Kats begin 2014 volleyball preseason work
8/10/2014 8:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
With eight players returning from last year's squad that finished third in the Southland Conference race, head coach Brenda Gray's Bearkat volleyball begins 2014 preseason camp Monday morning at 9 a.m.
Two-time first team All-Southland Conference outside hitter Deveney Wells-Gibson headlines the group of returning players as the Sam Houston volleyball squad looks to be a contender in the championship race again in 2014.
The Kats own a string of seven consecutive Southland post-season tournament appearances and a 61-27 league record since 2008. The Kats won the 2012 Southland regular season title and have finished among the league's top three squads four of the last five years.
Wells-Gibson has been the leader for the Bearkats the past two seasons, totaling 946 kills, 714 digs and 111 blocks during her career. She earned Southland "Player of the Year" honors during the 2012 championship season. The San Antonio / Churchill product has produced double figure kills in 51 matches.
Shelby Genung, a 5-11 middle blocker from Sugar Land / Austin, also is a returning starter. She ranked third on the 2013 squad in kills (136) as a true freshman.
Other top returning players include outside hitters Breanna Homer, Krista Koopman and Sarah Guzman; middle blockers Carling Urban and Cherise Coleman; defensive specialist Claire Kilpatrick and setter Michelle Griffith. Sarah Sherman, a setter and right-side player, red-shirted as a freshman last year.
A talented group of newcomers also joins the squad including freshmen Jordyn Vaughn from Huntsville, Sarah Cranek from San Antonio / Taft, Brooke White from Fort Worth / Episcopal and transfer Lauren Acuna from Smithson Valley.
Gray, one of only 18 active head coaches in NCAA Division I women's volleyball to post more than 600 career victories, is a three-time Southland Conference "Coach of the Year." She begins her 30th year of coaching this fall at Sam Houston.
The Bearkats open the 2014 home schedule Friday and Saturday August 29-30 with the annual Sam Houston Invitational tournament at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Other home matches include Incarnate Word October 9, Abilene Christian October 11, Lamar October 14, Houston Baptist October 30, A&M-Corpus Christi November 1, Northwestern State November 4, Southeastern Louisiana November 6 and New Orleans November 8.
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