TicketsCincinnati Picked Second in C-USA Preseason Poll
Junior Bonita Wise named a preseason all-league selection
8/17/2001
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CINCINNATI, Ohio- The University of Cincinnati volleyball team has been picked to finished second in Conference USA this season while junior middle blocker Bonita Wise was named to the preseason all-league team in voting by the league's head coaches.
Wise ranked ninth in C-USA blocks last season (1.01 blocks per game) and fourth in league play (1.25 bpg). She is joined by preseason player of the year Michele Collier (South Florida), Stephanie Bishop (DePaul), Colleen Hunter (Saint Louis), Stacey Mercer (Louisville) and Jennifer Wittenburg (Houston) on the all-league squad.
Louisville is the favorite to win the conference title, while Houston tied with South Florida to finish third. All four teams at the top of the preseason poll advanced to the NCAA tournament a year ago.
DePaul is slated to finish fifth followed by Tulane, TCU, Saint Louis and Marquette. Rounding out the bottom five of the poll is Charlotte, Memphis, Southern Miss, East Carolina and UAB.
With the addition of TCU and East Carolina to Conference USA, the league's 14 teams now compete in one division. The teams will play a 16-match schedule, single round robin (13 matches), with each team meeting its traditional rival twice and two additional teams twice. The two additional teams would rotate each year. The traditional rivals are Charlotte and East Carolina, Cincinnati and Louisville, DePaul and Marquette, Houston and TCU, Memphis and Saint Louis, Southern Miss and Tulane and UAB and South Florida.
UC is coming off a season which saw the Bearcats finish 24-10 and claim the American Division title for the second straight year. The Bearcats return four starters and nine letterwinners as the team aims for an unprecedented seventh straight 20-win season in 2001.
The Bearcats open the season on Friday, Aug. 31 against Wyoming as part of the Golden Gate Classic, a four-team tournament held in San Francisco, Calif. UC will then travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the Aston Imua Wahine Challenge, Sept. 6-8, where the Bearcats will play USC and Utah State. The team will also have a match against Hawaii on Sept. 8.
Cincinnati opens its home campaign on Tuesday, Sept. 11 against Ohio State. The match starts at 7 p.m. in the Shoemaker Center.
2001 C-USA PRESEASON POLL (as selected by C-USA coaches) 1. Louisville 2. Cincinnati 3. Houston South Florida 5. DePaul 6. Tulane 7. TCU 8. Saint Louis 9. Marquette 10. Charlotte 11. Memphis 12. Souther Mississippi 13. East Carolina 14. UAB C-USA PRESEASON AWARDS (as selected by C-USA coaches) PLAYER OF THE YEAR Michelle Collier, South Florida ALL-LEAGUE TEAM Stephanie Bishop, DePaul Michelle Collier, South Florida Colleen Hunter, Saint Louis Stacey Mercer, Louisville Bonita Wise, Cincinnati Jennifer Wittenburg, Houston