TCU
UAB *
Volleyball Earns Three-Game Win Over Blazers
10/25/2002 12:00:00 AM
Oct. 25, 2002
FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU Volleyball (10-12, 2-4 C-USA) team earned a much needed conference win on Friday night over UAB (10-14, 3-4 C-USA) by a 3-0 count at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The victory is the Frogs' first home conference win in over a year. Their last home C-USA win came when they defeated Saint Louis on Oct. 6, 2001. In addition, senior Jenn Cuca became the tenth Frog to compete in 100 career matches.
Game one looked as though it would be close as the teams traded points and shared ties for much of the first round. However, behind the serving of freshman Carissa Mills and kills from senior Stephanie Watson the Frogs were able to race out to a 24-18 lead. UAB was able to score only one more point to the Frogs' next six, as TCU claimed the first game 30-19.
TCU raced out of the blocks in the game two, pulling ahead by as many as eight several times. In the late going, the Blazers were unable to get any closer than seven and the Frogs, helped by a .350 team hitting percentage, took the second game by a score of 30-22.
The third game proved to be the nail biter. UAB was able to get up on TCU after breaking a 7-7 tie, and stretch it to as many as three when a serve by Karen Boyd dribbled over the far side of the net for an ace. The Frogs refused to let this one get away and made a run of their own, jumping out to a six-point lead at 25-19. The Blazers fought until the very end, cutting the TCU lead down to a single point at 28-27. But a kill by Mills, followed by a block from freshman Hayley Harmon and sophomore Dominika Szabo sealed the 30-27 game-three win for the Frogs. The three-game win is the Frogs' first since the team defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 28.
"We came to play tonight," said head coach Prentice Lewis. "My pregame speech was that we were making changes and that tonight was our night. We have a tough match tomorrow against South Florida, but we need to relish what we did tonight and have that carry over until tomorrow."
Szabo led the Frogs with 12 kills on 28 attacks, while junior Tori Barlow posted 35 assists. Cuca added 12 digs for the evening, and Mills gave TCU five blocks. Barlow and freshman Julie Van't Wout each had two service aces.
Allison Magner led the Blazers with 12 kills and four blocks, while Martina Shields was credited with 27 attacks. Dina Katsoulis had 33 assists for the evening, and Kristi Lee posted 11 digs. Karen Boyd gave UAB two aces.
TCU will host South Florida on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The Frogs will head back out on the road next weekend as they visit conference opponents Marquette and DePaul.
