Frogs top Alumni, 3-1
8/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 19, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU Volleyball team was evenly matched against the Alumni in their annual match, but came out on top with a 3-1 victory (30-24, 30-25, 22-30, 30-25). Freshman Lauren Otto gave fans a taste of what is to come this season as she recorded a double-double, posting 20 kills and 19 digs. Senior Anna Vaughn had an outstanding night as well, contributing 16 kills to the victory. In her first action since 2004, junior Emily Allen made her first appearance on the court, chipping in nine kills on the night. The Alumni were led by Ellen Rehme's 15 kills. Stacy Olson was the defensive star for the Alumni picking up 13 digs in the match."It was a fantastic match," remarked Head Coach Prentice Lewis. "It was great to see the Alumni come out and battle the way they did. We had a representative from every year that TCU Volleyball has been in existence. Basically, we went through every lineup and now we know what we need to work on."
As would be the case the entire match, neither team jumped out to a commanding lead until the Varsity squad was able to pull away in the latter half of the game. The Alumni jumped out to an early 8-5 lead, but the Varsity team battled back to take the lead at 11-9 behind a strong serving effort by junior Loren Barry. Otto got off some solid swings, picking up seven kills in the game. Back-to-back kills by Otto put the Frogs in command with a 27-21 lead. Vaughn put the game away with a solid kill off a quick set by Hampton to give the Frogs the 30-24 victory in game one.
Game two was a game of aces as the teams combined for 10 aces. Once again, the Alumni jumped out to an early lead, but the Frogs battled back to knot the game at five on an Otto kill. Tori Barlow-Rubinson, the Frogs all-time leader in aces, showed why she dominated that category as she smoked back-to-back aces to pull the Alumni back in the match at 8-7. Hampton took over the match, knotting the game at eight and giving the Horned Frogs the lead with a dunk. Amy Atamanczuk-Patterson scalded two straight aces to put the Alumni back on top, but Otto put the Varsity on top to stay with a thundering kill and two consecutive aces. The Frogs rode Otto through the rest of the game as they jumped out to a 25-21 lead, forcing the Alumni to call a timeout. An Erin Estep kill for the Alumni pulled them within 26-22, but they would get no closer as Vaughn and company closed out the match, winning 30-25.
After the intermission, the Alumni came out with a vegeance as they rolled to the 30-22 victory. Jennifer Cuca put down three kills and one ace to propel the Alumni out to an early 7-6 advantage. A Gabi McHugh solo block knotted the game at seven, her first of two in the game. McHugh continued her solid play in the game as she tallied five kills to help the Varsity to a 15-11 lead. An Allyson Lynch kill tied the game at 17 and from there the Alumni rolled. Barlow-Rubinson chipped in two aces and Rehme contributed two kills. A Lynch slam ended game three.
The Varsity squad looked like they were going to close the match out easily as they stormed out to an 18-9 lead. An Emily Allen and Anna Vaughn block pushed the Alumni to take its only time out of the match. The time out accomplished its task as the Alumni mounted a comeback. With the Varsity squad leading 24-13, the Alumni went on a run behind the serving prowess of Barlow-Rubinson. The Frogs were finally able to close out the match on a Vaughn kill.
The Frogs will kick off their regular season on Friday, Aug. 25 when they host TCU Molten/LaQuinta Invitational. TCU's first match of the season will be at Noon as they square off against Loyola (MD). At 7:30, the Frogs will take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina. The tournament will continue with five more matches on Saturday. All matches will be played at the University Rec Center.
