Texas State foe on Grow The Growl Night
9/14/2015 4:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
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Sam Houston takes on a former Southland Conference rival in a volleyball match that features two of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history Tuesday night at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Texas State comes to town for a 6:30 p.m. matchup with the Bearkats. The Bobcats' Karen Chisum ranks sixth among active Division I volleyball coaches with 807 career victories in 36 seasons. The Kats' Brenda Gray stands 16th with 629 career wins in 32 seasons.
The two battled often and hard when Texas State was known as Southwest Texas and the Bobcats and the Bearkats were perennial front-runners in the league. Again in 2015, Texas State looks to contend for a title in the Sun Belt Conference while Sam Houston looks to be in the hunt with a young team in the Southland.
The Bobcats bring a 4-7 record into Tuesday's action. Texas State's victories have come over UTSA, Prairie View A&M, Lamar and South Dakota State. The Bobcats also have a five-set loss to Indiana.
Sam Houston is even for the year with a 5-5 mark. But three of those losses were close five setters as the Bearkats battled UTSA, Baylor and Rice down to the wire. Last weekend at the Rice Invitational the Kats also split in their other two matches, losing to an outstanding Colorado team and blanking Louisiana-Lafayette in three sets.
“We played well last weekend,” Gray said. “We're playing with a lot of intensity.”
It's been four years since the Bobcats left the Southland but Chisum and Gray have kept the rivalry alive by playing in non-conference matches in 2012 in San Marcos and 2013 in Huntsville.
Two sophomores and a junior lead the young Bearkat squad this year. Sophomores Jordyn Vaughn and Brooke White lead the team each with 122 kills in 10 matches. Vaughn earned All-Tournament honors last week at Rice and White was selected All-Tournament the opening weekend of the season in Sam Houston's Invitational event.
Middle blocker Shelby Genung, also an all-tournament honoree in the Sam Houston Invitational, has 56 kills and leads the team with 26 blocks.
Setter Michelle Griffith is averaging 9.86 assists per set and had two matches last weekend with both double figure assists and digs. Libero Claire Kilpatrick paces the defense with 4.65 digs per set. Freshmen Taylor Cunningham and Amanda Gooch are contributing offensively and junior Breanna Homer and Sarah Sherman have been solid at the net as well.
Tuesday is “Grow the Growl” night at Johnson with special prizes to be given away to the 200 craziest fans attending. The “Grow the Growl” give-away is being sponsored by SHSU Greek Life. Students that attend all four games this fall will be eligible for a $2,500 scholarship from the College of Criminal Justice.
Tuesday also is $1 concessions night at the Coliseum. Popcorn, candy, pizza and Pepsi will all be $1 each.
Additionally, Tuesday is CMT Awareness night. Those that attend can donate to the CMTA and receive a CMT Awareness bracelet and be entered into a drawing for a volleyball autographed by the Bearkat volleyball team. There will also be free t-shirts and a special presentation at intermission.
