Horned Frogs Stun ACU with Reverse Sweep, Notch Fourth Win in Last Five Outings

Saturday, September 17

Fort Worth, Texas

11 AM

TCU

5-5,0-0Big 12

Abilene Christian

3-8,0-0WAC

Abilene Christian

TCU

Photo by: Sharon Ellman

Horned Frogs Stun ACU with Reverse Sweep, Notch Fourth Win in Last Five Outings

9/17/2022 5:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

TCU earned a share of Horned Frog Invitational tournament title with the win

By: Brady Johnson

FORT WORTH – A sweep was on the shortlist of TCU's goals entering a Saturday morning match vs. Abilene Christian inside Schollmaier Arena.

The aim was fulfilled, albeit in unusual form.

TCU fought back from a 2-0 hole vs. the Wildcats to notch a reverse sweep in scores of 21-25, 21-25, 28-26, 35-21 and 15-8 in its second-of-three matches at the Horned Frog Invitational.

The performance marked TCU's first win after trailing by multiple sets in 2022 and signified the Horned Frogs fourth victory in their last five outings. TCU (5-5) clinched a share of the tournament title with the result. The Horned Frogs can now claim the outright tournament championship with a victory over Texas State (7-4), whom it faces at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

TCU registered season-highs in digs (70), kills (63) and assists (59) in the win. The Horned Frogs also finished with 16 blocks – just 2.5 off their season-high. TCU has averaged 15 blocks per match over its last four wins.

Audrey Nalls led all players with 18 kills. The senior was the catalyst for TCU's comeback. She landed 16 of her kills over the final three sets. Fellow outside hitters Julia Adams and Zoe Hall chimed in with 14 and nine, respectively. Adams eclipsed 900 career kills with her performance.

Callie Williams delivered a 44-assist, 12-dig performance to notch her second double-double of the season.

McKenzie Nichols led all players in digs with 23 while libero Keagan Polk added 14 of her own.

A victory – let alone a sweep of any flavor – hardly appeared certain early on.

TCU struggled to find its groove following a four-set win over Alabama on Friday that concluded just over 12 hours prior to first serve against the Wildcats. The Horned Frogs were limited to 19 kills and a sub-.150 hitting percentage in the first two frames.

Conversely, ACU (3-8) connected at a .750 clip over the first 13 plays of the match to assume a 9-4 lead. TCU never crept within more than three points of the Wildcats the rest of the way. ACU tallied 16 kills against a .344 hitting clip in thee set.

TCU led 5-2 to begin set two and stretched its edge to 16-12 midway through the frame. Another prolonged Wildcat scoring stretch proved costly. ACU closed on a 13-5 extended run. The Wildcats rattled off a 7-1 spurt to retake the lead at 19-17. TCU scored on the ensuing two plays to deadlock the scoreboard, but the Wildcats closed the show with a 6-2 run to grab the set and assume a 2-0 lead.

But from there, TCU slowly awakened and took control of the pins and the net.

Head coach Jason Williams substituted fourth-year junior Madilyn Cole in at middle blocker in search of a defensive spark to begin set three. Cole, who ranks second among all Big 12 returners from 2021 in blocks pee set (1.19), immediately delivered. The New Jersey native laced home three kills and recorded her first of five blocks to give TCU an early 10-8 lead.

Around the same time, Nalls erupted. She found open court on seven occasions in the third frame. The teams played to a 21-21 tie following TCU's brief advantage on the scoreboard. Nalls then ripped off three straight kills to position TCU for set point at 24-22.

The match likely would not have extended beyond three sets without Nalls' performance. ACU responded from her trio of kills with three of their own to serve for match point. Afedo Manyang, who earned her second start of the fall at right side hitter, kept TCU alive with a kill on the following play, only for the Wildcats to again assume an opportunity to earn match point at 26-25. Nalls, though, answered with a touch kill that firmly swung the momentum in favor of TCU. Hall followed suit with a kill to give the Horned Frogs their second shot at set point, which they earned via an attack error on the next play.

Ultimately, set three proved to be ACU's best shot at securing a win. TCU never trailed the rest of the way outside of 1-0 and 5-4 deficits to begin the fourth set.

Nalls clustered a trio of kills around an ACU attack error to run her tally to 13 and push TCU ahead 13-8. The sequence commenced an offensive spurt that turned the set – and the match – on its ear. Williams bookended a pair of dump kills around a short spike from the middle by Cole to inch TCU's edge to 16-11. ACU then crept within a point at 20-19. Adams, though wrapped two kills around a duo of attack errors to make the score 24-20 and position TCU to even the match at two sets apiece. Manyang landed her season-high fifth kill to secure set point and send the match to a decisive fifth frame.

From there, TCU was at its most dominant. The Horned Frogs hit .385 in set five – the highest hitting percentage in a set by either team – while inducing seven Wildcat attack errors.

Two ACU errors and a pair of blocks by Cole quickly put TCU in front 4-1. The Wildcats were then forced to signal for timeout following a service ace by Adams that upped TCU's lead to 6-2. ACU briefly trimmed the deficit to one point at 7-6, but TCU immediately answered with three straight points via a couple more kills by Nalls and service ace from Polk. Sarah Sylvester, who led all players with seven blocks, then slammed home a kill from the middle of the net to maintain TCU's four-point lead at 11-7. Three more attack errors from ACU and Nalls' 18^th-and-final kill of the afternoon then locked up the victory.

TCU is now 3-0 all-time vs. the Wildcats.