Seniors Deveney Wells-Gibson and Krista Koopman led the way as Sam Houston completed its first undefeated home volleyball season since 1984 at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum Saturday with a three set victory over New Orleans.

Fittingly, it was senior day as Wells-Gibson and Koopman were honored in pre-match ceremonies before knocking down 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

The Bearkat volleyball team sang the National Anthem prior to Saturday's Senior Day match

With two road matches left in the regular season, Sam Houston stands in third place in the Southland Conference season with an 18-9 overall record and an 11-3 league mark.

The Bearkats rolled up a 12-0 record at home this year and, combined with last season's final two home wins, own a current winning streak of 14 victories on the Johnson floor.

“Undefeated at home – that's awesome,” SHSU head coach Brenda Gray said. “And what a great group to accomplish this. They're such hard workers. I can't begin to describe how much fun it is to coach this team.”

Wells-Gibson her 15th consecutive double figure kills match Saturday. The senior also added four service aces and eight digs. Koopman, who has been sidelined most of the season with back problems, produced a .667 hitting percentage with 10 kills in 15 attempts with no errors.

“Kirsta had a great today today. She's been feeling better,” Gray said. “She's done her part, doing all she could. And, Deveney, what a tremendous player. She's done her part too. But we've still got a lot of volleyball left to play. We talked about that after the match.”

Sam Houston will travel to A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday and Houston Baptist on Saturday. The Islanders and the Huskies are the two teams immediately behind the Kats in the league standings.

The Southland Conference post-season tournament will be held in Natchitoches, La., Friday through Sunday,, Nov. 15-17.

Nine different players posted kills for Sam Houston Saturday. Libero Claire Kilpatrick totaled 17 digs and Brenna Homer added 15. Setter Michelle Griffith had a double-figure day with 37 assists and 10 digs.

Sam Houston trailed only twice, early in the second set, running out to a 12-1 lead in the first set and 7-0 led in the third.