Race For Post Season Play Heating Up
10/26/2015 7:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
When the Sam Houston volleyball team defeated Northwestern State in three sets Saturday afternoon, the Bearkats earned an important victory in their quest to return to Southland Conference post-season play for the ninth consecutive year.
Central Arkansas in Conway will be this year's tournament host. The Kats have six more matches remaining on their 2015 regular season schedule but only two are at home.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the league race with a perfect 10-0 record and UCA and Stephen F. Austin hold down the two and three spots with 8-2 and 8-3 marks, respectively. The battle for the remaining five berths in the tournament could be a dog fight.
With the victory over the Demons Saturday, Sam Houston ended a four-match losing streak to spark momentum for the tough four-match road swing the Kats will make in the next two weeks.
“This is a good team and we played the way we're capable of playing Saturday,” Sam Houston head coach Brenda Gray said. “Everybody did their job. We got back to some of the things that have been working for us this season.”
While Abilene Christian is in fourth place in the standings, the Wildcats are not yet eligible for post season play. So Houston Baptist and Sam Houston are knotted for the number four spot in the playoff picture both with 5-5 league slates.
That tie will be broken Thursday night when the Kats travel to Houston to take on the HBU Huskies in a 7 p.m. match. The road swing will continues with matches against the first place Islanders on Saturday, October 31; at 4-5 Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, November 5 and at 2-7 New Orleans on Saturday, November 7.
Sam Houston will wrap up the 2015 regular season with home matches at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on Thursday, November 12 and a rematch with Houston Baptist Saturday, November 14.
Several Bearkat players continue to rank among the Southland's statistical leaders.
Jordyn Vaughn and Brooke White rank third and fifth in kills with averages of 3.39 and 3.26 per set. Michelle Griffith stands second in assists with 908 this season for an average of 10.32 per set. Claire Kilpatrick is the league's sixth-leading libero with 4.04 digs per set.
