Kats visit TCU for final non-conference set
9/14/2016 7:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State volleyball team has not shied away from taking on formidable teams the first three weeks of the season. That will not change on Thursday.
The Bearkats close out the non-conference slate with a visit to the TCU Horned Frog Invitational opening play against the hosts on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., airing on FOX Sports Southwest. The squad will follow with an 11 a.m. match Saturday against SMU and Friday 3 p.m. finale against eighth-ranked North Carolina.
“I think coach always schedules a tough non-conference to prepare us for everything we could possibly see,” volunteer assistant coach Tayler Gray said. “Our objective this year, and every year, is to have a great preseason, go take conference and win the conference tournament. Every team we've faced is represented in our conference with a few exceptions.”
Sam Houston is coming off a 2-1 weekend at Rice, downing the Owls and Oakland with the lone loss coming to No. 24 USC. The success followed a team tournament title at the Sugar Bowl Tournament capped by a 3-1 victory against host Tulane.
“All of the opponents are the Rice Invitational were well below our RPI so they were big wins for us,” volunteer assistant Tayler Gray said. “We played well in all facets of the game so it was big for us. At Tulane, we broke that five-game curse we had all last year. Oakland and Rice are both caliber of opponents we will face in conference.”
The upcoming weekend set will close out a historic road trip for the Kats. Entering Thursday, Sam Houston has spent the first 10 matches of the season away from home due to renovations at Johnson Coliseum. In that span, the team has posted a 6-4 record.
“We are going to compete and do our best to win,” Gray said. “All three teams have better RBIs than us. It's a great chance for our student-athletes to play at a Big 12 university. North Carolina is eighth in the country so it's a great tournament. TCU beat Texas last year and SMU has a great coaching staff.”
