Number 3 Seed At Southland Tournament
11/15/2011 9:01:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Bearkats rolled up victories over UTSA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lamar and McNeese State the past two weeks to finish 17-12 for the year and 11-5 in league action. Sam Houston will be the number three seed when the action starts Friday at Central Arkansas.
The win over UTSA ended the Roadrunners' streak of 12 consecutive Southland wins and knocked the San Antonio squad out of the number one seed in the tournament.
Texas State (24-7, 15-1) earned the top seed. UTSA is second seed, followed by Sam Houston and Central Arkansas at three and four.
Texas State will play the No. 8 seed Northwestern State (10-19, 6-10), Friday at 4 p.m. UTSA (20-10, 14-2) opens the tournament is No. 7 seed Stephen F. Austin (14-17, 7-9) at 11 a.m.
Sam Houston finished third in the West Division and faces No. 6 seed UT Arlington (12-18, 8-8) at 1:30 p.m. The Mavericks eliminated the Bearkats last year in Huntsville when Sam Houston hosted the tournament
Central Arkansas (16-14, 10-6) will play No. 5 seed Lamar (11-20, 9-7) in the Friday nightcap at 6:30 p.m. Lamar, which last won the title in 2008, finished second in the East Division..
The championship match will be Sunday at 2 p.m., with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
All seven matches of the 2011 tournament will be streamed live and for free on SLC NOW at southland.org. The championship match will be televised by the Southland Conference Television Network to over 20 markets in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, plus worldwide on ESPN3.com. Visit southland.org/television for a list of affiliates.
Sam Houston is making its fifth consecutive and 17th appearance overall in the Southland post-season tournament. The Bearkats won the tournament championship and advanced the NCAA Division I playoffs in 1993 and 1996. Sam Houston reached the finals in 1987 and 1994 and has made 10 semifinals appearances.
The Bearkats split with UT-Arlington in their two meetings this year, winning in three 25-20 25-21 25-21 in Huntsville on Oct. 13 and falling in Arlington in four 25-18 15-25 19-25 28-30 on October 28.
The senior trio of Carli Kolbe, Kim Black and Kym Loving lead the 2011 team. Kolbe and Black are Sam Houston's total scorers with 412 and 335 points apiece. Loving has totaled 1,131 assists as the Kats' setter.
