Southland Conference volleyball begins Friday
11/10/2010 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sam Houston State will be the No. 5 seed and meet No. 4 UT-Arlington at 6:30 p.m. Friday night when the Bearkats play host to the 29th annual Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament Nov. 19-21 at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Bearkats enter the contest Friday 15-16 for the season with a 9-7 record during the Southland regular season. UTA stands 16-14 for the year and was 10-6 in league action.
Regular season Central Arkansas (26-7, 15-1) will be the No. 1 seed. Other seedings in the event are No. 2 UTSA (19-11, 13-3), No. 3 Texas State (19-11, 12-4, No. 6 Lamar (12-15, 8-8), No. 7 McNeese State (14-17, 8-8) and No. 8 Nicholls (14-15, 6-10).
This year's Southland event marks the first time Central Arkansas has been post-season eligibile and allowed to participate in the tournament. During the last three seasons, the Bears have rolled up a 43-5 record in Southland regular season action.
The Kats roll into the tournament with a three-match winning streak including a pair of three-set victories Thursday and Saturday over Lamar and McNeese State. Sam Houston ended the regular season with victories in eight of its last 11 contests.
Sam Houston split with UTA in their two Southland West Division meetings this year. SHSU won in five sets on the stage at Texas Hall in Arlington on Oct. 16 but fell in four sets at Johnson on Oct. 30.
In the 28 previous Southland post-season events, the Mavericks have won the tournament championship 10 times, the most by any university. Texas State is the defending champion. The Bobcats have won the tournament title four of the last six years.
"It's always a battle when you play UTA, but we're excited about the matchup and being able to raise our seeding with some wins here at the end," Sam Houston head coach Brenda Gray said. "Thiis the time of the year you want to be playing well. Playing the tournament in our house, you never know what could happen."
The Bearkat head coach knows her history. In the last 15 Southland Conference post-season tournaments, the No. 1 seed has won the championship only once. Sam Houston was a No. 2 seed when the Kats earned their last trip to the NCAA with a tournament victory in 1996. This year's event will mark the Kats' 16th trip to the Southland tournament and their sixth appearance in the event in the last seven years. SHSU also won the tournament in 1993 when the Kats were hosts.
A Sam Houston victory Friday would put the Bearkats a Saturday semifinal match with the winner of the match between No. 1 seed and regular season champion Central Arkansas and No. 8 Nicholls.
The complete tournament schedule:
Quarterfinals - Friday, Nov. 19
11 a.m. - Match One - No. 2 UTSA vs. No. 7 McNeese State
1:30 p.m. - Match Two - No 3 Texas State vs. No. 6 Lamar
4 p.m. - Match Three No. 1 Central Arkansas vs. No. 8 Nicholls
6:30 p.m. - Match Four No. 4 UT-Arlington vs. No. 5 Sam Houston
Semifinals - Saturday, Nov. 20
5 p.m. - Match One vs. Match Two winners
7:30 p.m. - Match Three vs. Match Four winners
Finals - Sunday, Nov. 21
3 p.m. - Championship finals
All seven matches of the 2010 tournament will be streamed live for free on SLC NOW at www.southland.org and the championship match will be televised live by the Southland Conference Television Network.
Ticket prices for day session are $10 for an adult and $7 for youths ages 3-18. All-tournament passes are $15. There is no charge for Southland Conference students with a valid institutional I.D.
Tickets are on sale online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets and at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House in Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
