I hope that everyone reading the blog is able to follow how the team is doing in some way shape or form. Our official Twitter account is @SamHoustonVB, the gobearkats.com website with articles and video interviews, the Huntsville Item, and the Houstonian newspapers, as well as gametracker on other universities websites when we are on the road, and live web streaming on gobearkats.com of our matches when we are at home. Obviously you can come watch us as well – home and away!
First, an update on our team and injuries. We have been a little thin on our middle blockers, with sophomore transfer Sam West being out with a back injury the first three weeks; freshman Haley Neisler has been out since before preseason with Mononucleosis, and Tarona Williams not being ready to compete yet. Being able to have Kaylee Hawkins train in the middle in the spring was tremendously beneficial to our team this fall so far. She is an outstanding competitor and athlete and will score points or keep us in matches wherever she is playing. Between her and Kim Black – they have done a great job in the middle so far, but it will be nice when we have a little more depth there.Haley got her first action this past weekend after being sick, and shows some promise, and now we have a lot of options in many positions with our team, but putting it all together will be the key. The team is definitely stronger in full (and healthy) numbers.
All this being said – this past week we played Texas Southern twice, and got to see some different players play who haven’t played as much, and to see how competitive we can be, and stay consistent to our game. We also beat TAMU Corpus Christi at their place in 3, serving them really tough and taking advantage of their mistakes, we had a lot of high energy, and it showed. Against Villanova, a tougher opponent, we started slow and made a lot of mistakes in the first set. In the 2nd set, we had a 8-5 lead, and were tied at 13-13, but let them stay in system, and made a few of our own mistakes, while being frustrated with their smarter play with off speed shots and relentless hustle.
We practiced hard yesterday, and watched film from this weekend after practice to learn from our mistakes and what we did well. We will learn from our mistakes and apply to the rest of the season. A tough road ahead this weekend before conference starts officially next week. We play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic at Tulane, also facing Florida International and No. 16 Oregon. Each team made the NCAA tournament last year, and that’s where we want to be as a team, so this weekend will be a great test. I think we can compete with these teams this weekend, but we need to be the aggressor, and not be passive at all. We look forward to the challenge, and can’t wait to show what us Bearkats can do! Thanks for the support and being loyal readers!!
-- Joe Lind
Assistant Volleyball Coach
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