Carli Kolbe Southland player of the week
11/15/2010 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
FRISCO, Texas - Sam Houston State junior Carli Kolbe has been voted as Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week after the final weekend of regular season action.
The honor marks the second time this season Kolbe has receive a league player of the week award.
Kolbe, a native of College Station, Texas, played a huge role in raising Sam Houston's Southland tournament seed from the No.7 to No.5 by leading the Bearkats in kills in a pair of 3-set wins over Lamar and McNeese State.
With 36 kills over the weekend, Kolbe is the first Sam Houston player in since Alisha Fowler in 2004-05 to post more than 400 kills in two consecutive seasons. Kolbe enters the Southland tournament with 401 kills this year ranked third in the league.
Kolbe will lead Sam Houston as the Bearkats 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.
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
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.
