TCU
Louisville (C-USA Tournament)
TCU Falls to Louisville in the Second Round
11/22/2003 12:00:00 AM
Nov. 22, 2003
New Orleans, La. - TCU couldn't quite manage to duplicate yesterday's effort, falling to second-seed Louisville in the second round of the Conference USA tournament. The Horned Frogs battled to a 30-24, 30-22, 30-20 finish.
The Frogs carried their momentum from yesterday's win into today's match, playing as well as they ever have. However, Louisville hit .409 as a team during the first game, overcoming the Frogs' defense; TCU managed to out-block the nationally-ranked Cardinals. Dominika led the Frogs with five kills; Tori Barlow added12 assists and six digs. The Cardinals won the first game 30-24.
Louisville squeezed in five service aces in the second game and out-dug the Frogs 20 to 14 and once again out-hit TCU .409 to .295. Three consecutive block assists for the Cards late in the game sealed the deal on the Frogs. Calli Corley provided excellent defense for the Frogs, covering the floor, helping out on loose balls and service receptions.
The third game slipped away from the Frogs as Louisville's dominant side came out, Lena Ustymenko nailing down kill after kill on the TCU side, getting six of her 14 kills in the third game.
"We played very inspired in games one and two, even though the scores don't show it," Coach Prentice Lewis said. "We ran off a ton of points on them and had them on their heels. Something we want to be able to do with our program is to battle with top 25 teams, and we really showed some heart. It was a debut blocking day for us with five blocks."
Emily Allen led the Frogs with nine kills and a .474 hitting percentage, while Szabo and Anna Vaughn collected another eight apiece. Barlow had nine digs in all to accompany her 30 assists.
The Frogs go home with a 20-13 overall record, 5-8 in regular-season Conference USA play, and a best-ever finish in the second round of the tournament. Louisville advances to the third round to play the winner of the Marquette vs. Southern Miss match in a semi-final match tomorrow at 5 p.m.
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