TCU Volleyball Claims Championship With 3-0 Win Over UConn

FORT WORTH, Texas – In front of 2,166 boisterous fans, the largest crowd in school history, the TCU Horned Frogs sailed to a 3-0 (25-6, 25-16, 25-23) victory over UConn to claim the TCU Invitational trophy. Jordan Raines was named Tournament MVP, while Kristen Hester and Megan Munce both earned all-tournament nods.

Hester led the way with 16 kills on 20 swings, setting a career high with a .750 attacking percentage. Raines pumped in 14 kills and totaled six digs. Munce dished out 37 assists, tallied six kills and six digs. Sloane Sunstrum knocked down seven kills and picked up six digs. Yvonne Igodan pitched in four kills and Mattie Burleson tallied a pair of kills to help the Frogs to victory. Sarah Joeckel led all defensive players with 19 digs, followed closely by Meghan Horio’s 14.

It was all Frogs in the first set as they cruised to the easy 25-6 victory. With the set tied at two apiece, Sunstrum stepped behind the service line and served the Frogs to an 18-3 lead. Hester tallied four kills in the run, as did Raines. An ace from Munce gave the Frogs set pint and Igodan finished off the victory with her second kill of the set.

UConn rallied to take an early lead in the second set, but the Frogs recovered from the 7-4 deficit with an 11-3 run that made it a 15-10 TCU lead. An attack error by the Huskies followed by a service ace from Joeckel put the Frogs in front to stay. Munce capped the rally with a blast on the outside.

TCU continued to build on its lead as the UConn errors piled up and

the Frog kills continued rain down. A kill from Raines made it 21-15 and Joeckel’s serving pushed it to 23-16. Back-to-back kills from Hester finished off the 25-16 set two win for TCU.

 

The third set saw eight ties and three lead changes, but eventually the Frogs pulled out the 25-23 win for their second sweep of the season. Again, the Huskies took control early only to see the Frogs rally from behind. UConn put the Frogs in a six-point hole with an 11-5 lead. A blast from Igodan got the Frogs back on track and they went on a 10-5 run to knot the set at 16. Igodan’s second kill of the set was the equalizer.

A back-and-forth battle ensued as neither team could build a comfortable cushion. Some outstanding defense by Munce which she capped with a cross-court kill gave the Frogs a 21-20 lead, one the Frogs wouldn’t relinquish. She smoked another kill to give TCU the two-point advantage forcing a Husky timeout. Raines gave the Frogs match point and Raines finished off the victory with her 14 kill of the match.

TCU hits the road for six straight beginning Friday night at SMU. The Frogs will take part in the SMU Doubletree Invitational Friday and Saturday, Sept. 2-3. The Frogs will face the host school, SMU, Friday night at 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

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