TCU
Southern Miss
VolleyFrogs Take First C-USA Win in TCU History
9/20/2001 12:00:00 AM
Sept. 20, 2001
FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU volleyball team picked up its third straight win of the season, and third straight home victory dating back to last season, with a five-game win over Southern Miss at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The Frogs (3-6, 1-0 C-USA) battled back after the break to force the fifth game against the Golden Eagles (5-5, 0-1 C-USA). Senior Marci King became the second TCU player to have 1,000+ kills and 1,000+ digs for her career (1,221 kills and 1,005 digs).
The first game went back and forth with both teams scoring in streaks. USM kept the upper hand in winning the game 35-33. Senior Rachel Shirley gave the Frogs a solid serving series in game two, taking the teams from being tied at eight, to giving the Frogs a 13-8 lead. However, the VolleyFrogs let it slip away and USM took game two 30-23.
"The second game was just a total mental breakdown for us," said head coach Sandy Troudt. "We've worked to avoid that. I was very frustrated, and at intermission I let the kids know that they had to fix things on the court."
The talk must have worked as TCU came back to win games three and four. The game three win (30-22) came through tough determination and leadership by King. "Marci really drove the team tonight, especially in the third game," according to Troudt. Game four (30-21) was more of the same as the Frogs picked up aces from senior Rachel Shirley and junior Stephanie Watson.
The Frogs dominated game five from the beginning. Senior Allison Lynch had two key aces that dribbled over the net to put the Frogs up by as much as seven points, but the Golden Eagles came roaring back pulling within three to make it 14-11. On a final sideout, the Frogs won the game and match to go to 3-6 on the season and 1-0 in Conference USA. The team's win marks the first win for any TCU squad in C-USA play.
TCU was led by King in kills (19), senior Lindsay Hayes in attacks (42), Watson and Shirley with 15 digs apiece, Lynch in blocks (9), and Shirley also had 5 aces for the night.
TCU travels to St. Louis to take on the Billikens in a rare afternoon conference match on Saturday, September 22 at 2:00 p.m. Following their four road matches, the Frogs return home on Friday, October 5 to take on Memphis at 7:00 p.m. in Daniel-Meyer.
