Horned Frogs Sweep Opening Day

Friday, August 24

Fort Worth, Texas

11:00 AM

TCU

1-0

UAB

0-1

UAB

TCU

Photo by: Sharon Ellman

Horned Frogs Sweep Opening Day

8/24/2018 10:36:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 TCU 3, UAB 0 (PDF)TCU 3, Green Bay 0 (PDF)UAB Photo Gallery Green Bay Photo Gallery

TCU swept UAB and Green Bay to open the 2018 season.

FORT WORTH, Texas (August 24, 2018) – The 2018 season kicked-off in dominant fashion for the TCU volleyball team as the Horned Frogs swept both UAB (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) and Green Bay (25-17, 25-17, 25-19) on the opening day of the Cowtown Classic presented by La Quinta on Friday at The Rickel inside the University Recreation Center.

Freshman élan McCall came out firing on all cylinders as the newcomer put down 28 kills, 4.67 kills per set and also picked up 2.17 digs per set in her first matches for TCU. Senior Anna Walsh was not far behind with 27 kills, 4.50 kills per set and a .457 hitting clip. As a team, TCU totaled 101 kills in the two matches and hit .400 against Green Bay to mark the first .400 performance in preseason since the 2015 season.

The Frogs (2-0) used a strong defensive performance in the first match against UAB (0-1) to pick up the victory with the team totaling 9.5 blocks. TCU led from the very beginning and used a strong surge in the final set to secure the opening sweep. Sophomore Sarah Swanson put a stop at the net with a team-best 6.0 blocks to go along with 11 kills and a .400 hitting clip.

TCU took the momentum into the final match of the day against Green Bay (1-1) as three players totaled double-digit kills to go along with 39 team digs and 6.5 total blocks. A .576 hitting clip by the team in the opening set paved the way for some big offensive numbers as McCall put down 16 kills and only two errors on 34 swings for a .412 hitting percentage. Lexi MacLean, who donned the libero jersey for the first time, finished the day with 17 digs against the Phoenix.

Stats of the Match
14 – TCU opened the season with a victory for the 14th time in program history. The Frogs have won four straight season openers with all of them coming under the helm of Director of Volleyball Jill Kramer.

Quotes of the Match
TCU Director of Volleyball Jill Kramer
Opening Statement
"I think our team had a really great showing today. I think day one is always an exciting day but also kind of a tough day. You have some super high expectations of yourself because you have been training really hard and then you don't really know what to expect because you haven't played other people a whole lot. We bounced back from little errors we haven't made in practice really well and always came back with great plays. We had not had an opportunity to scout these opponents so we had to do a lot of learning as we went and making adjustments. We did a really good job of doing that and continuing to play our game. Offensively our numbers are good and I think we are happy with where we ended up today."

Notes
-TCU won its season opener for the fourth straight season and 14th time in program history
-TCU also opened the season with a sold-out crowd for the second straight season as 1,464 fans were in attendance on Friday against UAB
-Three players scored double-digit kills in both matches
-élan McCall led all players with 28 kills, while Anna Walsh put down 27 kills and Sarah Swanson was good for 22 kills
-Lexi MacLean wore the libero jersey for the first time in her career and totaled double-digit digs in both matches with 30 total on the day for 5.00 digs per set
-Tori Dilfer guided the 5-1 offense and finished with 86 assists, 14.33 assists per set, two service aces and 12 digs
-The .400 hitting percentage recorded by TCU against Green Bay marked the first tiem the team has hit above .400 since Sept. 4, 2015 in a preseason match against Dartmouth

Up Next
TCU will wrap-up action at the Cowtown Classic presented by La Quinta by taking on SIUE on Saturday at 5 p.m. The team will also welcome North Dakota on Sunday at 1 p.m., for the final match in the opening weekend.