Frog Volleyball Set To Honor 2008 Season
1/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Jan. 13, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Horned Frog volleyball program will hold its annual banquet Jan. 22 to honor yet another successful season for the program. For the second straight year and the fourth time in school history the Frogs finished with 20 wins. The 2008 squad amassed a 20-12 mark and a 9-7 conference record.
It was another record-breaking start to the campaign as the Frogs raced out to a 9-0 record with wins over Louisiana Tech, UT-Arlington, Texas Tech and New Orleans.
TCU claimed its season-opening tournament title with back-to-back sweeps of Louisiana Tech and UMKC before winning the championship with a 3-1 victory over Belmont. Lauren Otto was tabbed as the tournament MVP as she recorded two double-doubles on the weekend.
The Frogs wrapped up the opening four-game home stand with a 3-0 drubbing of Texas Southern before dominating its second straight tournament with sweeps of Prairie View A&M and UT-Pan American. Irene Hester took home the tournaments top honors as she racked up 29 kills in the two matches.
A midweek affair at cross-town rival UT-Arlington awaited on Sept. 10. A tough five-set match went the way of the Frogs as they won for the seventh time. In the match, history was made when senior Nirelle Hampton set the new career record for aces.
TCU stayed on the road for its third tournament of the season as the Frogs took part in the Red Raider Invitational. The Frogs opened up the tourney with another exciting victory over the host, Texas Tech, 3-2.
Later that day, TCU took part in its third straight five-set match. Again, the Frogs came out victorious with a come-from-behind victory to improve to 9-0. Hampton reached yet another milestone in the victory as she became the all-time leader in assists. Sadly, the win streak came to an end as Oklahoma handed TCU its first loss of the season, 3-1.
TCU returned home for the first time since Sept. 2 to host New Mexico in its league-opener on Sept. 17. The Frogs stormed out to a 2-0 match lead then hung on for another exciting 3-2 victory, winning 15-7 in the decisive final set. Christy Hudson was the star of the match, finishing with career-highs in kills (20) and digs (17).
A tall task the following weekend awaited the Frogs as they headed North to Minnesota for their final tournament of the season. TCU battled hard against the No. 8 Golden Gophers, but came up short in a 3-1 loss. The Frogs responded with two straight wins to close out the tournament, topping North Carolina 3-2 before sweeping Winthrop in the tournament finale. Following the weekend tournament, Devon Kirk was tabbed as the MWC Player of the Week.
For the fourth straight weekend, the Frogs hit the road for a pair of matches, heading to UNLV to open a stretch of 13 straight conference matches. TCU dropped a 3-1 match to the Rebels, but ended the trip on a high note with a 3-0 win over San Diego State.
The Frogs welcomed Utah and No. 21 BYU the following weekend. After a loss to Utah, TCU responded with a complete-game effort as it earned its first-ever victory over the Cougars, a 3-0 sweep.
A trip to Colorado saw the Frogs take on their second-straight ranked opponent in No. 13 Colorado State. The Rams handed TCU a 3-1 loss, but again the Frogs bounced back, getting a 3-0 win at Wyoming two days later.
Megan Munce had her coming out party on Oct. 17 against Air Force. In the 3-0 victory, the freshman fired off a conference-record 12 aces, a feat that also earned her Co-Player of the Week from the league. The match closed out the first half of league play with the Frogs holding a 5-3 record.
The second half of the conference schedule opened with the Frogs first-ever televised home game. In front of a school-record 1,036 fans, the Frogs dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to San Diego State. The Frogs didn't stay down long as they responded with a strong 3-1 win over UNLV on Oct. 25.
A tough trip to Utah saw the Frogs drop two straight matches for just the first time on the season.
TCU returned home for its final two home matches of the season. The Frogs opened the weekend with a 3-0 win over Wyoming to complete the season sweep. No. 13 Colorado State headed to town for the home finale.
In a repeat of the 2007 home finale, the Horned Frogs came out firing on all cylinders and upset the Rams with a dominating 3-1 victory. Kourtney Edwards performance on the weekend earned the Frogs their third MWC Player of the Week honor.
A non-conference meeting at Baylor followed, but the Frogs faltered in their first attempt for win No. 20 as they fell 3-0 to the Bears.
TCU picked up its 20th win of the season on Nov. 15 at Air Force as it picked up its second season series sweep with a 3-0 win.
A tough road swing to end the season resulted in three losses, but it didn't diminish the accomplishments of the team.
Hampton and Hudson were tabbed as all-conference performers. 2009 sets up to be yet another promising season as they return all but two players from this year's squad. The addition of three freshmen to the group have the Frogs sights set on big things for the future.
