Bearkat Volleyball Team Earns Third Consecutive Win
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Thibodaux, La. – Led by Kendall Cleveland and Deveney Wells-Gibson, Sam Houston State took only an hour and 19 minutes to dispatch Nicholls State in three sets and earn its third consecutive Southland Conference volleyball victory Saturday afternoon.
The Bearkats defeated the Colonels 25-6 25-19 25-16 to up SHSU’s season record to 8-9.
The Kats now are 4-2 in league action and have won five of their last seven matches.
Cleveland totaled 10 kills in 28 attempts and Wells-Gibson added nine kills.
Both totaled 11 digs. Setter Tayler Gray assisted on 28 of Sam Houston’s 41 kills and led the Kat defense with 13 digs.
Libero Camille Alfaro was credited with seven digs.
Sam Houston never trailed in the first set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead and winning 17 of the final 21 points.
The Colonels held a 14-11 lead in the second set, but the Kats roared back to take the second frame with a 14-5 run.
The final set was tied 3-3 before SHSU took control to wrap up the match.
The Bearkats return to Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum Thursday to host Stephen F. Austin at 7 p.m.
Sam Houston also will face Northwestern State at 2 p.m. Saturday.
SHSU Hosts Defensive Minded UCA Bears On Sunday
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, SHSU Sports Information
After winning their first match on the new turf at Joseph Pritchett Field Friday night, the Sam Houston women’s soccer team faces one of its biggest challenges so far during the 2012 season.
Central Arkansas visits Pritchett at 1 p.m. Sunday, bringing the Southland Conference’s best overall record and top scoring offense to Huntsville.
The Bears have won eight of their 11 matches this season.
UCA and Northwestern State battled to a 0-0 tie in both team’s league opener Saturday night.
Central Arkansas forward Adriana Lucar is the Southland’s leading goal scorer.
She has knocked in 14 goals in 11 games this year. UCA has outscored its opponents 38 goals to eight in non-conference competition.
Sam Houston started Southland play with a 2-0 victory over Nicholls State Friday night.
Tricia Mallory and Kirby Zak scored the goals for the Kats in the second half.
“We’ve been playing great defense all year and it was good to get the offense going with a couple of goals in our conference opener,” Mallory said.
Her goal marked her third this season and the 22nd of her career.
The UCA contest Sunday sets up an interesting matchup between the Southland’s highest scoring offense and one of the league’s top defenses.
Sam Houston has surrendered only 10 goals in 11 matches, posting four shutouts this season.
SHSU Soccer Team Opens Southland Conference Play With Win
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr, SHSU Sports Information
Huntsville – Two of the top four scorers for Sam Houston in its 10-year history of women’s soccer accounted for second half goals to lead the Bearkats to a 2-0 shutout of Nicholls State Friday at Joseph Pritchett Field.
The victory marked SHSU’s first game on the new artificial field turf at Pritchett and put the Kats at 1-0 in Southland Conference play.
Tricia Mallory scored the Bearkats’ first goal on a cross from Amanda Biega from the right side in the 55th minute. Less than three minutes later, Kirby Zak tallied on a long ball from Kayla Anderson.
Mallory now has 22 career goals to her credit to rank No. 2 in SHSU all-time scoring behind Raquel Bueno (27 goals from 2005 to 2008). Zak’s tally marked her 18th career score, tying her with Yoanna Garcia (2004-07) for third place in the record book.
Freshman goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton picked up her third shutout of the season, marking three saves on Nicholls’ eight shots. The Bearkats totaled 14 shots.
“The players really were excited about playing on the new turf here at Pritchett,” head coach Tom Brown said. “We created some good chances in the first half but couldn’t convert. But we had a good attacking mentality and were able to take advantage of some space on the right side. It’s good to pick up the win in our first conference game.”
Sam Houston now stand 4-7 for the season. Nicholls dropped to 5-6.
The Bearkats return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pritchett, hosting Central Arkansas.
Bearkats Massacred Texas Southern 50-6 At BBVA Compass Stadium
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston scored early and often as the Bearkats rolled up 549 yards total offense in a 50-6 non-conference win over Texas Southern Thursday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
Quarterback Brian Bell passed for 209 yards and three touchdowns including two scoring plays to Chance Nelson.
The transfer from Texas A&M caught three passes for 127 yards.
The Bearkat defense limited the Tigers to 149 yards total offense.
Linebacker Darius Taylor totaled eight tackles including two quarterback sacks.
The Bearkats took only 50 seconds to score their first points of the game.
Bell found Chance Nelson open behind the Tiger secondary for a 61-yard scoring pass three minutes into the contest.
Dax Swanson’s 12th career interception set up the Kats’ second score.
Trey Diller scored on a 32-yard run after an option pitch by Bell to complete a six play 54-yard drive and put SHSU up 14-0 with 5:18 to go.
Swanson needs one more interception to tie the Sam Houston career interception mark of 13 set by Ronnie Choate in 1955 through 1959.
An interception return by Steven White to the SHSU 14 set up a 16 yard scoring pass from Justice Jones to James Davis to put the Tigers on the scoreboard with 12:11 to go in the second quarter.
Preston Sanders blocked the extra point and Kenneth Jenkins picked up the ball at the 20 and ran it back for a defensive PAT return.
The two points marked the third defensive PAT return by a Bearkat player in school history.
Sam Houston upped the lead to 23-6 with 10:16 to play before half as Bell ended a 65-yard scoring drive with a 22-yard pass to Stephen Williams.
Miguel Antonio added a 19-yard field goal and Bell hit Nelson for a 32-yard pass to make the score at intermission 33-6.
Keshawn Hill scored on a 36-yard run to lift the Bearkats to a 40-6 lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter after a 57-yard lead.
An 18-yard punt return by Trey Diller set up a four-yard touchdown run by Ridgeway Frank.
Antonio added a 39-yard field goal with 6:35 to go.
New Network To Televise SHSU’s Homecoming Game
The spotlight on the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team has gotten brighter.
With three television appearances under their belt, it seems as if things cannot get any better.
Well, it just did.
The homecoming game between the Bearkats and McNeese State Cowboys will be televised on Comcast Sports Net Houston on October 20.
The new network is a partnership with the Houston Astros, the Houston Rockets and the NBC Sports Group and is based in the Houston Pavilions.
It is set to launch on October 1 and will have a six state regional coverage area.
“This is a great opportunity for us to add another televised game to our already impressive slate this season,” athletic director Bobby Williams said to SHSU athletics department media.
“We are also very excited to be working with Comcast SportsNet Houston to get this game televised.”
“We met with them last month and they were very excited about getting involved with Sam Houston sports, so we think this will be a very good fit for us.”
The Bearkats are currently No.9 in the Sports Network FCS polls after a 24-20 heartbreaking loss to University of Central Arkansas Bears.
They will be facing a McNeese State team, who are ranked No.21 in the polls and have an all-time series lead at 24-8-1 and have won 151 Southland Conference games, 13 SLC titles and 14 NCAA FCS playoff appearances.
However, the Bearkats defeated the Cowboys 38-14 in Cowboy Stadium, en route to the national championship game in Frisco.
The game will now be at 7 p.m. instead of 2 p.m.
For more information on Comcast SportsNet Houston, visit iwantCSNHouston.com