San Diego State Hands TCU Volleyball Heartbreaking 3-2 Loss
FORT WORTH, Texas – San Diego State halted TCU’s (16-2) three-match winning streak, handing the Horned Frogs a heartbreaking 3-2 (28-30, 26-24, 13-25, 25-23, 11-15) loss Thursday night at the University Rec Center. Sarah Joeckel tied her career-high with 30 digs in the match.
Megan Munce (48 assists, 13 digs), Sloane Sunstrum (10 kills, 13 digs) and Jordan Raines (13 kills, 18 digs) all posted double-doubles in the loss. Kristen Hester paced the Frogs offensively with 15 kills and Stephanie Holland pitched in with 10. Hester led the Frogs with four blocks.
Facing a 2-1 match deficit, the Frogs battled through eight ties and three lead changes to tie the match at two. TCU jumped out to the early 10-6 lead on kills from Sunstrum, Raines, Munce and Holland. The Aztecs went on a 13-6 run to open up a three-point lead 19-16, forcing the Frogs to call a timeout.
The break was all the Frogs needed to right the ship. Raines blasted back-to-back kills to tie the set and Holland put the Frogs in front 20-19. After San Diego State had tied the set at 23, back-to-back kills from Sunstrum sealed the 25-23 win for the Frogs.
In the decisive fifth set, the Frogs took control of the set early. Mattie Burleson highlighted the early push from TCU with a solo block on Andrea Hannasch to make it a 7-4 game.
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Hannasch responded with a kill that set the Aztecs on the path to victory. Her blast spurred a 7-2 run that gave the Aztecs an 11-9 lead. TCU would draw no closer and the Aztecs closed out the 15-11 set five win.
San Diego State stole the first set, rallying from a 21-16 deficit to claim the 1-0 match lead with
a 30-28 win. TCU built its lead with a balanced attack that saw Hester, Raines and Igodan knock down kills. Back-to-back blocks from Hester, who teamed with Munce and Raines, gave the Frogs a five-point lead, 20-15, prompting an Aztec timeout.
A 9-3 run followed the break and the Aztecs found themselves with set point, 24-23. TCU fought off that point and two more to eventually take a 27-26 lead on a kill from Raines. SDSU staved off the Frogs’ set point and turned it into a 28-27 lead. Hester tied the set at 28, but Kyley Sexton broke the deadlock and a block by Johnna Fouch and Hannasch gave SDSU the set victory.
TCU returned the favor in the second set, snatching the come-from-behind victory to even the match at one game apiece. The Aztecs raced out to a 17-13 lead before the Frogs began to mount their comeback.
A solo block in the middle by Hester closed the gap to one, 19-18, and she tied the set at 20 with a cross-court blast. The Aztecs rallied back to take a 24-22 lead, forcing the Frogs to fight off two set points. Raines got one of the set points back and a service error tied the set at 24. Sunstrum gave TCU a set point of its own and an Aztec hitting error locked up the 26-24 set two win for the Frogs.
It was all San Diego State in the third set as it took the 2-1 match lead with a 25-13 victory, setting up TCU’s furious fourth-set rally.
The Horned Frogs fall to 16-2 on the season and 3-1 in league play. TCU returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts UNLV. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at the University Rec Center.
