Herd Volleyball Earns C-USA Accolades

Nov. 14, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA announced its 2007 All-Conference first and second teams and postseason award winners for volleyball on Wednesday, as selected by the conference's head coaches. Marshall University's Kelly-Anne Billingy earned the conference's top honor as C-USA Player of the Year for a record third consecutive year after helping the Herd to its second regular season crown in the last three years.

Billingy, who's 5.06 kills per game ranks 11th in the NCAA, tallied 5.27 per game in conference play en route to earning her third straight All-C-USA first team honor. The senior currently has a team-best 511 kills and has a .343 hitting percentage.

Joining Billingy on the All-C-USA first team is Stephanie Cahill, who leads the Herd with 18 double-doubles on the season and is second on the team in both kills and digs with 397 and 321, respectively. The senior is also tied for the team lead in service aces with 51 so far on the season.

Earning a spot on the All-C-USA second team is freshman Elizabeth Fleming and junior Jalicia Ross. In addition to the second team honors, Fleming also garnered a spot on the All-Freshman team, and was named Freshman of the Year. Fleming currently leads the league with a 13.19 assists per game average (13.90 in conference action), was voted C-USA Setter of the Week four times and has 1,504 assists so far this season.

Ross, who's .364 hitting percentage and league best .421 clip in conference play, leads the team. The junior is second on the team in blocks with 88 total, including 19 solos and 69 assisted, and is third on the team in kills with 267.

For the first time in league history, two coaches share Coach of the Year honors, Marshall University's head coach Mitch Jacobs was honored as Co-Coach of the Year along with Tulane's Liz Kritza. Since taking over the program in 2002, Jacobs has guided his teams to six consecutive 20-plus win seasons, including a 26-6 record in 2005 and the C-USA league and tournament championships. This season Jacobs has led his squad to a 22-8 overall record and the C-USA regular season title. This is Jacobs' second Coach of the Year honor in the last three seasons. He won the honor in 2005 as well.

Marshall will square off against the winner of Thursday afternoon's match between No. 8 East Carolina and No. 9 SMU, Friday Nov. 16 at 5:00 p.m.

For recaps and updates throughout the tournament, visit the C-USA website volleyball championship page at http://conferenceusa.cstv.com/championships/07-w-volley-tourney.html

Marshall's website is also linked to the conference site by clicking on the championship logo in the menu bar.

Marshall University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kelly-Anne Billingy

Stephanie Cahill

Elizabeth Fleming

Jalicia Ross

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