Milestone-Laden Match Fuels Four-Set Win over Alabama

Friday, September 16

Fort Worth, Texas

7 PM

TCU

4-5,0-0Big 12

Alabama

5-6,0-0SEC

Alabama

TCU

Photo by: Sharon Ellman

Milestone-Laden Match Fuels Four-Set Win over Alabama

9/17/2022 12:02:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

FORT WORTH – Individual and collective inroads were made on the TCU volleyball history book on Friday as the inaugural Horned Frog Invitational went off without a hitch.

The Horned Frogs cruised past Alabama in four sets (33-35, 25-14, 25-23, 25-16) inside Schollmaier Arena behind a pair of career milestones from its setters and one of the greatest blocking performances Fort Worth has borne witness to.

The win boosted the Horned Frogs record to 4-5 and was the program's third victory in its last four outings.

The program record book was in need of its first update before the first media timeout arrived. Callie Williams dished out her 2,000^th career assist midway through set one. The milestone helps punctuate a decorated six-year collegiate career for Williams, who made stops at Tennessee (2017-2018) and Baylor (2019-2021) before transferring to TCU in July. She joins fellow setter McKenzie Nichols as one of two players on the Horned Frogs' 2022 roster with 2,000-or-more career assists.

Speaking of Nichols, the senior returned from a two-week injury absence and made her own bit of individual history. Nichols, who ranks fifth in school history in career assists (2,608), tallied 16 dimes and a team-high 11 digs to notch her 25^th career double-double in purple and white.

The duo were the architects of an efficient offensive outing. Williams and Nichols assisted on 40 of TCU's 52 kills. The Horned Frogs posted a .341 hitting percentage over the final three sets.

But the match, in large part, was won at the net.

TCU registered 18.5 total blocks – the third-most in a match in program history.

Four players finished with at least five rejections. Middle blockers MyKayla Myers and Sarah Sylvester started opposite one another for the fifth time in as many matches and racked up nine blocks apiece. Sylvester's nine blocks signified a career high. The freshman is averaging 4.3 blocks per match over her first six collegiate outings. Outside hitters Zoe Hall and Audrey Nalls each matched their respective career-highs, finishing with six and fiv blocks, respectively.

Behind the block, TCU induced Alabama (5-6) into a season-high 52 errors – 35 of were attack errors – to the tune of a .114 hitting percentage. The Horned Frogs limited Alabama to 12 kills combined in sets three and four.

Conversely, TCU rode its 6-2 rotation to a balanced scoresheet. Five players landed five-or-more kills.

Julia Adams led TCU in the category for the sixth time this fall with 18 on .308 hitting. Thee 6-3 senior has now reached double-digits in kills 47 times in her four-year TCU career.

Nalls had nine while Hall and Sylvester each chipped in seven. Sylvester has proven to be one of the most accurate spikers in the Big 12 and nation. She committed just on error on 10 swings for a .600 hitting clip. The Livonia, Michigan native is now hitting .379 for the season. Her hitting percentage leads all Big 12 freshman and ranks seventh in the conference and 55^th among all Division I players. Fellow freshman Jalyn Gibson helped round out the scoring with a career-best six kills.

Libero Keagan Polk joined Nichols in double figures in digs with 10.

The match was competitive for prolonged spells despite TCU being firmly in control. The contest featured 35 ties and 12 lead changes.

Thirteen of the ties came in a wild first frame. TCU methodically built a 17-13 edge and maintained the four-point lead as late as 22-18. Alabama, in turn, evened the score at 22-22 to commence an extended stretch of madness. The Horned Frogs and Crimson Tide alternated 22 consecutive points to keep the score deadlocked at 33-33. Alabama landed a kill and subsequently earned set point on the following play via a service ace took an errant bounce off the leg of Adams, whose view was obstructed on the play.

The set one triumph proved to be short-lived for the visitors. TCU's 25-14 win in the second frame was its largest margin of victory in a set in 2022. Sylvester's fourth block of thee evening staked the Horned Frogs to an early 4-1 advantage. Nalls landed a block and a kill on consecutive plays to swell the lead to 10-6 and force the Crimson Tide into timeout. Another block from Sylvester later commenced a 5-0 run that spiked the lead to 20-12 and effectively sewed up the win. Adams put a stamp on the action with a service ace that gave TCU its first double-digit lead of the night at 23-13 before Nalls and Myers wrapped things up with a kill and a block on the final two plays of the set.

The third frame largely mirrored the first. Neither team led by more than two points. The teams found themselves gridlocked on the scoreboard at 20 separate junctures. Gibson stepped up at critical moments. The San Antonian laced home a service ace to cap a 4-0 run and give TCU its first lead of the frame at 17-16. She then put TCU back in front 21-20 with a cross-pin kill from the left side of court. Her third kill of the set then set TCU up with set point at 24-23, which the Horned Frogs attained the following play via a kill by Adams.

A 6-0 run midway through the fourth-and-final frame catapulted TCU to a decisive 14-6 edge. The Horned Frogs stretched the lead to 21-13 and scored on four of the last six plays to sew up the set and match victory.

TCU now concludes the Horned Frog Invitational and nonconference play with a Saturday twin bill vs. Abilene Christian and Texas State on Saturday. The Horned Frogs and Wildcats square off at 11 a.m. TCU and Texas State are slated to wrap up the tournament with a 7 p.m. first serve. Texas State (7-3) defeated ACU (3-7) in five sets on Friday.