TCU
Arkansas St @ Arkansas State Tournament
Volleyball Continues Record Setting Ways
8/31/2002 12:00:00 AM
Aug. 31, 2002
JONESBORO, Ark. - The Frogs continued their winning ways at the Arkansas State Classic to begin the season with an all-time best 4-0 mark. TCU took home the championship hardware from the Classic, including MVP junior Tori Barlow, and all-tournament team members senior Stephanie Watson and sophomore Dominika Szabo. The four consecutive wins marks only the second time in the program's history that a Frog squad has won four matches in a row (last time: Sept. 6 to 19, 1997).
The Horned Frogs' first match of the day came against Nicholls State (1-3). The two squads fought back and forth in game one, but the Frogs were able to pull out the 30-25 win with strong hitting from Watson and Szabo. The Frogs cruised in game two with a 30-19 victory, then dropped a tightly contested third game, 29-31. Refusing to be denied its best start in school history, TCU earned the 30-17 win with several big plays from sophomore Amber Sims. For the second straight match, all 11 Frogs saw playing time.
"We're pleased with another 'W'," said head coach Prentice Lewis. "The lesson we learned in this match was that we can't wait for the other team to lose, we have to win. We didn't understand that in game three, but figured it out in game four."
Watson led the team in kills with 20 for the afternoon, while senior Jenn Cuca posted 50 attacks, two aces and 20 digs. Junior Tori Barlow once again headed up the assists list with 48. Sims gave the Frogs five blocks during the match. Four Frogs posted double-doubles for the match (Barlow - 48 assists, 11 digs; Cuca - 15 kills, 20 digs; Szabo - 13 kills, 16 digs; and Watson - 20 kills, 17 digs).
The nightcap featured the Frogs and host Arkansas State (3-1) with neither team having a loss to its credit entering the match. The teams dueled throughout the first game, with ASU taking a four-point lead before the Frogs rallied with a kill from Szabo, an ace by Sims and the final kill by freshman Erin Estep. TCU dominated game two as they cruised to a 30-12 win, then picked up the third game, 30-21.
TCU hit .354 for the match with Szabo leading the team in kills (12). Cuca led the team in attacks with 30 for the evening. Barlow tallied 44 assists during the nightcap. Junior Courtney Beach posted eight digs and three aces to lead the team in those categories. Sims capped off her evening with six blocks.
TCU will continue its road journey when the squad travels to the Rice University tournament Sept. 6 and 7. The Frogs will open with Houston at 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 6, then meet up on Saturday with Rice (10:00 a.m.) and Louisiana-Lafayette (4:00 p.m.). Horned Frog volleyball will return to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum when they host the TCU Invitational on Sept. 13 and 14.
