Led by Deveney Wells-Gibson with 13 kills and Kaylee Hawkins with 10, the Kats defeated the Lamar Cardinals to claim a share of the Southland Conference Volleyball Championship.

Sam Houston (20-10, SLC 15-3) defeated Lamar (10-23, SLC 2-17) 25-16 25-16 25-21. The Bearkats will share the Southland championship with Central Arkansas.

The Bears defeated Stephen F. Austin in three sets Saturday afternoon. UCA will be the No. 1 seed and Sam Houston the No. 2 seed in the Southland Conference tournament in Conway. The event starts Friday.

"I want to give credit to every team that came through here in all the years that I've been here that helped lay the ground work," Bearkats coach Brenda Gray said. "I couldn't be happier for this group. I love this team. The championship is just wonderful for them because they have worked extremely hard."

Saturday's first set had a total of nine ties and three lead changes before the Bearkats won it 25-21. The second set was no different with five ties and three lead changes.

With the Cardinals leading 8-7, the Bearkats scored three straight points to lead it 10-7 on kills by junior Haley Neisler, senior Kaylee Hawkins and a block by junior setter Tayler Gray and Kim Black.

The Kats never trailed after that as they scored the final 15 out of 22 points to take the second set 25-16.

"We wanted to finish strong and play the way we have been playing all the other games," said Kendall Cleveland, who finished with nine kills, six digs and three blocks.

"Our emotion showed really tonight and I'm proud of the way that the girls played."

Wells-Gibson totaled 13 kills and 12 digs while Kaylee Hawkins added 10 kills and nine digs. Kendall Cleveland had nine kills for the Kats. Junior setter Tayler Gray had 34 assists.

Saturday was senior day for the Bearkats and five players were honored before the match; Jamie Haas, Camille Alfaro, Kim Black, Kendall Cleveland, and Kaylee Hawkins.

Lamar was led by Wendy Krell with eight kills and Cynthia McCollum with six.