TCU Volleyball Downs West Virginia
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FORT WORTH, Texas – After dropping the first set, the TCU volleyball team stormed back to take a 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 26-24) victory over West Virginia Wednesday night, for the team’s first Big 12 win of the season.
All four sets were tightly contested between the Horned Frogs (12-5, 1-2 Big 12) and the Mountaineers (14-2, 1-1 Big 12), as the match was tied on 38 occasions and the lead changed 17 times. TCU proved to have the upper hand in the end by closing out each set strongly and handing WVU only its second loss on the season.
The match started out as a close battle between the teams as the set was tied on eight occasions in the first 10 points. Tied 8-8, WVU used a block to go on a 3-0 run for its first multiple point advantage of the set. A service error, combined with two straight kills from Yvonne Igodan brought the match back even at 12-12.
More kills from Igodan and Mattie Burleson put TCU ahead at 17-15, but a kill from
Hannah Sackett followed by two WVU blocks gave the Mountaineers the lead back. The Mountaineers went on to record two more blocks to bring their set total to six and have a set point at 24-21. The Frogs held off set point twice with kills from Igodan, but a final kill by Nikki Attea gave WVU the first set 25-23.
The teams continued to trade points into the second set as neither team could take more than a one-point advantage throughout the first half of the set. Tied 13-13, a kill from Igodan, combined with a kill from Blaire Pickens gave TCU is first two-point lead of the set. The Mountaineers came back to tie the score up only once more, before the strong offensive power from the Frogs led them to a 25-21 set two win. Igodan notched12 kills through the first two sets and only one error, while Macy Capen chipped in seven kills in the second set.
After TCU scored the first point in the third set, WVU responded with four straight points of they own. Strong serving from the Mountaineers increased their lead and the Frogs had to slowly climb back into the set, before tying it back up at 14-14 with a kill from Igodan. TCU battled out to a 20-18 lead, but WVU’s blocking game put them on a 4-0 run and back into the lead at 22-20. The teams went back and forth until TCU upset a set point by WVU at 24-23 by posting three straight blocks to take the third set 26-24 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set followed the same format as the other three as the teams fought back and forth for the lead. A kill from Sackett at 10-10 put in motion four straight points by WVU, before a kill from Natatlie Gower stopped the run. Neither team backed down as the teams continued to trade the lead up until the very end. After a TCU timeout at 24-24, a kill from Capen, along with a final kill from Gower sealed the win for Frogs.
Igodan finished with a match-high 19 kills, a .455 hitting percentage and two solo blocks. Capen recorded 13 kills for the Frogs, while Gower notched her first double-digit kill performance this season with 10 kills and only one error for a .529 hitting percentage. Defensively, Shane Peters recorded a season- and career-high 18 digs on the night, while Burleson and Gower each chipped in four blocks apiece.
TCU will hit the road for Manhattan, Kan., for its next Big 12 match, by taking on the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. The match will air live on FOX College Sports Central and K-STATEHD.TV, with live audio available through GoFrogs.com.
