TCU
Saint Francis (PA)
TCU Opens Tournament Play With Win
9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
AKRON, Ohio - The TCU volleyball team opened play in the Akron Invitational with a 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-15, 25-14) victory over St. Francis (Pa.). Kourtney Edwards paced the team with a match-high 19 kills and tallied two blocks. Megan Munce fell a kill short of a triple-double with nine kills, 38 assists and 11 digs.The Frogs used a strong offensive attack to help spur them to their sixth victory of the season. As a team, they tallied 57 kills and hit .216 while limiting the Red Flash to just 32 kills and a .061 attack percentage. Defensively, the Frogs piled up 70 digs, 21 from Katelyn Blackwood, and notched nine blocks. Meghan Horio pitched in with some solid serving with two aces and a career-high 18 digs.
TCU stormed out of the gates in the first set. Horio's reeled off six points on her serve, aided by three kills from Edwards and a kill each from Munce, Sloane Sunstrum and Irene Hester. Two more kills and a block from Edwards pushed the Frog lead to nine, 10-1.
St. Francis rebounded with an 11-4 run to pull back within two, 14-12, but another blast from Edwards spurred a 3-0 run by the Frogs that pushed the lead back to five, 17-12. Kristen Hester gave the Frogs set point and Kylie Pont locked up the 25-21 set one victory.
A reversal in game two saw the Red Flash race out to the big lead as they took a 10-5 advantage early on. The Frogs would get back within two, 14-12, on a service error, but an 8-2 run put the game out of reach as St. Francis evened the match at a game apiece with a 25-16 win.
Out of the intermission, the Frogs played a determined third set to regain the match lead. Sunstrum and Edwards set the pace with a block to open up the set and the Frogs rolled to an 8-2 lead. Christy Hudson dropped in two kills along the way and the lead continued to grow.
Again, Horio stepped behind the service line and guided the Frogs to a strong rally that included an ace and kills from Munce and Edwards. Another blast from Hudson locked up the 25-15 set three victory.
Horio's serve got the Frogs rolling in the fourth set as she guided the Frogs to an 8-1 lead. Edwards dropped in two more kills than teamed with Munce and Sunstrum on back-to-back blocks.
Leading 12-5, Irene Hester got a big kill then teamed with her sister, Kristen, to extend the lead. A solo block from Emily Kirby made it a 17-8 contest and Edwards pushed the lead to double-figures with a loud kill off the block. A block by the Hester's set up match point and Kristen Hester finished off the 25-14 victory.
TCU improves to 6-3 with the win. The Frogs return to the court Saturday for two matches. First up will be a meeting with West Virginia at 3 p.m. (CST) followed by a 6:30 p.m. affair against the host, Akron.
