TCU
Prairie View A&M
TCU sweeps Prairie View for fifth straight win
9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2008
EDINBURG, Texas - With their fifth straight win to open the season, the TCU Horned Frogs are off to their best start in school history. The Frogs swept Prairie View A&M (25-14, 25-18, 25-19) behind a strong offensive game from Irene Hester who finished with a match high 13 kills. Christy Hudson and Katelyn Blackwood tied with eight digs apiece.A tentative start for both teams in the first set led to a 6-5 score in favor of the Frogs. TCU worked the score out to 9-6 on a Hannah Fort kill to spur a 9-0 run, giving TCU a commanding 17-6 lead. The Hester sisters, Irene and Kristen, were key contributors to the run as they pitched in with a combined five kills in the run. Fort pitched in with her first career ace.
Following a service error by the Panthers, the Frogs again went on another 5-0 run to make it a 23-8 contest. Megan Munce and Sarah Joeckel tallied three kills in the run and Munce teamed with Kristen Hester on a denial on the outside to help the Frogs build their lead. Munce gave the Frogs set point and TCU staved off a Panther rally before Munce finished things with her third kill of the set, sealing the 25-15 victory.
Irene Hester was big in getting the Frogs out to a big lead in game two. She opened the set with a kill and followed with an ace. Leading 4-2, TCU went on a 5-0 run to make it a 9-2 contest. Hester started the rally with a kill and Menden and Fort stuffed a Panther attack. A Christy Hudson ace forced the Panthers to call a timeout.
The timeout was helpful to the Panthers as they narrowed the gap with a 10-4 run to close within two, 14-12. Out of the back row, Irene Hester quickly put the rally to an end with a loud kill to spur a 4-0 run by the Frogs. Joeckel and Munce pitched in with kills and Kylie Pont gave TCU a 21-13 lead.
Again the Panthers got on a role as they scored five of the next seven points, but a costly service error gave TCU set point. A kill from Munce gave TCU a 25-18 set two victory.
The Frogs jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held on for the 25-19 victory. After Prairie View had closed to within one, 5-4, Hudson pushed the lead back to two with a kill on the outside. A Kristen Hester kill in the middle gave the Frogs a three-point advantage, 7-4.
Kristen Hester blocked down a Panther attack at the net to key another run for the Frogs that was helped along by another kill from Hudson and an ace from Victoria Hernandez. Joeckel extended the Frogs lead to five with a cross court kill on the outside.
Prairie View would rally to get back in the match as they went on a 8-5 run to pull within two, 18-16, but another costly service error gave the Frogs back their three-point cushion. A back-and-forth battle ensued as the two teams battled to a 21-19 score, but Irene Hester took over the set with three kills in the last four points to close out the victory.
TCU improves to 5-0 on the season. The Frogs wrap up play in the tournament against UT-Pan American at 4 p.m.
