Volleyball takes on unbeaten Central Arkansas Thursday
11/12/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
By Cody Stark, Huntsville Item
The Sam Houston State volleyball team heads to Central Arkansas on Thursday for a match that was supposed to be a showdown for a leg up in the Southland Conference regular-season championship race.
The Bearkats had an 11-match winning streak with contests on the road at Texas-Arlington and Texas State last weekend and sat on top of the West Division at 11-1. The Sugar Bears were 12-0 and leading the East.
The two teams went in opposite directions. Sam Houston suffered a pair of straight-set losses, while Central Arkansas rolled to wins over McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin to clinch the SLC title.
"I think all year long we secretly wanted to play Central because we only get one shot at them," SHSU head coach Brenda Gray said Tuesday. "We know they are undefeated there. It inspires them, but that also inspires us. We want to see what they got. I want my girls to understand it is an important match because we need to get back on track. We dropped the ball last weekend."
With two matches remaining (Sam Houston closes the season on the road at Northwestern State on Saturday), the Bearkats have plenty left to play for.
Since Central Arkansas can't qualify for the Southland Conference tournament, Sam Houston can still earn the top seed. The Kats are currently tied with Texas State at 11-3 for the No. 1 seed and SFA is third at 8-5.
Sam Houston holds the tiebreaker over the Ladyjacks by winning the only meeting between the teams, so regardless of what happens, the Kats will at least be the second seed when the tournament begins Nov. 19-21 in San Antonio.
SHSU has to finish with a better record than Texas State to grap the top seed. The two teams spilt the season series, but the Bobcats hold the tiebreaker by taking fewer sets to tackle the Kats.
But Sam Houston can put the pressure on and build some momentum heading into the postseason with a win over Central Arkansas, which has won nine matches in a row and 24 of its last 25. The last time the Sugar Bears lost was a nonconference road match at Memphis.
"It would mean a lot to win there because someone knocked us off of our streak, so we want to do the same," senior Anna Ferguson said Tuesday. "It would also prove that we are better than we played last weekend. We want to beat them pretty bad."
The Bearkats are going to have to play a lot better than they did at UTA and Texas State to snap Central Arkansas' streak.
Sam Houston was living on the edge when it won 11 matches in a row, going to five sets seven times, including five straight before falling to the Mavericks.
"I thought that loss to Arlington would wake us up," Gray added. "But we didn't play any better at Texas State. I look and see other teams and see that they lost on a Thursday night and didn't recover on Saturday. That is something as a collegiate-level team they have to be able to pull themselves out of.
"This week, we are going to make ourselves better because we know the end result is the tournament. But we want to go up there and take care of Central, compete against them as hard as we can and see if we have an opportunity to knock them off. Then we will take care of Northwestern later, but right now our focus is Central."
Ferguson and Carli Kobe continue to lead the Bearkats in kills up front while freshmen Michelle Miller paces the attack at setter and Kaylee Hawkins directs the defense from her libero position.
Thursday's match begins at 7 p.m. in Conway, Ark. Sam Houston will complete regular season action Saturday with a road match at Northwestern State.
For complete information on Sam Houston State athletic events, go on-line to www.gobearkats.com or contact the Sam Houston Athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
