TCU Volleyball Upsets No. 23 Colorado State In Five

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The TCU Horned Frogs held off a rally from No. 23 Colorado State to post a thrilling 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 15-11) victory Thursday night. Stephanie Holland had a career night for the Frogs with 15 kills on 21 swings.

Jordan Raines led all hitters with 18 kills and completed her 13th double-double of the season with 14 digs. Kristen Hester contributed 13 kills, while Sloane Sunstrum dropped in eight. Sarah Joeckel racked up 30 digs, while Sunstrum tallied 14 and Meghan Horio, 13. Megan Munce dished out 50 assists, tallied eight digs and served up two aces.

After watching a 2-0 match lead disappear, the Frogs came out swinging in the fifth. Holland continued her assault in the front row to get the Frogs back on track. She hammered a kill off the block to tie the set at one and an ace serve from Raines put the Frogs in front to stay. Back-to-back kills by Hester made it an 8-4 TCU lead and Raines followed with a kill to force a Colorado State timeout.

The Rams pulled back with three on two occasions, but each time the Frogs had an answer. Yvonne Igodan squashed the Rams last rally attempt to make it a 13-10 contest and Holland gave the Frogs match point with her 15th kill of the night. Horio punctuated the win with TCU’s eighth ace of the match to seal the 15-11 victory.

TCU took control of the match in the first set as it took an early 4-0 lead and never looked back en route to the 25-21 victory. Hester got the ball rolling and kills from Raines, Holland and Munce helped TCU build an 11-7 lead. The Rams battled back to within one, 13-12, but a timeout by the Frogs was followed by a Hester blast to squash the Ram rally.

Igodan blasted a kill then stuffed a Ram attack in the middle to make it a 17-13 contest, prompting a Ram timeout. The break was all the Rams needed to get back in the game as they went on an 8-4 run to tie the set at 21. A miscue by Colorado State started a 4-0 run by the Frogs that gave them the 1-0 lead. Three of the Frogs points came on Ram miscues.

The second set was a battle from the first point as the teams fought through

11 ties and four lead changes. After falling behind 9-7, the Frogs took advantage of Ram mistakes and eventually took a 15-14 lead on kill by Raines. Hester capped the comeback with an ace.

Again, Colorado State fought back to tie the set late, this time at 23. An attacking error by the Rams gave TCU set point and Igodan finished off the second set with a kill on an overpass and the Frogs had a 2-0 match lead.

Out of the intermission, Colorado State staged a furious comeback to get the match tied at two. The Rams raced away with the third set, taking an early 15-10 lead and never looking back as they won 25-18.

In the fourth set, the Rams jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held off the Frogs comeback bid to tie the match at two games apiece. A kill by Sunstrum brought the Frogs within two, 19-17, but a 2-0 run by Colorado State ended any thoughts of a TCU comeback in the fourth as it won 25-20, setting the stage for an exciting fifth set.

TCU improves to 22-5 overall and 9-4 in league play. The Frogs will wrap up the home schedule Saturday afternoon when they host Wyoming. First serve is set for 1 p.m. Following the match, the Frogs will honor the senior class.

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