Volleyball players sweep Southland weekly honors
10/5/2009 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Sophomore Carli Kolbe and freshman Kaylee Hawkins were named the offensive and defensive players of the week respectively by vote of the league's sports information directors.
The Southland volleyball player of the week award began in the 1987 season with one award given to the most outstanding student-athlete. But in the 2000 season, league head coaches voted to recognize the offensive and defensive efforts of its players and began to award two players of the week. Both Kolbe and Hawkins' awards are their first and team's first of the season.
Kolbe, an A&M Consolidated High School product from Bryan, led Sam Houston to perfect 3-0 week that included come-from-behind victories over Texas State and UT Arlington.
The Bearkats' middle blocker posted a career high 28 kills in the victory over Southland preseason favorite Texas State, and extended her streak of matches with double figures kills and digs to four, upping her league-leading total to 12 for the season.
Hawkins, who came to Sam Houston from Dickinson High School, anchored the Sam Houston defense for a perfect 3-0 week. The Bearkats' libero led the team in digs for the week with 5.50 average for 12 sets, and posted a career high of 27 digs in a four-set victory over UT Arlington. Hawkins has double figure digs in six of her last eight matches.
"This is just a great honor for the team and the girls," SHSU head coach Brenda Gray said. "It was an exciting weekend, beating Texas State and UT-Arlington. But we have to remember the Southland Conference race is not a sprint. We're gradually getting better. We just have to take it one match at a time."
Sam Houston State takes its winning streak on the road next week, playing on Thursday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Saturday afternoon at UTSA.
The next home match for the Bearkats will be Wednesday, Oct. 14, when Sam Houston plays host to Southeastern Louisiana at Johnson Coliseum at 7 p.m.
Tickets for Bearkat volleyball home matches are $5 for adults and $3 for youth.
Ticket information for all Bearkat sports events may be found on www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House in the south end zone of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is 936 294-1729.
