Louisville. Her 106 attempts against the Cardinals are not only a school and league mark but an NCAA record as well.
Collier was joined on the all-league first team by Cincinnati's Rachel Beran,Trish Ladusaw, Bonita Wise and Stephanie Meinig, DePaul's Kara Jakusz and Stephanie Bishop, Houston's Jennifer Wittenburg, Louisville's Stacey Mercer, Colleen Hunter of Saint Louis, South Florida's Rachelle Paul and Tulane's Kim Sentmore.
The second team consists of Charlotte's Ozlem Ozkan, Cincinnati's Shauntel Miller, DePaul's Christa Dirr, Houston's Michelle Frazier and Bobbi Stewart, Louisville's Kelly McClain, Lesley Drury, Emily Roberson and Anastasia Zaitseva, Marquette's Mehgan Devine, South Florida's Melanie Mueller and Tulane's Erin Dobyanski.
Lauder and Zaitseva were named the league's Co-Freshman of the Year. This marks the second straight year that a Louisville and Cincinnati newcomer have shared the honor. Lauder is third in the league with 12.77 assists per game and owns the second- and third-best single-match assist performances (83 at Western Kentucky and 74 vs. UW Milwaukee) in the league. Zaitseva is 10th in the league in hitting percentage (.254) and is eighth in league match service aces (0.32 per game).
Ladusaw and Jakusz are the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and Conference USA Setter of the Year, respectively. Ladusaw became the ninth Cincinnati player and first sophomore to surpass the 1,000 career dig plateau. Jakusz owns a career assist average of 13.10 per game, which is sixth in NCAA history. She has dished out at least 50 assists in 15 different matches for the Blue Demons this season.
-more- 2000 CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL AWARDS
First Team All-C-USA RACHEL BERAN, DS, Cincinnati TRISH LADUSAW, OH, Cincinnati STEPHANIE MEINIG, MB, Cincinnati BONITA WISE, MB, Cincinnati KARA JAKUSZ, S, DePaul STEPHANIE BISHOP, OH, DePaul JENNIFER WITTENBURG, RH, Houston STACEY MERCER, MB, Louisville COLLEEN HUNTER, MH, Saint Louis MICHELLE COLLIER, OH, South Florida RACHELLE PAUL, MB, South Florida KIM SENTMORE, Opp., Tulane
Second Team All-C-USA OZLEM OZKAN, S, Charlotte SHAUNTEL MILLER, OH, Cincinnati CHRISTA DIRR, MB, DePaul MICHELLE FRAZIER, MH, Houston BOBBI STEWART, OH, Houston KELLY MCCLAIN, OH, Louisville LESLEY DRURY, OH, Louisville EMILY ROBERSON, OH/S, Louisville ANASTASIA ZAITSEVA, OH, Louisville MEHGAN DEVINE, MB, Marquette MELANIE MUELLER, S, South Florida ERIN DOBYANSKI, MH, Tulane
All-Freshman Team LAURA LAUDER, S, Cincinnati ANASTASIA ZAITSEVA, OH, Louisville ANN LOPATA, OH, Marquette BRITTANY BARNETT, OH, Memphis SHANNAN SWINEY, S, Saint Louis LAUREN JONES-MCCLAIN, OH, Tulane
Player of the Year: MICHELLE COLLIER, South Florida Coach of the Year: NANCY MUELLER, South Florida Setter of the Year: KARA JAKUSZ, DePaul Defensive Player of the Year: TRISH LADUSAW, Cincinnati Co-Freshmen of the Year: LAURA LAUDER, Cincinnati, ANASTASIA ZAITSEVA, Louisville
