Longhorn Legend Passes Away At 88
by Cheval John
Darrell K. Royal has been a person synonemous with the University of Texas Longhorns football for a long time.
Royal, who led the Longhorns to the National Championship in 1963, 1969 and 1970, passed away today at the age of 88.
He coached the Longhorns from 1957 to 1976. with a record of 167-47-5, the most in school history.
Under his guidance, they won 11 Southwest Conference titles, 10 Cotton Bowls and 3 national championships.
His record of 167-47-5 at Texas is the most in school history.
Prior to Texas, he coached at Mississippi State and the University of Washington.
“Today is a very sad day. I lost a wonderful friend, a mentor, a confidant and my hero. College football lost maybe its best ever and the world lost a great man,” current Texas coach Mack Brown said Wednesday to the Associated Press.
“His counsel and friendship meant a lot to me before I came to Texas, but it’s been my guiding light for my 15 years here.”
Royal was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
In 1996, UT-Austin renamed Memorial Stadium as the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to honor the man that turned the Longhorns into a national power.
The Longhorns will pay tribute to Royal on Saturday when they play host to Iowa State by wearing the DKR sticker on their jersey.
Bearkat Volleyball Takes Aim At Southland Conference Title
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Sam Houston volleyball team is two victories away from hoisting a Southland Conference regular season championship trophy for the first time since 1994.
The Bearkats play host to McNeese State Thursday at 7 p.m. and Lamar Saturday at 3 p.m.
If the SHSU volleyball teams win both those matches they can do no worse than be tied for the championship with Central Arkansas.
Both Sam Houston and UCA enter this weekend’s action tied for first place with identical 13-3 records.
Both play their final two games on their home floor.
Sam Houston’s foes, McNeese State (7-23, SLC 1-15) and Lamar (10-20, SLC 2-14 already have been eliminated from competition for any of the eight berths in the Southland post season tournament.
Central Arkansas faces third place Northwestern State (20-8, SLC 12-4) Thursday night and fourth place Stephen F. Austin (20-10, SLC 10-6).
UCA, Northwestern State and SFA are the three teams that were responsible for the Bearkats’ Southland losses this year.
The Bearkats have won 13 of their last 14 matches with an attack led by Deveney Wells-Gibson, Kendall Cleveland and Kaylee Hawkins.
Wells-Gibson was totaled 462 points this year with 406 kills 29 service aces and 49 total blocks.
Cleveland and Hawkins have added 368 and 263 points, respectively.
Sam Houston setter Tayler Gray was Southland Conference “Defensive Player of the Week” last week.
She has assisted on 1,088 or SHSU’s 1,328 kills this year and is leading the team with 3.61 digs per set.
Haley Neisler, Kim Black and libero Camille Alfaro also have been key performers for what has turned into Sam Houston’s most successful season in more than a decade.
The Bearkats won Southland titles in both 1993 and 1994 but have finished no higher than second in the Southland race (1996 and 2005) since.
Sam Houston has posted an 18-10 overall record this year.
Bearkats Volleyball’s 13-Game Win Streak Snapped By Demons
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Natchitoches, La. – Sam Houston’s 13-match volleyball winning streak ended Tuesday night as Northwestern State shut out the Bearkats in three sets 25-21 25-21 25-22.
The Demons extended their winning streak to eight matches and produced only the second 20-victory season in Northwestern State volleyball history with the win.
The contest pitted Southland leader Sam Houston with third place Northwestern State.
Coming into the match the Kats held a half-match advantage over Central Arkansas in the stands.
SHSU drops to 18-10 for the year and 13-3 in Southland play.
The Demons now are 20-8 overall and 12-4 in league action.
Kendall Cleveland led both teams with 16 kills and Deveney Wells-Gibson added 14 as Sam Houston totaled 38 kills.
Setter Tayler Gray assisted on 33 of the kills.
Stacey Difrancesco led the Demons with 12 kills.
Perhaps her most important point came in the first set with the score tied 20-20.
Difrancesco put away a kill that started a 5-1 run for Northwestern State to win the first set.
The Demons jumped out to a 4-1 margin in the second frame and never trailed in a closely fought set.
Sam Houston held a brief 8-7 lead in the third set and were down only one at 20-19.
But Northwestern State closed out the match by winning five of the next eight points.
Sam Houston will complete the regular season with home matches Thursday at 7 p.m. against McNeese State and Saturday at 3 p.m. with Lamar.
Gray Named SLC’s “Defensive Player of The Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston junior setter Tayler Gray has been named as Southland Conference volleyball “Defensive Player of the Week” after leading the first place Bearkats to a pair of home victories.
Gray produced her 19th and 20th double double of the season as Sam Houston State earned sweeps against Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State.
The junior from Huntsville, Texas (Huntsville H.S.) averaged 4.5 digs per set over the week while assisting on 71 of Sam Houston’s 90 kills.
She sits second in the Southland with 10.76 assists per set while the Bearkats are on a 13-match win streak which is the longest in Sam Houston history since it joined Division I.
Sam Houston’s Deveney Wells-Gibson took honorable mention honors for Southland “Offensive Player of the Week”.
The Bearkats have three matches remaining in the regular season with two this week at home at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Sam Houston travels to Northwestern State Tuesday night, plays host to McNeese State Thursday, and finishes the season at home against Lamar at 3 p.m.
Bearkats Climbs To No.3 In Both FCS And Coaches Polls
by Cheval John
After dismantling Southeastern Louisiana Lions 70-0, the Bearkat football team have moved up one spot to No.3 in both the Sports Network FCS polls and the Coaches Polls.
The Bearkats have been in the top 25 for 21 straight weeks and have been in the top 10 for 18 straight weeks.
SHSU have an overall record of 7-2 and are currently in second place with a 5-1 in the Southland Conference (SLC).
University of Central Arkansas leads the conference with a 6-1 record and have a bye this week.
They have already claim the title after beating the Demons last Saturday.
The Bearkats have a shot to claim a share of the SLC title this Saturday as they face Northwestern State Demons in Natchitoches.
The game will be televised on the Southland Conference Television Network and it’s affiliates at 3 p.m.