TCU
East Carolina *
Volleyball Tops East Carolina in Four
11/15/2002 12:00:00 AM
Nov. 15, 2002
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The TCU Volleyball (12-16, 4-8 C-USA) team took care of business in games three and four to down East Carolina (6-25, 0-12 C-USA), 3-1 on Friday night at Williams Arena. The two teams evened their series at one win each.
The two teams traded points through much of the first game, as evidenced by the 13 ties. TCU led by two points several times, but once the Pirates broke the 21-21 tie they were in charge. East Carolina outscored the Frogs 9-0 to close out game one, 30-21.
Sixteen ties marked game two as once again neither team could break out to any sort of substantial lead. The Frogs cracked the 25 all tie on a kill by senior Stephanie Watson, then with freshman Jackie Choi at the service line TCU scored to make it 28-25. Sophomore Dominika Szabo's kill sealed the 30-27 finish to even the match at one game apiece.
In a match chock full of service errors, the Frogs came up with four important aces in game three. TCU came on strong at the end of the third stanza, stretching a one-point lead out to a five-point advantage at 28-23 behind kills from Szabo, Choi, and blocks by Watson and freshman Erin Estep. ECU scored two points late, but it wasn't enough as Choi and Estep scored the final two game points to take the 30-25 win, along with a 2-1 game advantage into the fourth.
The Pirates made an early rush in game four, putting the Frogs down seven at 18-11. TCU, however, refused to let ECU just have the game. The Frogs fought back to even things at 23 all on a kill from Choi. The teams went back and forth after that point, trading serves and leads. As in game two, Szabo's kill finished things off, 30-28.
"It was a great win, especially when we could've rolled over and died because we're already in the tournament," said head coach Prentice Lewis. "We did some good things, but the best was how we fought back when we were down by seven in game four and won. That shows this team has character and pride."
Szabo led the team with 19 kills and 12 digs, while Watson tallied 52 attacks, two aces and five blocks. Junior Tori Barlow chipped in 51 assists for the night. Harmon and Estep each added two aces.
TCU's final regular season match comes at Charlotte, N.C. on Sat., Nov. 16 against the 49ers. The Frogs will make their first appearance in the Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament beginning Fri., Nov. 22 on the campus of DePaul University. Seedings and match times will be determined following the end of the regular season C-USA action.
