TCU
Wyoming*
TCU Handles Wyoming in Sweep
10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2008
LARAMIE, Wyo. - The TCU Horned Frogs swept Wyoming for their first-ever win over the Cowgirls in Laramie. The 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-21) victory improves the Frogs to 4-3 in league play. The Frogs defense was the story of the game as they tallied 50 digs and 8.5 blocks in the match. Megan Munce led the way with 12 digs, while Nirelle Hampton totaled 30 assists in the match."We fought hard," raved Head Coach Prentice Lewis. "I am proud of our team for coming back to sweep Wyoming in a hostile environment. Overall, I thought we hit well and we played excellent defense."
A back and forth affair in the first set saw the Frogs eventually come away with the 25-20 victory. TCU would take a lead only to see the Cowgirls battle back to tie the game. Trailing 12-11, Nirelle Hampton and Kourtney Edwards keyed a Horned Frog rally with a loud block on the outside to tie the set at 12. Hampton pitched in with another kill and Devon Kirk followed with a solo denial in the middle to give TCU a 15-12 lead. A hitting error by the Cowgirls made it 16-12 and forced a timeout.
After the break, TCU went on a 4-2 run highlighted by two kills from Kirk and a kill and an ace from Lauren Otto to take a commanding 20-14 lead. The Frogs withstood a 6-2 run by the Cowgirls and closed out the victory with a 3-0 run of their own. Sarah Joeckel started the run with a cross-court kill followed by a blast from Edwards and Otto finished it with her third kill of the set.
It was all Horned Frogs in the second set as they claimed a commanding 2-0 match lead. After Wyoming scored the first two points, the Frogs went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. The blocking tandem of Otto and Kirk tallied three in the run around a kill from Hampton. Back-to-back kills from Hudson gave the Frogs a 10-4 lead and two straight blasts from Joeckel made it a 15-6 contest and forced a Wyoming timeout.
Out of the break, the Frogs scored two more points to give them an 11 point lead. The run was capped by a triple block from Hampton, Edwards and Joeckel in the middle. Hudson closed out the victory with her fifth kill of the night.
The Frogs faced a big deficit in the third set as they had to battle back from a 16-8 deficit. Kirk started the Frogs comeback and Hudson made it a five-point hole with a loud kill on the right side. Kirk pulled TCU close with a kill in the middle to make it 17-14 and forcing a Wyoming timeout.
Out of the break, the Frogs went on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the set. Hudson started the rally and Edwards pitched in with two kills as did Otto. Hampton and Edwards teamed on a block on the outside to give the Frogs a three-point cushion and back-to-back errors by the Cowgirls sealed the 25-21 set three victory.
Hudson and Otto led the Frogs with eight kills, followed closely by Kirk with seven. Otto was the only other Frog in double-digits in digs with 11. Edwards, Hampton and Kirk all totaled four blocks apiece.
TCU (15-5, 4-3) returns home for three straight conference matches. Its lone match of the week is a Friday tilt against Air Force beginning at 7 p.m. at the University Rec Center.
