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.
Bearkats Move Up To No.5 In National Rankings
by Cheval John
After destroying McNeese State Cowboys 45-10 last Saturday night, the Sam Houston State Bearkats have moved up to No.5 in both the Coaches Polls and the Sports Network FCS
polls.
The Bearkats have been in the FCS Top 25 National Rankings for a record 20 consecutive weeks and have an overall record of 5-2.
The win against the Cowboys extends their winning streak to four games and are aiming for their fifth straight win when they face Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas this Saturday on the Southland Conference Television Network.
They will be playing without linebacker Darius Taylor, who was suspended for one game by Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett for a “hit on a defensless player” on October 13 against Nicholls State.
“It is an unfortunate decision forcing Darius to miss a game,” SHSU director of athletics Bobby Williams said to gobearkats.com.
“We disagree with the ruling that this was a targeted hit. We asked the league to take a second look at the play in comparison to other similar hits that went unpunished this season and were denied on the appeal.”
Taylor accumulated 45 tackles and five sacks during this season.
Kickoff is at 3:05 p.m.
Bearkat Bowlers Wins Tulane Invitational
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Knocking off No. 2 ranked Arkansas State twice in three meetings, the Sam Houston women’s bowling team swept to an 11-1 record and the team championship at the Tulane Invitational in Kenner, La., this weekend.
The title marks the first time in the program’s three-year history the Bearkats have started the season by bringing home the championship trophy in an intercollegiate tournament.
With a perfect 9-0 mark during the first two days of the event in team baker and team individual matches Friday and Saturday, respectively, the Kats drew one of the top two seeds in best-of-seven bracket play Sunday.
Arkansas State defeated SHSU 4-3 in the opening match of bracket action Sunday. The Kats bounced back for a 4-3 win over Jackson State then topped Arkansas State in the bracket play rematch 4-3 in the finals to hoist the championship trophy.
Stephen F. Austin and Jackson State finished third and fourth in the 11-team event behind runner-up Arkansas State.
“Sunday was about continuing to maintain our composure, fill frames, and focus on finishing what we started,” SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said. “We wanted to come to Tulane and make a statement and we did. This team is acting as they’ve been together for years and it’s paying off major dividends.”
Senior Michelle Secours and juniors Neishka Cardona and Kimi Davidson are the only returning players from last year’s squad that finished No. 9 in the final national rankings. Transfers Rebecca Pittser and Kelsey Smith and freshmen Erin Brown, Anna Groce and Hannah Harrison are newcomers for the Kats this year.
“I can’t be more proud or commend the girls enough on how well they acomposed themselves through out this event as well as staying in the moment,” Hagen added.
Saturday the team rolled up victories in total pins team play over Jackson State (978-823), No. 10-ranked Stephen F. Austin (865-852), Louisiana Tech (949-894), No. 2 Arkansas State (1002-965) and No. 17 Prairie View A&M 908-821.
Friday the Bearkats were 4-0 in team baker matches, knocking down 3761 pins. Sam Houston defeated Bethune-Cookman 766-638, North Carolina A&T 665-655, Grambling 836-542 and Southern 698-582. The Bearkats also rolled a score of 784 in their bye round due to the odd number of teams in the field.
Following the top four finishers in the tournament were North Carolina A&T in fifth, Prairie View A&M in sixth, Bethune Cookman seventh, Louisiana Tech eighth, Tulane ninth, Southern 10th and Grambling 11th.