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.
Bearkat Volleyball Team Defeats Cowgirls In Straight Sets
by Cheval John
The Sam Houston State Bearkat volleyball team were not phased after their 13-game win streak was snapped by Northwestern State Demons.
Instead, they played as a unit and in the process defeated the McNeese State Cowgirls in straight sets 25-15, 25-11, 25-19.
“Our mentality coming in was to play every team like it’s the same team no matter who they are or where they’re ranked,” outside hitter Devene Wells-Gibson said.
“We watched film on them, we critique them to know their tendencies and we came out thinking like it was the first game we ever played.”
Wells-Gibson led the charge for the Kats as she totaled 16 kills, 7 digs and a block.
The Kats (14-3 Southland Conference play, 19-10 overall) came out on fire in the first set as they scored the first seven out of ten points in the first set to take a 7-3 lead.
After a service error that cut the lead to 7-4, SHSU exploded for six straight points on a pair of kills by outside hitter Kendall Cleveland and four Cowgirls errors to increase their lead to 13-4.
They went on to win the first set 25-15.
The Bearkats continued their dominance as they opened the second set scoring the first six out of eight points to lead it 6-2 and went on to win it 25-11.
The third set was different as both teams fought tooth and nail for every point.
The Cowgirls (1-16 Southland Conference play, 7-24 overall) led 7-5 before the Bearkats scored five straight points to take a 10-7 lead courtesy of four Cowgirls errors and a service ace by libero Camille Alfaro.
McNeese State didn’t let up as they scored seven of nine points to regain the lead at 14-12.
Cleveland’s two straight kills tied it up at 14 and Rachel Cagnina’s kill helped the Cowgirls regain a 15-14 lead.
But the Bearkats responded with four straight points of their own to take an 18-15 lead on a Cowgirl error, a kill by Wells-Gibson, a service ace by Kaylee Hawkins and a Cleveland/Haley Neisler block.
They never looked back as they scored the next eight out of twelve points to sealed the game.
Cleveland finished the game with 10 kills while Hawkins totaled 9 kills, 12 digs and two assists.
Setter Tayler Gray had 40 assists, 6 digs, 2 aces and a block.
Cagnina led the Cowgirls with 6 kills.
The win kept the Bearkats tied with Central Arkansas in the SLC .
With one more game to go against Lamar on Saturday, they are determined to finish on a high note and claim a share of the SLC title.
For head coach Brenda Gray, she is just taking it one game at a time.
“What we have to do is take care of our business here. … We can’t get caught up in that” Gray said.
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.
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.