TCU Sweeps Winthrop for Win No. 12
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU Horned Frogs wrapped up play in the Gopher Invitational with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-10) victory over Winthrop Saturday afternoon. Nirelle Hampton was the star of the night for the Frogs, notching her second double-double of the day with 35 assists and 10 digs.
Continuing their hot play in the tournament, Lauren Otto and Kourtney Edwards once again paced the Frogs with nine kills each. Irene Hester also pitched in with nine. The Frogs as a team hit at a .371 clip with 45 kills. Edwards five blocks led the Frogs front line that finished the match with 11 blocks.
Winthrop controlled the first half of game one as it built an 11-7 lead forcing a TCU timeout. Out of the break, Kourtney Edwards and Nirelle Hampton teamed to stuff an Eagle attack that ignited the Frogs. Two straight solo blocks from Devon Kirk pulled the Frogs back within one, 12-11. Edwards then paired with Christy Hudson to block an Eagle attempt and tied the set at 15. An ace from Hannah Fort gave TCU the lead.
Three straight hitting errors by Winthrop extended the Frog lead to three, 19-16. The lead continued to grow behind a solo block and kill from Otto. Winthrop rallied but a kill from Nirelle Hampton gave TCU set point and Hudson finished the set with a cross-court blast, giving TCU the 25-21 game one win.
Again, Winthrop got out to a lead in the second set, only to see the Horned Frogs come roaring back. Trailing 7-4, Hampton got the Frogs back on the comeback trail with a kill and an ace from Hester pulled the Frogs within one, 7-6. After a mini-run by the Eagles, TCU went on a 3-0 to tie the game at 10. A service error by the Eagles put TCU on top, 15-14.
The Frogs continued to build on its lead, pushing it to three on a solo block from Hampton. After a blast from Otto made it 21-18, the Eagles showed life, putting together a 4-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. Back-to-back kills from Hester erased the deficit and she closed out the set with a kill on the outside to give lock up the 25-23 set victory.
A dominating third set sealed the sweep as the Frogs won convincingly, 25-10, to ensure the sweep. The Frogs jumped out to a 5-1 lead behind the strong serving of Fort. Two solo blocks from Otto and Edwards pushed the Frogs to a 10-5 lead.
After doubling up the Eagles at 12-6 on black from Otto, Hampton set behind the service line and reeled off six straight points to give TCU a commanding 18-6 lead. Hudson tallied to kills in that run and Kirk and Otto helped with a block in the middle.
Winthrop would never recover as Otto, Edwards and Irene Hester controlled the net. Kristen Hester closed out the victory with an ace.
TCU improves to 12-2 on the season. The Frogs will open up a stretch of 13 straight conference matches. They will head West for a pair of contests next week at UNLV and San Diego State. First serve for Thursday's match-up against UNLV is slated for 9 p.m. (CST).
