TCU
UAB *
Frogs Fight Back with Fury
10/25/2003 12:00:00 AM
Oct. 25, 2003
Birmingham, Ala. - In one of its most well-deserved wins of the season, the TCU volleyball team pushed back against an aggressive UAB squad at the Blazers' home court in Birmingham. Both teams gave it all they had, and the Horned Frogs emerged victorious.
TCU came out of the starting blocks at full speed, landing spikes and tips mercilessly against the floundering UAB defense. The Frogs' first streak lasted eight straight points. Never ones to spoil a spectator's fun, the Frogs allowed UAB to score its own streak in the first game before closing the lid on the cookie jar and claiming the 30-15 game.
After this first game, TCU by all appearances looked to dominate the Blazer hosts. However, UAB came back in the second game, discontent with any points TCU handed to them the game before, preferring to knock out their own. The whole game had a too-close-for-comfort feel to it with the Horned Frogs always nibbling at the one-to-three point lead the Blazers would take. UAB barely out-hit TCU .324 to .294 and 17 kills to 16. The difference lies within the four to zero service aces UAB snuck in, grabbing the second game 30-28. If not for these freebies, the second game sat squarely in TCU's palm.
The Frogs' excitement got the best of them at times, blundering passes, digs, and attacks. The third game showed the two teams more evenly matched than it at first appeared. The Blazers' go-to player, senior outside hitter Martina Shields, pulled through for UAB, plugging out another six kills in the third game along, including the game point. UAB won 32-30.
TCU certainly did not have enough, though. Errors did the Blazers in, fumbling the attack 13 times and mis-serving three more. For the second time of the night, UAB handed the game point over with a service error, and for only the second time all season, TCU entered the fifth game of a contest. The only other occasion was their first match of the season, which they dropped to Middle Tennessee.
The nail-biter tiebreaker featured TCU ahead of the race to 15 by a nose - until an attack error put all Horned Frog fans at the edge of their seats when UAB tied it up at 10-10. The teams traded timeouts in the final game with only a few more points left to score; TCU's proved more effective, as the Frogs made a defiant run for the match point and reached first with a score of 15-11.
Junior opposite Ellen Rehme played a great game when her teammates needed her to, dishing out 26 kills in 55 attempts with only three errors for a .418 average to lead the match. Senior libero Jessica Fleming had the second-best match of her career with 21 digs to keep the Frogs in the running, while senior setter Tori Barlow and junior outside hitter Dominika Szabo each added another double-double to their resumes, Barlow handing out 60 assists with 16 digs and Szabo hammering out 14 kills with 16 digs to complement her four blocks. Freshmen Anna Vaughn and Jenna Miller both shined as well, Miller picking up eight kills and 14 digs and Vaughn smacking down 13 kills for a .333 average with four blocks.
"This was huge for us," Coach Prentice Lewis said afterwards. She added, simply, "this was a great win."
TCU's victory brings the series against UAB to 3-1. UAB falls to 11-14 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA, while the TCU chalked up a new record of 17-8 overall with a 3-4 conference mark. The Horned Frogs return to action at home in the University Rec Center next Friday against DePaul and again on Saturday against Marquette. Both matches commence at 7 p.m. CDT.
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