TCU Volleyball Serves Up Season-Opening Win

Friday, August 30

Fort Worth, Texas

7:00 PM

TCU

4-1

High Point

5-7

High Point

TCU

Photo by: Sharon Ellman

TCU Volleyball Serves Up Season-Opening Win

8/30/2019 11:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Horned Frogs finish with 12 aces as a team in 3-0 sweep over High Point

Fort Worth -- The TCU Volleyball team got its season started off well with a 3-0 sweep over High Point on Friday night at The Rickel inside the University Rec Center. The team delivered 12 aces in three sets - the most aces in a sweep since 2008 (17 vs Air Force, 10/17/08) - to secure its first victory of the 2019 campaign.

"I think tonight was a great start for our squad," head coach Jill Kramer said. "We had a lot of young players on the court and I think they handled the environment well. Our student crowd was great, they stuck around until the end and they were on their feet the whole time. We love that support. It was a great team effort tonight and I'm really excited to see how we build on this."

TCU NOTABLES:

TCU won its season opener for the fifth straight season and 15th time in program history.
TCU opened the season with a sold-out crowd for the third straight season as 1,387 fans were in attendance.
The Freshman class did not disappoint in their premier outing, with freshmen frogs leading the team in kills, hit percentage, assists, blocks and aces.
Freshman outside hitter Audrey Nalls led the team with 10 kills in her TCU debut. It was the second straight season a freshman has secured 10+ kills in their debut match after élan McCall delivered 12 kills against UAB in last year's season opener.
Nalls was impressive on the defensive end as well, where she earned five digs while successfully receiving all 16 serves HPU sent her way.
The Frogs hit 12 aces tonight, the most in a match since Nov. 19, 2016 - 12 at Texas Tech.
Freshman outside hitter Julia Adams was a force off the bench in the second and third sets, finishing with five kills on a team-best .714 hitting.
Freshman middle blocker Afedo Manyang led the team in aces (4) and total blocks (1.5). She also tallied six kills and two digs to finish off a stellar debut.
Freshman setter Irem Uçar made her competitive debut in the United States to the tune of 14 assists, the most on the team. McKenzie Nichols delivered 11 assists as well, in her first action as a Frog.
On the defensive side, junior libero Berklie Baker anchored the team with nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set 1 (TCU, 25-22): The Panthers, still warm off a three-set victory earlier in the day, got off to strong start, leading TCU, 7-5 to start the match. But the veteran presence of Sarah Langs took center stage, as the middle blocker delivered three kills over a span of six points to spur the Frogs on an 11-4 run. Langs finished the set with three kills on four attempts (.750 hitting percentage) to lead the team, along with three kills from Nalls. The Frogs held onto their 16-11 lead, to the tune of a 25-22 set victory.

Set 2 (TCU, 25-23): Another back and forth affair early, the second set was turned on its head when Adams entered the game. At the media time out, HPU held a 15-14 lead, the score had been tied six times and neither team appeared to have the edge. That is, until the power of Adams was unleashed. The Plano native exploded for two kills on her first two collegiate points, fiercely slamming the ball down, swinging momentum back into TCU's hands. In the end, Adams led the team along with Nalls, collecting three kills each and the Frogs took the second set by two points.

Set 3 (TCU, 25-14): The Horned Frogs kept their foot on the gas in the third but HPU stayed close behind, playing themselves within two points at 13-11. But TCU would finish the match on a 12-3 run, featuring two kills from Nalls, two kills from sophomore RS Katie Clark, two aces from Manyang and the finishing blow from an ace by freshman DS/L Bella Swafford. TCU won the set by 11 points to claim the sweep.

UP NEXT:
The Horned Frogs continue the Cowtown classic with a 2 p.m. match against Lipscomb. The Bisons will be looking to bounce back after suffering a pair of 3-0 losses earlier today. The match will be available for audio streaming on HFTV.

For more information on TCU Volleyball visit GoFrogs.com and follow @TCUVolleyball on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.