TCU
UC-Irvine @ Baden Thanksgiving Tournament
The Horned Frogs Close Out the 2003 Season
11/29/2003 12:00:00 AM
Nov. 29, 2003
Long Beach, Calif. - TCU lost its final match of the season to UC-Irvine in a four-game heartbreaker. Although the Horned Frogs rose to the challenge the Anteaters presented, they could not pull out the win for the weekend.
The Frogs came out ready to play today, covering every attack and every deflected ball. In the first game, there were no obvious standout as the whole team made outstanding plays, including one by Britany Smith. Smith spiked a ball from the back row and Irvine dug the attack back over the net, nearly landing for a kill, but Smith covered herself, skidding across the floor to make sure the attack went out. Anna Vaughn led the Frogs with seven kills the first game, while Dominika Szabo was a perfect four-for-four. The Frogs claimed game one 30-19.
TCU needed that momentum for the second game, when the Anteaters were ready to take back the first game. The teams traded points serve-for-serve, UC-Irvine always just a few points ahead du to their early run that staked them four-to-one over the Frogs. TCU came within one with a slide attack by Emily Allen that turned the score to 18-17. The second game was not to be a Frog game, however, as it went to the Anteaters 30-23.
UC-Irvine quickly jumped ahead in the third game, bringing the score up to 19-4 lead spurred by junior outside hitter Kelly Wing's service, including four UC-Irvine blocks in a row, only to be broken up finally by an Anteater attack error. Although the Frogs mounted a respectable comeback, they were unable to overcome the devastating 15-point deficit. The final third game score showed 17-30.
With UC-Irvine running the score to 6-2, the fourth game had all the potential to turn out much like the third; TCU ran with Rivine for a few, but after 7-5, the Anteaters ran away with the game, taking it 30-15.
Szabo collected a 12 kill, 11 dig double-double to accompany her .476 hitting average for the day. Vaughn hit 17 kills, Emily Smith had 10, and Smith picked up 12 digs. Tori Barlow dished out 41 assists to end her career with 3,286 assists, the second-most in TCU history, along with 127 matches played consecutively, the most ever played and played in a row. She has played in 453, also tops, and had the most service aces with 136.
"This program is ready to make strides," Coach Prentice Lewis said. "Our players are heart-broken and I wouldn't have necessarily expected that at the beginning of the year. That shows where this program is going and the players' intensity. I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym for next season. This has been a spectacular season, props to all the players."
The Frogs end their season 20-16 overall and 5-8 in Conference USA with a second-round finish in the league tournament.
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