Volleyball to play top 20 team at Sugar Bowl Classic
9/15/2010 5:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Bearkats head to New Orleans to compete in their final regular season tournament as they play in the Sugar Bowl Classic hosted by Tulane.
The No. 16 ranked Oregon Ducks head the field, bringing a perfect 8-0 record into the event. Oregon has blank its opponents in three sets in five of their eight contests.
All-America candidate Heather Meyers leads Oregon with 3.54 kills per set.
Also participating in the tournament are Florida International and host Tulane. The FIU Golden Panthers are 4-5 this season. Andrea Lakovic is Florida International's top offensive threat with 2.97 kills per set.
The Green Wave of Tulane are 2-7 for the year. Izabela Grof is averaging 3.38 kills per set for the Wave.
Sam Houston will play Tulane at 10 a.m. and Florida International at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Bearkats will complete action in the tournament with Oregon at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Bearkats enter the Sugar Bowl Classic with a 6-6 season mark, having won four of their last five matches.
Preseason All-Southland Conference pick Carli Kolbe leads the Bearkat attack with 3.18 kills per set. Also providing offensive power are Kaylee Hawkins and Kelli Stewart with kill averages of 2.62 and 2.01 respectively. Kim Black has been is a presence on the front line as well, leading the team in blocks with 43.
Kolbe, Hawkins and Black have all earned all-tournament honors in at least one of the three events in which Sam Houston has participated this fall.
Kolbe was all-tournament at the Sam Houston and University of Delaware tournaments. Hawkins earned honors at both the Sam Houston and A&M-Corpus Christi Invitational events. Black was an all-tournament selection as well at Corpus Christi.
Following the Tulane tournament, the Bearkats roll into the Southland Conference portion of their schedule.
Sam Houston opens Southland action on the road with a trip to Central Arkansas Thursday Sept. 23 and Northwestern State on Saturday Sept. 25.
The first Southland Conference home match will be Thursday Sept. 30 when the Bearkats play host to the A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Johnson Coliseum in a 7 p.m. match.
Tickets for Sam Houston volleyball home matches are onsale now online. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth. Sam Houston students receive free admission at Johnson Coliseum on presentation of their BearkatOne ID cards. Tickets also are on sale at 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 is 936 294-1729.
