by Cheval John

I have something to say to Kevin Sumlin, head football coach at the University of Houston (UH) Cougars: Stay where you are because you have a chance to build a legacy at UH.

The Cougars are 12-0 and are playing for the Conference-USA championship on Saturday. If they win, then they will receive an automatic bid to play in one of the five bowls in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

The reason why I am saying this is because his name is being mentioned for coaching vacancies at several schools including Texas A&M and Arizona State University. History has shown that the majority of coaches that left their previous jobs for their “dream job” have failed to duplicate their success that was achieved at their previous school.

Here are a few coaches that comes to mind:

Billy Gillispie: Gillispie was the head basketball coach at Texas A&M from 2004-2007. During that time, he led the Aggies to 70-26 overall record and a Big 12 conference record of 31-17 and have made the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament in 2006 and 2007. In the latter, the Aggies made it to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to the Memphis Tigers. After the 2006-07 season, he was hired by the University of Kentucky Wildcats to return them to their glory years when they made 105 appearances in the NCAA tournament and won 7 national championships. In his two years at the helm, he led them to a 40-27 record and have reached the NCAA tournament only once. Even though it was decent records, he was fired because it wasn’t enough to meet the expectations of the fan base for the University of Kentucky. Now, he is the head coach at Texas Tech University.

Turner Gill: Gill was the head football coach at the University at Buffalo from 2006-2009. Before his arrival, the Bulls was 8-49 and was considered one of the worst Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs in the nation. In his first year, the Bulls finished with a 2-10 record. The next year, the team improved to an overall record of 5-7 and a Mid-American Conference (MAC) record of 5-3. Their breakthrough came in 2008 when they finished the regular season with an overall record of 7-5 record and a conference record of 5-3. They played in the MAC championship game against Ball State at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, where they defeated them by the score of 42-24 to win the MAC championship and made their first bowl appearance since joining the FBS in 1999.

In 2009, the University of Kansas hired Gill as their next head coach, replacing long-time coach Mark Mangino. In his two seasons, the Jayhawks compiled a 25-49 overall record and a Big 12 conference record of 1-12. Gill was fired after the 2011 season.

Here is a quote that sums up this post: “The grass is not always green on the other side.”

If you agree or disagree with this post, you can respond by emailing me at chevaljohn80@yahoo.com.

Almost two weeks ago in front of a record crowd of 3,141, the Sam Houston State Bearkats defeated the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders by the score of 87-53 at the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

“The atmosphere was great,” head coach Brenda Nichols said. “Anytime our players comes out to that type of atmosphere, it motivates them.”

The game was part of “Pack The House” challenge that is sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and 184 Division I institutions participates in the challenge. It is an initiative to increase fan support for women’s basketball events and whoever draws the most fan support are awarded $500 dollars and the winning institution donates the money to a non-profit organization of their choice.

“It’s a wonderful experience,” athletic director Bobby Williams said. “Every year that we had it, we walk out of here with your ears ringing, but it’s an exciting time and it gets our team fired up as well.”

The event draw kids from Walker County area schools to watch a women’s college basketball game.

Sam Houston has won the contest in the past two out of three seasons that they have participated in the Southland Conference region. In the first year, they drew a crowd of 2,261. The second year saw an increase of 2,456. Then last year, they drew a crowd of 2,503 and this year contests brought a crowd of 3,141, the largest crowd to watch a Bearkats women’s basketball contest.

Though the Crusaders lost the game, they felt fortunate to have participated in the event.

“I thought that it was great,” assistant coach Carlos Marbot said. “Anytime you can get young kids to a game and get them all excited about basketball, you can grow the sport.”

“Pack the House” will run from October 30 to March 5, 2012 during the season at selected member institutions in the NCAA Division I.

Sam Houston State Bearkats’ volleyball team are
looking to finish the regular season on a high note as they head on
the road to face Lamar Cardinals on Thursday and the McNeese State
Cowgirls on Saturday.

The Bearkats are 9-5 in the Southland
Conference and 15-12 overall. With wins against University of Texas
at San Antonio Roadrunners and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Islanders, they have clinched a spot in the Southland Conference
Post-Season Tournament that will be held in Conway, Arkansas from
November 18-20.

Though they have clinched a spot, they
are more focused than ever as they will be facing a Lamar team that
are on a three-game winning streak with wins against Nicholls State,
Northwestern State and Central Arkansas and are 8-6 in the East
Division of the Southland Conference and 10-19 overall. The last win
helped them clinched a spot in the tournament.

Lamar totals 1,242 kills for the
season, with sophomore outside hitter Sierra Whittacker leading them
with 318 kills. Four other players on the Cardinals have 100 or more
kills.

The Kats will also face McNeese State
Cowgirls on Saturday. The Cowgirls are 5-9
in conference play and 10-18 overall, with a current three-game
winning streak.

Senior middle blocker Nicole Bowden
lead the Cowgirls with 368 kills, averaging 3.38 per set. Five other
players on the team have 100 or more kills.

On the defensive side, the Cowgirls is
leading the conference with a total of 1,817 digs, averaging 16.7 per
set. They are tied for third in the East Division of the Southland
Conference and will try to hang on to it as they bid for a position
in the tournament.

Heading into the games, the Bearkats
totals 1,303 kills, with senior outside hitter Carli Kolbe leading
them with 334 kills and was named Southland Conference “Offensive
Player of the Week.”

“We need to focus on us and just play
our game,” Kolbe said.

Senior middle blocker Kim Black is
second on the team with 229 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Haley
Neisler, who was named “Defensive Player of the Week” by the
Southland Conference, is third with 188 kills. Three other players
have 100 or more kills while senior setter Kym Loving have 1,053
assists for the season.

“We need to get to where we are on
top of game before the conference tournament begins,” Loving said.

The Bearkats will face Lamar Cardinals
on Thursday night at 7 p.m and McNeese State Cowgirls on Saturday at
2 p.m. For more information on the team, visit gobearkats.com.

by Cheval John

Here are the highlights from Day 2 of the Bearkat Invitational Tournament

Game 5: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMCC) defeats the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) 34-36, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22.

TAMCC Islanders defeated UTPA Broncos in four sets by the score of 34-36, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22.

The Broncos won the first set in a hard battle between the two teams. The set had 18 tie scores and 11 leads changes.

But the Islanders regrouped and won the next three sets to give the Broncos their second loss of the season.

Sophomore outside hitter Isabella Arcidiacono led the Islanders with 14 kills, 5 blocks and 3 digs, while sophomore middle blocker Brooke Alverson contributed with 9 kills, 7 blocks, 4 aces and 8 blocks.

Freshmen outside hitter Michelle McNamee led the Broncos with 7 kills, 3 blocks, an ace and 4 digs, while junior middle blocker Sarah Davis and junior outside hitter Ijanae Holman each contributed with 6 kills.

Game 6: Louisiana Tech (LATech) defeats Rutgers 25-23, 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12

LATech Techsters defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in five sets by the score of 25-23, 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12.

Sophomore outside hitter and Brazil native Clara Vido led the Techsters with 21 kills, 11 digs, 2 assists, a block and an ace.

Senior setter and fellow Brazil native Bianca Bin had 43 assists, 4 kills, 10 digs, 6 blocks and 2 aces, while middle blocker and Huntsville native Caitlin Germany had 7 kills, 6 blocks, 6 digs and an ace for the Techsters.

“To win the game in five sets shows us that this year we’re going to be in good competition against the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) schools,” Germany said.

Junior middle blocker Alex Jones led the Scarlet Knights with 18 kills, 9 blocks, 3 digs and an ace, while freshmen outside hitter Sofi Cucuz contributed with 11 kills, 6 aces, 2 blocks and 2 digs.

Game 7: Sam Houston State (SHSU) defeats Islanders 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-22

SHSU Bearkats defeated the Islanders in four sets by the score of 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-22.

Senior outside hitter Carli Kolbe led the Bearkats with 21 kills, 18 digs, 3 aces and a block.

“Carli wants to win,” graduate assistant coach Jason Curnalia said. “She has taken her leadership in her four years to another level and the girls are following her lead.”

Sophomore middle blocker Haley Neisler had 9 kills, 5 blocks, 5 digs and an ace while senior setter Kym Loving had 49 assists, 13 digs, 2 aces, 1 kill and a block for the Kats.

The Bearkats won the first two sets, but lost the third set in the match.

The fourth set was another battle between the two teams with 18 tie scores and 7 lead changes. Neisler’s two kills gave the Kats a boost that would lead them to win the set and the match against the Islanders.

“Haley is a quiet presence on the court,” assistant coach Curnalia said. “She has the talent and the ability to put the ball away.”

Senior outside hitter Jessica Korda and sophomore middle blocker Brooke Alverson led the Islanders with 10 kills each, while freshmen outside hitter Ashley Phelps contributed with 6 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace and a block.

Game 8: Scarlet Knights defeats the Broncos 25-20, 25-22, 25-13

The Scarlet Knights defeated the Broncos in straight sets by the score of 25-10, 25-22, 25-13.

Alex Jones led the Scarlet Knights with 10 kills and 5 blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Brittany Bozzini and senior middle blocker Hannah Curtis contributed with 7 kills each.

Junior middle blocker Sarah Davis and freshmen outside hitter Diara Reynolds led the Broncos with 5 kills each, while freshmen setter Shauna Miller contributed with 19 assists, 3 kills and 3 digs.

Game 9: Bearkats defeats Techsters 26-24, 25-9, 25-20

The Bearkats won the 2011 Bearkat Invitational by defeated Louisiana Tech in straight sets 26-24, 25-9, 25-20. It was the 12^th time that they won the tournament in its 36 year history and the first time to start the season undefeated since 1983.

Carli Kolbe led the Bearkats with 19 kills, 7 digs and an ace while sophomore outside hitter Kelli Stewart had 10 kills, 6 blocks and 1 dig.

The first set was an uphill battle for the Bearkats as they were trailing four times by a total of three points.

Stewart set the tone with a kill that brought the Kats within two. The Techsters would gain another point on an attacking error by Kolbe to make it 24-21. With Kolbe two key kills and an attacking error by the Techsters’ Clara Vido would tie the match at 24-24.

Haley Neisler  and Kolbe each had a kill that completed the comeback and won the set for the Bearkats.

The Kats would cruise the final two sets to sweep the Techsters and win the tournament.

Kolbe finished the tournament with 62 kills and was named the “Most Valuable Player.”

“It’s really great to start off 4-0,” Kolbe said. “We have played some really good teams and we wanted to start the season strong.

She was also named to the Bearkat Invitational All-Tournament team along with middle blocker Kim Black, who had 28 blocks in the tournament and setter Kym Loving, who had 156 assists and 36 total digs.

“Winning the tournament solidifies our hard work over the last two and a half weeks of preseason,” Loving said.

Junior libero Jamie Haas contributed in key moments of the tournament and she finished with a total of 36 digs.

“Jamie is wearing the different color for a reason,” coach Gray said. “She dug a lot in the game and did her job.”

“The win means a great deal to us,” Haas said. “This is another step toward winning the conference title, so we have to go out and win the next tournament.”

Vido led the Techsters with 7 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces and an assist while junior transfer and fellow Brazilian Marcella Braz contributed with 4 kills, 4 digs and an ace.

Junior transfer Stephany Salas was also named to the Bearkat Invitational All-Tournament team, finishing with 65 total digs for the Techsters. Joining her on the team are Brooke Alverson, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Juri Franzen, Texas-Pan American and Alex Jones, Rutgers.

The Bearkats will be in Denton for the North Texas Invitational on September 2-3. They will face the University of North Texas on Friday at 7 p.m. along with the University of Cincinnati and the University of Oklahoma on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and at 4:30 p.m., respectively.