Horned Frogs Dig Deep for 3-1 Win

Sunday, August 26

Fort Worth, Texas

1:00 PM

TCU

4-0

North Dakota

1-3

North Dakota

TCU

Photo by: Ellman Photography

Horned Frogs Dig Deep for 3-1 Win

8/26/2018 8:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score TCU 3, North Dakota 1 (PDF)Photo Gallery

TCU overcame a slow start to get the victory over North Dakota and move to 4-0 on the season.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Double-doubles from élan McCall and Tori Dilfer along with double-digit dig performances from five different players propelled the TCU volleyball team to a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-17) victory over North Dakota on Sunday to wrap-up the opening weekend of action at The Rickel inside the University Recreation Center.

The Horned Frogs (4-0) found themselves down a set for the first time this season as the Fighting Hawks (1-3) used a late surge to steal the opener. TCU did not falter and used strong defense along with powerful offensive runs to battle back and take the next three sets to move to 4-0 on the season for the third time in the last four seasons.

McCall was on fire the last three sets offensively for TCU and scored the first double-double of her career with 21 kills and 14 digs to go along with three service aces and four total blocks. Dilfer posted a double-double for the second straight match with a season- and career-high 53 assists to go along with 14 digs. Anna Walsh and Sarah Swanson each chipped in double-digit kills with 14 and 10, respectively. On defense, Lexi MacLean had the first 20+ dig match of her career with 24 to lead TCU, while Berklie Baker posted 15 digs and Dani Dennison had 11 digs.

Stats of the Match
2 – TCU had two players score double-doubles in the same match for the first time since December 2, 2016 when the Frogs played Wichita State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.

Quotes of the Match
TCU Head Coach Jill Kramer
Opening Statement
"It was a lot for our team this weekend to play four matches. It is probably only the second time in my career that I have scheduled that. It is a pretty heavy load, but I think this team trained really well over the summer. Our strength coach did a really good job prepping them so I thought they could really handle it. North Dakota was a great team for us to play in maybe a little bit more of a fatigue state. They are a solid team that will do great in the Summit League and it was some great competition for us to finish up the weekend on before heading to Colorado State. We had to work through some things and fight through some fatigue or as my team was saying, grind it out. They stepped up and we got to see some new things that we had to slow down and stop and figure out. We did a good job with that."

Notes
-With the win over North Dakota, TCU moves to 4-0 on the season
-The Frogs have started the season with four straight victories for the third time in the last four seasons
-élan McCall scored double-digit kills for the fourth straight match and put down a season- and career-high 21 kills against North Dakota
-McCall also recorded the first double-double of her career with 14 digs
-McCall also led the team with three service aces and 4.0 total blocks
-Tori Dilfer recorded a double-double for the second straight match with a season- and career-high 53 assists and 14 digs
-Lexi MacLean picked up 20+ digs for the first time in her career and paced the defense with 24 digs
-TCU had five players pick up double-digit digs for the first time this season with Dani Dennison (11) and Berklie Baker (15) also adding to the defensive effort
-Anna Walsh scored double-digit kills for the fourth straight match as well with a .400 or better hitting percentage for the fourth consecutive match
-Sarah Swanson recorded 11 kills for the third time in the last four matches to go along with a .318 hitting clip

Up Next
TCU will hit the road for the first time in 2018 as it travels to Fort Collins, Colo., for a tournament at Colorado State. The Frogs will open against Florida State on Friday, Aug. 31 at 4 p.m., CT, before taking on Cincinnati on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m., CT. The road trip will end with a match against the host Rams on Sunday, Sept. 2 at 2:30 p.m., CT.