TCU
Cincinnati
Frogs win thriller in five, hand Cincinnati first loss
9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2007
ORONO, Maine - After capturing a two-game lead in the match, the TCU Horned Frogs had to rally for a 3-2 (30-27, 30-28, 19-30, 25-30, 15-10) win over Cincinnati Saturday morning at the Maine Tournament. The Frogs outblocked the Bearcats 13-10 and got another strong performance from Lauren Otto who set a career-high with 20 kills. She also notched her fourth double-double of the season with 18 digs.Games one and two were a tight affair that could have gone either way, but went the way of the Horned Frogs. A back-and-forth affair in game one worked its way to a 10-10 tie, but the Bearcats were the first to string together a significant run at 6-4 to open up a two-point lead 16-14.
Otto spurred a Horned Frog rally with a loud kill off the block and served the Frogs to their first lead of the game, 17-16. The Frogs never trailed from that point as they continued to build on to their lead. Christy Hudson had two big kills late in the set that stunted some Bearcat rallies. An attack error by Jessica Elley gave the Frogs the 30-27 victory in game one.
A balanced effort by the Frogs saw seven different Frogs tally kills in that match. LeMeita Smith led with five kills as TCU hit .385 in the game. The defense tallied three blocks and 15 digs.
The Frogs weathered an early onslaught by the Bearcats in game two as they stormed out to a 6-2 lead. TCU was equal to the task and battled back to tie the game at six on a Kourtney Edwards/Nirelle Hampton denial. From there, the match tightened up with neither team able to get a comfortable lead.
Cincinnati strung together a 4-0 rally, but the Frogs offered with a run of their own kills from Hampton and Otto and two Bearcat hitting errors. TCU was able to stretch to a three-point lead on kills from Devon Kirk and Loren Barry.
Again, the Bearcats rallied with a 4-0 run to regain a 25-24 lead, forcing the Frogs to call a timeout. Out of the break, Hampton dumped the ball in the middle of the Cincinnati defense to tie the game at 25. They closed on the match on a 5-3 run and secured the 2-0 match lead on a Otto/Kirk stuff at the net.
Games three and four were controlled from the first serve by the Bearcats as they battled back to knot the game at two apiece. The Frog errors mounted and the Bearcats eliminated their errors to take control of the games.
In game three, with the score at 13-12 Cincinnati, the Bearcats went on a 14-3 run to gain a commanding 27-14 lead. In that stretch, Cincinnati rattled off 10 straight points. The Frogs hit just .105 in the set as compared to .405 by the Bearcats
The Bearcats opened up an 8-1 lead in game four and never looked back. Trying to gain some momentum for the inevitable game five, the Frogs put together a late rally to make it a closer game.
TCU put together a 7-0 run to make it a 28-20 game. Mixed in that run were two Otto blasts, a Hampton ace and kill as well as a Kirk solo block. Cincinnati eventually won the game, 30-25.
The Horned Frog show returned in game five as they racked up seven kills to just one error for a .429 hitting percentage. TCU stormed out to a 9-5 lead and held on through the Cincinnati rally to take the 15-10 lead. Back-to-back kills from Otto mixed in with a solo block gave TCU a 5-3 advantage. A kill by LeMeita Smith force the Bearcats to call a timeout.
An error and a Kirk/Smith block on the outside out of the timeout gave TCU the commanding 11-5 lead. Back-to-back blocks by the Frogs pushed the lead to 13-6 and a Kirk service ace gave the Frogs match point. Cincinnati staved off match point with a 4-0 run, but Edwards ended things pushing the ball through the Cincinnati block for the win.
TCU improves to 4-1 on the season.
