Volleyball hosts Islanders in crucial match Thursday
9/29/2010 9:47:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Both the Bearkats and the Islanders stand 0-2 in Southland Conference play. Sam Houston is seeking to end a six-match losing streak and a look at past Bearkat history shows how important Thursday's contest is to SHSU's post-season tournament hopes.
In Sam Houston's 23 years in the Southland Conference, no Bearkat volleyball team has started league play with three straight losses and qualified for the conference post-season tournament.
With Sam Houston hosting the 2010 Southland post-season event at Johnson Coliseum, the Kats know Thursday is the time they want to turn things around.
A&M-Corpus Christi and Sam Houston met earlier this year in a non-conference match during TAMUCC's Islander Classic tournament. The Bearkats won 25-20 25-20 25-17.
The Kat volleyball squad has showed flashes of promise this year, taking a set from No. 16 ranked Oregon and going 3-0 at the Corpus Christi event.
But Sam Houston opened Southland play on the road last week with two tough losses. The Bearkats were up two sets to one at Central Arkansas but fell in five. Northwestern State defeated Sam Houston in four sets, only the third time in the two school's athletic histories that the Demons have topped SHSU in volleyball.
A&M-Corpus Christi features an attack led by one of the Southland's top scoring threats. Emma Riley ranks number two in the league in kills with 167, an average of 3.37 per set.
The Bearkats counter with preseason All-Southland Conference Carli Kolbe who ranks fourth in the league with 3.21 kills per match.
Sam Houston's Kim Black stands second in the league in service aces (28) and fifth in blocks (61). Setter Kym Loving ranks fourth in the Southland in assists (9.05 per set).
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi match is one of two home contests for Sam Houston this weekend at Johnson Coliseum. The Kats play host to UTSA Saturday at 2 p.m.
Tickets to Bearkat volleyball home matches are on sale online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets and at the Sam Houston 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.
