Bearkat Volleyball Rolled Through UCA In Four Sets
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Conway, Ark – Kaylee Hawkins totaled 18 kills as Sam Houston State came from a set down to defeat Central Arkansas 27-29, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 in a battle for first place in the Southland Conference volleyball race.
The victory extended Sam Houston’s winning streak to 11 matches, the Bearkats’ longest since the program moved up to the NCAA Division I level.
With an 11-2 record, the Kats take a half game lead over Central Arkansas in the 2012 title race.
The Bears dropped to 11-3 in league play.
Sam Houston owns a 16-9 season record while UCA is 23-4 for the year.
Two other Bearkats totaled double figure kills as Kendall Cleveland posted 14 and Deveney Wells-Gibson had 10.
UCA overcame a 14-0 Bearkat lead to take the first set.
But, even after a demanding five-set victory over Oral Roberts Thursday night, the Bearkats charged back to win the next three sets.
“Friday morning, I don’t think we had anything left in the tank after the five-setter at ORU,” head coach Brenda Gray said. “But the girls are hitting on all cylinders now. This was a great team effort and a big win.”
Tayler Gray assisted of 45 of SHSU’s 55 kills.
Haley Neisler totaled seven blocks and Hawkins and Kim Black each had five apiece.
Bearkats Soccer Loses To Lamar 2-0.
Lamar scored goals in each half as the Cardinals defeated Sam Houston State 2-0 in a Southland Conference soccer match to wrap up second place in the 2012 league race.
With the runner-up position, Lamar joins regular season champion Stephen F. Austin as the teams earning byes in next Thursday’s first round of the Southland post-season tournament to be played at Cowgirl Stadium at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La.
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Bearkats will be either the third or fourth seed depending on the outcome of other games during the final week of regular season play.
The Cardinals led most of the way, scoring their first goal just 2:22 into the contest on a shot by Kristin Bos.
Sam Houston ends the regular season with a 4-3-1 Southland mark.
Lamar earned the number two seed with a 6-2 conference record.
Despite the loss, the Bearkat defense has set record marks during the 2012 season.
In 18 matches, Sam Houston has surrendered only 18 goals. The school record for goals against coming into the season was 30 in 2004.
Six teams qualify for the tournament in Lake Charles.
The No. 3 and No. 6 seeds face off and the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds meet in the first round on Thursday Nov. 1.
The winner of the 3-6 match faces the No. 2 seed and the 4-5 victor meets Southland regular season champion Stephen F. Austin in Friday’s semifinals.
The championship match between the semifinal winners will be Sunday Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.
Bearkat Bowlers Off To A Fast Start
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
For the second weekend in a row, the No. 8 ranked Sam Houston women’s bowling team started tournament play with a perfect day in team baker format completion.
Friday at Bethune-Cookman Wildcat Invitational the Kats went 5-0 as play began in the three-day event at the Sunshine Lanes in Deland, Florida.
The Sam Houston bowlers opened with a bang, knocking off No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson 805 to 798.
The Bearkats also won matches over Tulane 812-666, No. 17 Prairie View A&M 770-680, Morgan State 737-515 and Southern University 735-663.
“The lanes were on fire early on before they settled down, so we had to attack the lanes a little different but I am extremely happy with how we managed the lanes today and with the equipment we brought,” SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said.
“The girls did an excellent job once again communicating and maintaining their composure throughout the morning and afternoon rounds. We took advantage of every break we had today and stayed as clean as possible. The key to this game at the end of the day next to making quality shots is controlling the emotions and the girls are continuing to do so with class.”
Through the first day of action, Sam Houston stands as the only unbeaten team in the event but trails Fairleigh Dickinson (3-1) in total pins 3942-3860.
Adelphi (3-1) 3563, Bethune-Cookman (4-1) 3532 and Monmouth (3-2) 3463 rank third through fifth in total pins.
The total pins count will determine seeding for Sunday’s final round bracket play.
Saturday the Bearkats will compete in five-player traditional team competition.
Bearkats Volleyball Extends Win Streak To Ten Games
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Tulsa, Oklahoma- Kendall Cleveland posted a career high 22 kills to power Sam Houston from a two sets to one deficit for a five-set win over Oral Roberts in a two-and-half hour marathon volleyball match Thursday night.
The victory set the stage for a showdown battle with Southland leader Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon in Conway.
UCA leads the league with an 11-2 conference record.
Sam Houston’s 10-match winning streak give the Kats a 10-2 league mark.
SHSU is now 15-9 for the season.
Deveney Wells-Gibson and Hailey Neisler added 19 and nine kills, respectively for the Kats.
Setter Tayler Gray assisted on 49 kills and led the Kat defense with 26 digs.
In a pattern that became the norm throughout the match, Oral Roberts jumped out to an early lead in the first set.
Down 11-6, the Kats fought back to take a 17-15 lead on a kill by Cleveland.
The Golden Eagles took control, winning 10 of the next 13 points for a one set lead.
With Sam Houston down 9-4 in the second set, Cleveland rallied the Kats again with two kills to put SHSU up 14-13.
The Bearkats led the rest of the way to even that match at a set apiece.
ORU built another 9-4 lead in the third frame but again Sam Houston caught up, taking a 16-14 lead on a kill by Kaylee Hawkins.
The Golden Eagles won 11 of the next 15 points to go up two sets to one.
Sam Houston never trailed in the fourth set as the Kats evened the match at two sets all.
Another Cleveland kill gave SHSU a 6-1 start in the frame.
Again in the final set, ORU led early, going up 9-6.
But the Kats roared back.
Each team had three match points before Cleveland tied the set 19-19 then set up SHSU’s fourth match point with a service ace.
Kaylee Hawkins put away the final kill to clinch the victory.
Rod Lurie Coming To SHSU
This article is courtesy of Cari Kenealy of Raven Films, a student film organization within the Mass Communication Department of Sam Houston State University (SHSU).
Rod Lurie, film director, writer, and journalist who’s topics often involve politics and women in power will be coming to the campus of SHSU from Thursday November 1st through Saturday November 3rd.
The College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication, Mass Communications Department and Raven Films will be hosting Mr. Rod Lurie and viewing of The Contender, a political thriller . President Barack Obama cited President Evans. the character in ‘ The Contender’ as his favorite fictional president.
Mr. Lurie will be giving a Q&A moderated by Peter Rousell of the MCM Department at SHSU and former Presidential Press Secretary immediately after the screening.
Lurie wrote and directed the widely praised Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award nominated political thriller The Contender.
The film was also honored by the Broadcast Film Critics.
In addition, Lurie created and served as an executive producer on ABC’s highly acclaimed hit series, Commander in Chief.
Imaging a world in which the President of the United States is a woman, the popular series stars Geena Davis and also executive produced the ABC one-hour FBI drama, Line of Fire.
Mr. Lurie has directed actors Robert Redford, Genna Davis, Joan Allen, James Gandolfini, Matt Dillon and Mark Ruffalo and many others.
Before becoming a filmmaker, Lurie completed a career in the military and enjoyed success as a film critic, entertainment reporter and investigative reporter.
Lurie graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984 and went on to serve for four years as a Combat Arms officer in the U.S. Army.
He broke into journalism as an entertainment reporter for the New York Daily News, as well as a frequent contributor to Premiere, Movieline and Entertainment Weekly.
Most recently, Mr. Lurie directed the remake of Sam Peckinpah’s classic ‘Straw Dog’s’ and this month as a guest director on AMC’s Western series “Hell on Wheels”.
Leading up to this even, MCM & Raven films will be hosting a viewing of Rod Lurie movies starting today from 5-7p.m. with “The Last Castle.”
Then on Oct. 29th from 5-7 p.m. “Resurrecting the Champ,” Oct. 30th from 6-9 p.m. “Straw Dogs,” and Oct. 31st from 5-7 p.m., “Nothing but the Truth.”
These events are free and open to the public and will be held in room 306 in the Dan Rather building on the SHSU campus.