CHICAGO- The DePaul Blue Demon volleyball team (12-18, 5-8 C-USA) finished the regular season tied for eighth place in Conference USA. There was a five-way tie in the eight spot and after a series of tie breakers the Blue Demons received the 12th seed for this weeks C-USA Volleyball tournament in Louisville.
The Blue Demons will face No. 5 Memphis on Friday, November 19 at 3:00 p.m. (EST). The winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday and play No. 4 TCU at 3:00 p.m. (EST). The Tigers defeated the Blue Demons in three games during the regular season.
The Louisville Cardinals (13-0, 24-2) recorded their second undefeated Conference USA mark, dating back to 1995, and will hold the No. 1 seed in the 2004 ChevronTexaco Volleyball Tournament. Cincinnati received the No. 2 spot and Marquette TCU followed in the three and four seeds. The top four teams all received first-round byes.
Action gets underway in Louisville on Friday at 1 p.m. as the ninth-seeded East Carolina (5-8, 11-17) meets the eighth-seeded Houston (5-8, 8-20). The winner of the Pirate-Cougar match will face top-ranked Louisville on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Cards have won the last 16 of their matches, a feat that ties for third in C-USA history with Cincinnati (2001).
Friday evening's sessions begin with No. 10 seed USF (5-8, 8-18) and No. 7 Saint Louis (6-7, 14-16) at 6 p.m., while No. 11 Charlotte (5-8, 19-13) faces No. 6 Tulane (6-7, 16-9) at 8 p.m. The Bulls swept the Billikens earlier this month. The winner of the USF-SLU match will face second-seeded Cincinnati on Saturday at 6 p.m. Despite snapping their four-match win streak to Louisville on the week, the Bearcats have reached a 20-win season for the ninth year in a row. The Green Wave hopes to extend its win streak to four matches against the 49ers on Friday evening, with the winner facing No. 3 Marquette in Saturday's final match at 8 p.m. The Golden Eagles recorded their first 20-win season since 1985, when the team played 39 matches in its season.
The semifinal matches are slated for Sunday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the championship match set for Monday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. (EST). The match will be televised by affiliates of the C-USA Television Network. Don Russell will announce the play-by-play, while Audrey Flaugh provides the commentary. Conference USA's official website, will provide updates, box scores, recaps and photos.
Below is a complete schedule of the 2004 ChevronTexaco C-USA Volleyball Tournament, along with a tournament bracket and practice times.
2004 CHEVRONTEXACO C-USA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, November 19:
Match 1 - (9) East Carolina vs. (8) Houston 1 p.m.
Match 2 - (12) DePaul vs. (5) Memphis 3 p.m.
Match 3 - (10) USF vs. (7) Saint Louis 6 p.m.
Match 4 - (11) Charlotte vs. (6) Tulane 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 20:
Match 5 - (1) Louisville vs. Winner of East Carolina/Houston 1 p.m.
Match 6 - (4) TCU vs. Winner of DePaul/Memphis 3 p.m.
Match 7 - (2) Cincinnati vs. Winner of USF/Saint Louis 6 p.m.
Match 8 - (3) Marquette vs. Winner of Charlotte/Tulane 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 21 (Semifinals):
Match 9 - Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6 5 p.m.
Match 10 - Winner of Match 7 vs. Winner of Match 8 7 p.m.
Monday, November 22 (Championship):
Match 11 - Championship Match 8 p.m.
All times are Eastern.
All matches will be played in Cardinal Arena, Louisville, Ky.
