Bearkat Volleyball Player, Coach Earns SLC’s Top Honors
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Deveney Wells-Gibson is the 2012 Southland Conference volleyball “Player of the Year,” Brenda Gray received league “Coach of the Year” honors and five Bearkats have been voted as All-Conference performers after leading Sam Houston to its first regular season volleyball championship since 1994.
Wells-Gibson was the top-scorer with 496 points for a Bearkat volleyball team that rolled to a 20-10 overall regular season mark and posted its highest Southland victory total ever with a 15-3 league mark.
The sophomore from San Antonio ranked No. 2 in kills (421) in the Southland and also was No. 10 in digs (339) and No. 12 in aces (34). She totaled double figure kills in 26 of the Bearkats’ 30 matches and was a two-time Southland Conference offensive player of the week selection.
Wells-Gibson is the first Bearkats to claim the honor since Julie Franzen won after SHSU’s 1993 conference championship season.
Gray, one of only 29 active head coaches in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball to post more than 500 career victories, to a season of 20 or more victories for the 12th time in her coaching career.
The 2012 Sam Houston team rolled up 13 consecutive victories at one point during the march to the conference title.
The 13-match winning streak is the longest since SHSU moved up to the Division I level in 1986.
In her 29th year of coaching this year’s honor marks her third “Coach of the Year” award in the Southland Conference.
After starting the season 3-7, the Bearkats went 17-3 the rest of the season including 12 three-set sweeps.
Her 595 career wins ranked third all-time among Southland Conference volleyball coaches.
Kendall Cleveland joined Wells-Gibson as a first team All-Southland Conference selection.
The senior from Houston totaled 389 points with 350 kills (3.53 per set) eight aces and 56 total blocks.
Tayler Gray and Kim Black, both Huntsville High School products, were second team selections.
As the Bearkats’ setter, Gray assisted on 1,162 of Sam Houston’s 1,413 kills this year and lead the squad with 383 digs.
Black was a force in the middle for the Bearkats, leading the Southland Conference in total blocks (140).
She stands No. 2 at Sam Houston in career blocks.
Kaylee Hawkins received honorable mention.
This marks the third time that she has made the All-Southland team (2009 first team, 2010 honorable mention).
The senior from Dickson is currently No. 3 in career digs (1,597).
Sam Houston is the No. 2 seed in the Southland Conference post-season tournament this weekend in Conway, Arkansas.
The Bearkats open play Friday at 11 a.m. against No. 7 seed Nicholls State.
The tournament semifinals will be played Saturday with the finals at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Bearkats Looking Forward To Face Hoosiers
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston takes on the No. 1 men’s basketball team in the nation Thursday as they challenge the Indiana Hoosiers at 6 p.m. (Central time) in Bloomington, Ind.
Indiana (2-0) hosts Sam Houston (1-1) in the Bloomington Regional of the Progressive Legends Classic.
The game will be televised on the Big 10 network with Eric Collins and Jim Jackson calling the action.
KSAM 101.7 FM will carry the action live on radio and the internet in the Huntsville area.
Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Bearkats will welcome Southern Mississippi, UC-Irvine and Liberty to Huntsville for a Progressive Legends Classic sub-regional.
The tournament will consist of doubleheaders each evening starting at 5 p.m. with the Kats hosting the nightcap each day.
The Hoosiers are 4-0 all-time against Southland Conference opponents with the last meeting coming in November, 2010 when IU beat Northwestern State, 100-66.
For the first time since the 1979-80 preseason and just for the third time in school history (1975-76), the Indiana men’s basketball team started the season as the top ranked team in the country.
Indiana was also picked by the Big Ten media to win the conference championship.
The Hoosiers return the same starting lineup they finished their season with last year.
The group helped lead IU to a 27-9 record as they earned the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2002 and just the second berth in the round of 16 since 1995.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to play one of the most storied programs in NCAA men’s basketball,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said.
“Right now, we’re just working on becoming a better basketball team. It’s going to be a great experience playing the Hoosiers.”
Indiana was ranked 16th by the Associated Press and 13th in the final USA Today/Coaches poll.
Using the formula on how the NCAA ranks a teams’ improvement from one year to the next, IU had a 15 1/2-game improvement in the standings from 2010-11, the seventh largest in NCAA history.
The Hoosiers also rank 11th with 1,692 wins all-time.
After finishing 140th in the country last season in scoring off the bench (18.9 ppg), the Hoosier depth could challenge for the nation’s best after scoring 77 points in the first two games.
Sophomore Remy Abell and freshman Jeremy Hollowell are averaging 13.0 points per game, while Will Sheehey is averaging 9.5.After two games, the Hoosiers have a 14.5 rebound per game edge on its opponents.
Last year at the same time, opponents had outrebounded IU by 1.5 per game.
The Hoosiers are averaging 32 free throw attempts per game. Last year, IU led all Big Six Conference teams making 18.2 charity tosses per game.
The Progressive Legends Classic features 12 teams from across the nation with top-ranked Indiana, No. 13 UCLA, Georgetown, and Georgia serving as regional hosts.
Regional action takes place from Nov. 11-15 with the four hosts advancing to the Championship Rounds, Nov. 19-20, at the brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The remainder of the field will participate in Subregionals held in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Huntsville, Texas, Nov. 19-21.
Joining the four Regional Round hosts in the Progressive Legends Classic are Duquesne, James Madison, Liberty, North Dakota State, Sam Houston State, Southern Miss, UC Irvine, and Youngstown.
SHSU Bearkats Remains At No.3 In Both Polls
by Cheval D. John
After the Bearkat football team clinching a share of the Southland Conference (SLC) title with a 52-17 beat down of Northwestern State Demons in Natchitoches last Saturday, they remain at No.3 in both the FCS Sports Network Polls and the NCAA Coaches Polls this week.
The Bearkats completed their conference schedule with a 6-1 record.
Central Arkansas clinched the SLC title the week before with a 35-14 win over the Demons at Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas and also finished conference play with a 6-1 record.
The Bears received the automatic bid into the NCAA FCS playoffs due to their head-to-head win over the Bearkats earlier in the season.
This marks the 22nd week that the Bearkats have been nationally ranked in the top 25 and the 19th time they have been in the top 10.
Both North Dakota State and Montana State remains at No.1 and No.2 respectively, after both teams won their matchups last week.
The Bearkats will finish their season in a non-conference matchup with Football Bowl Series (FBS) opponent Texas A&M on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station.
The Aggies are coming off a huge 28-24 upset win over the previous No.1 University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa this past weekend.
To see the FCS rankings, click here.
Wells-Gibson Earns SLC’s “Player of The Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston State’s Deveney Wells-Gibson has been named as Southland Conference volleyball “offensive player of the week” after leading the Kats to home victories over McNeese State and Lamar to help SHSU clinch its first regular season league title since 1994.
Wells-Gibson averaged 4.78 kills per set and totaled 49 points for the week.
The San Antonio, Texas (Churchill H.S.), native chipped in with 29 digs and produced double figure kills in each match.
The sophomore outside hitter is second in the conference with 4.06 kills per set while the Bearkats clinched a share of the regular season title Saturday.
Sam Houston State will be making its sixth consecutive Southland Conference post-season tournament appearance and its 18th trip to the event overall.
The Bearkats won the Southland post-season tournament in 1993 and 1996 and finished as runner-up in 1987.
Sam Houston is the No. 2 seed at this year’s event hosted by Central Arkansas in Conway.
The Kats begin action against No. 7 seed Nicholls at 11 a.m. Friday.
The semifinals will be played Saturday with the championship finals on Sunday.
The tournament winner represents the Southland Conference in the NCAA national volleyball championships.
Bearkat Bowlers Wins Second Tournament
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Sam Houston women’s bowling team earned its second tournament championship in three tries Sunday, taking the title at the Hornet Invitational in Montgomery, Alabama.
After going 5-0 on Saturday in tradition team matches, the Bearkats won all three best of seven baker contests Sunday. Sam Houston averaged 200.9 pins on the final day of action and boasted a 198.0 overall pin average for the event.
The tournament was played at the Brunswick Zone bowling lanes.
Earlier this season, Sam Houston won the Tulane Invitational and was the runner-up in their second outing at the Bethune-Cookman tournament in Florida.
The Kats now stand 26-5 in dual matches this season.
“Today was another great day for us,” head coach Brad Hagen said. ” I can’t be more happy with all of the right things we’re doing in tournament play. All the hard work and hours these girls are putting in on the lanes are really paying dividends.”
Saturday’s 5-0 performance marked the third tournament in a row for the No. 8 ranked Bearkats to go unbeaten on the first day of competition.
SHSU defeated Jackson State 962-832, Alabama State 1034-908, No. 16 Alabama A&M 1005-977, Tulane 1027-826 and Alabama-Birmingham 922-809.
Sunday, Sam Houston came back from 3-1 down to defeat Alabama A&M 4-3 then knocked off Tulane 4-1 and Alabama State 4-1.
Following Sunday’s final round, the Kats stood in first place followed by Alabama State in second, Alabama A&M in third, Ala-Birmingham fourth, Tulane fifth and Jackson State sixth.
In traditional team play Saturday, Kimi Davidson of Sam Houston produced the top individual performance with a 232.6 average in five matches.
Other Bearkat scores and standings included Neishka Cardona second 215.2, Michelle Secours sixth 196.6, Anna Groce 10th 184.0, Becca Pittser 29th 163.0 and Erin Brown 33rd 159.5.