by Cheval John

There are always a first time for everything.

Your first day of school.  Your first day of work.

For the Sam Houston State Bearkat volleyball team, it will be their first meeting against Oral Roberts University at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on Thursday at 7 p.m.

ORU joined the Southland Conference this past July and the Bearkats are looking forward to the matchup.

“Obviously, Oral Roberts is new to the conference,” assistant coach Ellen Andrews said. “It’s interesting to open the conference season with them.”

The Bearkats (4-7) finished their two week road trip at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans with a 1-2 record.

That win came against host Tulane in the last game of the classic.

Oral Roberts also have a record of 4-7 and are on a five-game losing streak.

Three of their players have a total of 100 kills or more.

“We’re really optimistic about the conference season because we knew that we scheduled a really tough ‘pre-season,’ Andrews said.

“We are pretty battle tested at this point.”

Over the last 11 games, the Bearkats has totaled 526 kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Devene Wells-Gibson leads the team with 155 kills, which is No.3 in the conference.

“Devene is a very good volleyball player,” Andrews said.

“She has a good knowledge of the game. … She’s very calm on the court.”

Contributing to the offense is defensive specialist Tayler Gray.

The junior from Huntsville ranks No.4 in the conference with 424 assists.

Libero Jamie Haas leads the defense with 163 digs.

Though she is not in the spotlight, the senior from Deer Park produced spectacular defensive plays that creates an opportunity for the Bearkats to score.

“Sometimes they are not given enough credit for what they do because they are not the flashy players,” Andrews said.

“Jamie is setting up a lot of points for us. … She knows what she is doing out there.”

The Bearkats believe that their preparation will serve them well when they play host to ORU.

“We watch some film on them,” Andrews said.

“We have a good game plan on what we need to do to take care of them.”