Volleyball returns home Friday, Saturday
10/9/2008 1:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
With their 38-day road swing finally over, the Bearkat volleyball team returns home to host two important Southland Conference matches at Johnson Coliseum this weekend.
Sam Houston State (6-13, SLC 1-2) faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-10, SLC 1-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Texas-San Antonio (11-6, SLC 3-0) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Bearkats and TAMUCC Islanders are tied for fourth place in the Southland Conference West Division. UTSA is the West Division leader. The Roadrunners and Stephen F. Austin stand as the only teams still unbeaten in Southland action.
Sam Houston State ended a five-match losing streak last Saturday with a four-set road victory over Texas-Arlington. The victory marked only the second time since 1999 that the Bearkats have defeated the Mavericks in volleyball.
Junior middle blocker Anna Ferguson leads the Bearkats with 160 kills in Sam Houston's 19 matches. Senior Haley Thomas (157 kills) and freshman Carli Kolbe (135 kills) also bring offensive power for the Kats.
Defensively, Thomas leds the squad in blocks (61) while Sarah Hazlewood adds 47 and Ferguson 37.
UTSA's attack features the top offensive player in the conference. Kendra Rowland leads the Southland Conference in kills with 255 in the Roadrunners' 17 matches this season.
Kasey McBrearty leads Texas A&M-Corpus Christi offensively. She ranks No. 8 in the Southland with 118 kills in 19 matches.
Since Texas A&M-Corpus Christi joined the Southland Conference two years ago, the Islanders have won three of the four meetings with the Bearkats. Sam Houston won in five sets in Corpus Christi in TAMUCC's first match as a Southland team, but have lost the last three meetings.
The Bearkats have bested UTSA three times in seven meetings during the past three seasons, splitting a pair of five-setters last year. Sam Houston and UTSA have gone five sets in each of their last three matches.
