The competition: A look at this weekend's Conference USA Tournament
This weekend, the C-USA volleyball tournament will be hosted at Tudor Fieldhouse. Tulane has been a conference powerhouse in past years, but this season, Southern Miss has emerged as the strongest squad. 1. University of Southern Mississippi (25-4, 14-2 C-USA): The Golden Eagles enter the tournament as the obvious favorite, having won 14 matches in a row. Southern Miss has experienced a resurgence of their program and has been led by seniors Angela Hlavaty and Maia Ivanova.
2. University of Tulsa (24-6, 13-3 C-USA): Tulsa won 13 of its 16 conference matches and is one of the best all-around teams in the conference. The Golden Hurricane leads the conference in hitting percentage and is second in opponent hitting percentage.
3. Tulane University (17-8, 12-4 C-USA): The Green Wave, last season's champions, may enter the tournament with a 12-4 conference record, but they lost two of their last four matches and will need to get their team back on track in order to take the conference title.
4. Rice University (19-8, 11-5 C-USA): The Owls enter the tournament on a five-match win streak and as the conference leaders in assists, kills and digs. The team's home-court advantage will also work in its favor.
5. Marshall University (22-8, 12-6 C-USA): Marshall had a hot start in C-USA play but has played only .500 volleyball since falling to Tulsa on Oct. 2. The Thundering Herd will face Rice in the first round, a team it had trouble with three weeks ago.
6. Southern Methodist University (19-11, 9-7 C-USA): The Mustangs have lost four of their last six matches, though they held the tiebreaker over UAB, and thus avoided a matchup against Tulsa, which beat them last weekend.
7. University of Alabama-Birmingham (17-15, 9-7 C-USA): The Blazers won four of their last five matchups to secure a spot in the conference tournament, but they dropped their only match against first-round opponent Tulsa in three sets earlier this season.
8. University of Houston (9-22, 6-10 C-USA): The Cougars sneaked into the C-USA Tournament, grabbing the final spot despite their 6-10 conference record. However, Houston, the only team with a sub- .500 record in the tournament, should be easy prey for the red-hot Golden Eagles.
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