Bearkat Volleyball Advances To Semifinals In SLC Tournament
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Led by Deveney Wells-Gibson with 16 kills, Sam Houston defeated Nicholls State to advance to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament.
The tournament is being hosted by Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas.
No. 2 Sam Houston defeated No. 6 Nicholls State 25-22 25-12 25-19.
The Kats will face the winner of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Oral Roberts matchup.
The Southland Player of the Year, Wells-Gibson put up a dominant performance against the Colonels with her 27th double figure kill performance of the year.
Friday’s first set had 14 ties and 10 lead changes before the Kats finished it off 25-22.
In the second set, Sam Houston led from the beginning after jumping out to an early 5-0 lead.
Nicholls found itself within four at 11-7, but the Bearkats finished the set on a 14-5 run to win the second set, 25-12.
The third set was much like the first as both teams tied 14 teams and exchanged the lead five times, but Sam Houston finished the match on a 9-3 run to win the set 25-19 and finish off the sweep. Wells-Gibson led the charge with six kills in the final set.
Kaylee Hawkins, who was named honorable mention All-Southland, added 12 kills for the Bearkats.
Second team All-Southland member, Kim Black had six kills and four blocks for the Kats.
Tayler Gray, who was the second team All-Southland setter, had 37 assists.
For Nicholls, Jennifer Brandt and Sarah Terry each led the team with six kills.
Sam Houston advances to play the winner of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Oral Roberts, which begins at 1:30 p.m. today.
The semifinal match will commence at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Farris Center and will be streamed on the Southland Digital Network.
Bearkat Volleyball Player, Coach Earns SLC’s Top Honors
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Deveney Wells-Gibson is the 2012 Southland Conference volleyball “Player of the Year,” Brenda Gray received league “Coach of the Year” honors and five Bearkats have been voted as All-Conference performers after leading Sam Houston to its first regular season volleyball championship since 1994.
Wells-Gibson was the top-scorer with 496 points for a Bearkat volleyball team that rolled to a 20-10 overall regular season mark and posted its highest Southland victory total ever with a 15-3 league mark.
The sophomore from San Antonio ranked No. 2 in kills (421) in the Southland and also was No. 10 in digs (339) and No. 12 in aces (34). She totaled double figure kills in 26 of the Bearkats’ 30 matches and was a two-time Southland Conference offensive player of the week selection.
Wells-Gibson is the first Bearkats to claim the honor since Julie Franzen won after SHSU’s 1993 conference championship season.
Gray, one of only 29 active head coaches in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball to post more than 500 career victories, to a season of 20 or more victories for the 12th time in her coaching career.
The 2012 Sam Houston team rolled up 13 consecutive victories at one point during the march to the conference title.
The 13-match winning streak is the longest since SHSU moved up to the Division I level in 1986.
In her 29th year of coaching this year’s honor marks her third “Coach of the Year” award in the Southland Conference.
After starting the season 3-7, the Bearkats went 17-3 the rest of the season including 12 three-set sweeps.
Her 595 career wins ranked third all-time among Southland Conference volleyball coaches.
Kendall Cleveland joined Wells-Gibson as a first team All-Southland Conference selection.
The senior from Houston totaled 389 points with 350 kills (3.53 per set) eight aces and 56 total blocks.
Tayler Gray and Kim Black, both Huntsville High School products, were second team selections.
As the Bearkats’ setter, Gray assisted on 1,162 of Sam Houston’s 1,413 kills this year and lead the squad with 383 digs.
Black was a force in the middle for the Bearkats, leading the Southland Conference in total blocks (140).
She stands No. 2 at Sam Houston in career blocks.
Kaylee Hawkins received honorable mention.
This marks the third time that she has made the All-Southland team (2009 first team, 2010 honorable mention).
The senior from Dickson is currently No. 3 in career digs (1,597).
Sam Houston is the No. 2 seed in the Southland Conference post-season tournament this weekend in Conway, Arkansas.
The Bearkats open play Friday at 11 a.m. against No. 7 seed Nicholls State.
The tournament semifinals will be played Saturday with the finals at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Wells-Gibson Earns SLC’s “Player of The Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston State’s Deveney Wells-Gibson has been named as Southland Conference volleyball “offensive player of the week” after leading the Kats to home victories over McNeese State and Lamar to help SHSU clinch its first regular season league title since 1994.
Wells-Gibson averaged 4.78 kills per set and totaled 49 points for the week.
The San Antonio, Texas (Churchill H.S.), native chipped in with 29 digs and produced double figure kills in each match.
The sophomore outside hitter is second in the conference with 4.06 kills per set while the Bearkats clinched a share of the regular season title Saturday.
Sam Houston State will be making its sixth consecutive Southland Conference post-season tournament appearance and its 18th trip to the event overall.
The Bearkats won the Southland post-season tournament in 1993 and 1996 and finished as runner-up in 1987.
Sam Houston is the No. 2 seed at this year’s event hosted by Central Arkansas in Conway.
The Kats begin action against No. 7 seed Nicholls at 11 a.m. Friday.
The semifinals will be played Saturday with the championship finals on Sunday.
The tournament winner represents the Southland Conference in the NCAA national volleyball championships.
Bearkat Volleyball Team Wins 13th Straight Game
by Cheval John
The Sam Houston State Bearkat volleyball team extends their winning streak to 13 games as they swept Nicholls State Colonels 25-21, 25-13, 25-16.
The win streak is the longest since the Bearkats moved up to the NCAA Division I in 1986.
Three Bearkats (13-2 SLC play, 18-9 overall) totaled double-digit kills; senior outside hitter Kendall Cleveland (13), senior outside hitter Kaylee Hawkins (12) and sophomore outside hitter Devene Wells-Gibson (11).
Both teams fought tooth and nail early in the first set as they were five ties and two lead changes.
With the Colonels (5-12 SLC play, 10-18 overall) leading 14-9, the Bearkats scored the next eight out of ten points to take a 17-16 lead and went on to win the first set 25-21.
It seemed as if the second set was going to be the same as both teams traded a total of six points to open it at 3.
Then the Bearkats exploded for 9 straight points to lead it 12-3 and cruised to a 25-13 win.
They kept up the momentum in the third set as they scored the first six of the seven points on a kill and three service aces by Wells-Gibson and a kill by Hawkins.
They continued to dominate the Colonels as with their defense that allowed them to extend their lead and eventually take the third set and the match.
Setter Tayler Gray had 37 assists and 20 digs.
The Bearkats go on the road on Tuesday as they face Northwestern State.
Bearkat Volleyball Rolled Through UCA In Four Sets
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Conway, Ark – Kaylee Hawkins totaled 18 kills as Sam Houston State came from a set down to defeat Central Arkansas 27-29, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 in a battle for first place in the Southland Conference volleyball race.
The victory extended Sam Houston’s winning streak to 11 matches, the Bearkats’ longest since the program moved up to the NCAA Division I level.
With an 11-2 record, the Kats take a half game lead over Central Arkansas in the 2012 title race.
The Bears dropped to 11-3 in league play.
Sam Houston owns a 16-9 season record while UCA is 23-4 for the year.
Two other Bearkats totaled double figure kills as Kendall Cleveland posted 14 and Deveney Wells-Gibson had 10.
UCA overcame a 14-0 Bearkat lead to take the first set.
But, even after a demanding five-set victory over Oral Roberts Thursday night, the Bearkats charged back to win the next three sets.
“Friday morning, I don’t think we had anything left in the tank after the five-setter at ORU,” head coach Brenda Gray said. “But the girls are hitting on all cylinders now. This was a great team effort and a big win.”
Tayler Gray assisted of 45 of SHSU’s 55 kills.
Haley Neisler totaled seven blocks and Hawkins and Kim Black each had five apiece.