Bearkats at North Texas
9/2/2011 10:57:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oklahoma, Cincinnati and host North Texas join the Bearkats in the tournament field.
Sam Houston opens play Friday night at 7 p.m. with the Eagles. The Bearkats face Cincinnati at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and meet up with Oklahoma at 4:30 p.m.
The Bearkats opened their 2011 schedule last week by going 4-0 at the 36th annual Sam Houston Invitational. SHSU defeated Texas-Pan American, Rutgers, A&M-Corpus Christi and Louisiana Tech to earn their 12th SHSU home tournament championship.
Only twice since 1985 has Sam Houston opened a season 4-0.
Sam Houston is led by three top senior starters. Carli Kolbe leads the squad with 62 kills in four matches this year. Kim Black is one of the top middle blockers in the Southland Conference with 23 blocks to her credit last weekend. Kym Loving runs the floor for the Kats as SHSU's setter, averaging 10.4 assists and 2.4 digs per set.
Kaylee Hawkins provides Sam Houston both offensive and defensive power. The junior totaled 26 digs in the tournament.
Black, Hailey Neisler, Kelli Stewart and transfer Kendall Cleveland also are top threats to score points for the Bearkats at the net. Each totaled more than 20 kills in last weekend's action.
The North Texas event is one of three tournaments the Bearkats will travel to during the next three weeks. Sept. 9-10 Sam Houston visits Washington State for a tournament and Sept. 16-17 the Kats will participate in the SFA Invitational.
The next home match for the Bearkats will be Thursday, Sept. 22, when Sam Houston plays host to defending Southland Conference regular season champion Central Arkansas.
Tickets for all home volleyball matches at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or 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.
