Final Weekend Sees Kats Eyeing No. 2 Seed
11/13/2013 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
While the Southland Conference regular season volleyball championship already has been decided, the race for seeding in the league' post-season tournament Nov. 22-24 is still a puzzle.
Those questions will be answered this weekend as the Southland ends its 2013 campaign with games Thursday and Saturday.
Sam Houston travels to play Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. Thursday and A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Central Arkansas, unbeaten in 16 conference matches this fall and 24-3, already is regular season champion and the No. 1 seed at the Southland post-season event.
The Bearkats have an opportunity to grab the No. 2 seed with victories this weekend. Both Sam Houston and Northwestern State have only three league losses this year. But the Kats own the tiebreaker over the Demons with a four -set victory October 26 in Natchitoches. Northwestern State closes their season Saturday against Stephen F. Austin.
Oral Roberts, in fourth place at 12-4, also could figure in the race for one of the top three seeds.
A&M-Corpus Christi (11-5) and Houston Baptist (8-8) stand fifth and sixth in the Southland standings. Stephen F. Austin, McNeese State and Lamar are all three battling for the final two spots.
Deveney Wells-Gibson continues to pace the league in kills (401) and total points (449). The junior outside hitter was voted as Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week last Monday.
Senior middle blocker Haley Neisler is second for the Bearkats in kills (199) and ranks in the top five in the league in blocks (94).
Senior setter Tayler Gray has assisted on 939 of Sam Houston's 1,091 kills this fall and has totaled 306 digs.
Freshman Breanna Homer leads the team in digs with 360.
Other scoring threats for the Bearkats are freshman Shelby Genung and senior Lauren Bohlen who have collected 128 and 111 kills, respectively, this year.
Southland tournament play will begin Friday with matchups of No. 1 seed vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The complete schedule for the tournament will be announced Sunday.
