Volleyball Seeking Tournament Title
11/21/2013 8:41:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sam Houston State begins play in the 2013 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The event, which will decide who earns the Southland's NCAA volleyball championship's automatic bid, is being held Friday through Sunday at the Dugan Wellness Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Each match will be streamed on the Southland Digital Network at http://www.southland.org/SouthlandTV/SLCNow.aspx. The championship finals Sunday will be seen live on ESPN3 at http://es.pn/SOUTHLAND-WVB-CHAMP .
The Bearkats are the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening round. The Islanders were the team that knocked Sam Houston out of the number two spot in the final regular season standings with a three-set win over the Kats last Saturday, also in Corpus Christi.
The Bearkats swept A&M-Corpus Christi in three when the two teams met Sept. 29 in Huntsville.
Sam Houston is seeking its third tournament title and first since 1996.
The Kats are led by junior Deveney Wells-Gibson and senior Tayler Gray, both of whom earned first-team recognition after leading the Bearkats to a 14-4 record in conference play.
Wells-Gibson, the 2012 Southland player of the year, led the Southland in kill per set (4.62), which ranks 10th nationally.
Gray, a Huntsville, Texas, native, finished third in assist per set (10.83) and 15th in digs per set (3.51). The setter earned second-team accolades last year.
Tournament host A&M-Corpus Christi is making its second consecutive appearance in the conference tournament and will serve as host for the first time.
A&M-Corpus Christi will be led by first-team representatives Logen Bourque and Ivy Baresh, marking the first time two Islanders made the first team. Bourque, a Houston, Texas, native, finished second in conference play with 11.35 assists per set, which also ranked 18th in the nation. The senior setter is the Islanders' career assist leader with 4,420. She has passed out 1,214 assists this season, which ranks first in Islanders history for a single season.
The winner of the SHSU-TAMUCC matchup Friday will face the winner of the No. 1 seed Central Arkansas versus No. 8 seed Stephen F. Austin match Saturday.
The complete tournament schedule:
Friday Opening Round
11 a.m. - No. 2 Northwestern State vs. No. 7 McNeese State
1:30 p.m. - No. 3 Oral Roberts vs. No. 6 Houston Baptist
4 p.m. – No. 1 Central Arkansas vs. No. 8 Stephen F. Austin
6:30 p.m. – No. 4 Sam Houston vs. No. 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Saturday Semifinals
11 a.m. – No. 2-No. 7 winner vs. No. 3-No. 6 winner
1:30 p.m. – No. 1-No. 8 winner vs. No. 4-No. 5 winner
Sunday Finals
2 p.m. – Championship Match
