The Sam Houston State volleyball team had a bit of a let-down Saturday afternoon with a three-set loss to Central Arkansas in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. Both teams are now 1-1 in Southland Conference play.
After a solid three-set win Thursday night in the conference opener against Oral Roberts, SHSU followed up with a sweeping loss to Central Arkansas. Both games were hard fought, but they only came out with one win.
Thursday night, Sam welcomed Oral Roberts to Southland play with a three set win that displayed a dominant Bearkat defense (25-17 25-21 25-18)The Bearkat frontline accounted for 14 blocks and four players had double digit digs. On offense, senior Kendall Cleveland had 16 kills and sophomore Deveney Wells-Gibson was not too far behind with 11.
We took care of what they were bringing us, head coach Brenda Gray said. We really took care of our side. I think late in the third we struggled a little bit. We just got a little jumpy.
Saturday afternoon was a similar story with a different ending. The Bearkats came out strong against Central Arkansas, losing two very tight sets against themcombined for eight ties. However, in the final set, Central Arkansas started by scoring five unanswered points and then were relentless down the stretch. Wells-Gibson led the team in kills with 11, matching her total from Thursday. Junior Tayler Gray assisted by getting 35 and 31 assists respectively in the two games.
Centrals a good team, Gray said. Theyre a quick team and they run a quick offense.
Before traveling to Corpus Christi this weekend for a Southland Conference match-up with Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the Bearkats hope for their second conference win tonight against conference rival Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches at 6:30 p.m. For more information on the volleyball team, including their schedule, visit gobearkats.com.