TCU Falls in Five Sets

Saturday, March 20

Fort Worth, Texas

2 PM

TCU

2-15,1-11Big 12

Tarleton

11-11,6-8WAC

Tarleton St.

TCU

3/21/2021 12:21:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

TCU collects 74 kills and 75 digs in five set defeat

FORT WORTH -- TCU volleyball racked up 74 kills in a five-set loss to Tarleton on Saturday afternoon inside Schollmaier Arena. Six Horned Frogs delivered career high performances as TCU fell to the Texans, 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 13-15).

The Horned Frog offense found extraordinary success up the middle. Katie Clark and MyKayla Myers combined for 41 kills on .479 hitting. Clark led the team with 23 kills and Myers added 18, both career highs. Katie Clark led the team in hitting percentage (.545), the highest percentage of her career with 10 or more attacks and the second highest percentage in by any Big 12 player this season in a five-set match.

TCU hit 74 kills and made 75 digs in the match but suffered too many attacking and service errors, to drop the match in five sets.

TCU NOTABLES:

TCU delivered 74 kills today, the second most in a single match this season.
TCU posted 74 kills and 75 digs as a team, its second 70 kill/70 dig match this season (also Texas Tech on 10/8/20).
This is the first time TCU has delivered multiple 70/70 matches in the same season since 2016.
This marks the fifth 70+ dig match of the season. TCU has made 70 or more digs five times in 17 matches this year, they had eight in 27 matches back in 2018 and only one 70+ dig match in 30 attempts last season.
Three different Horned Frogs registered career highs in kills: Katie Clark (23), MyKayla Myers (18) and Taylor Raiola (14).
Clark's 23 kills are the most in the Big 12 by a middle blocker.
Clark finished with a career high .545 hitting percentage, a new career high with 10 or more attempts and the second highest by any Big 12 hitter in a five-set match this season.
Myers shouldered her largest work load of the season, delivering 18 kills with only two errors on 38 swings for a .421 attack percentage.
This is her fifth match with at least 10 kills and .400+ hitting in her last 10 matches.
Taylor Raiola matched her career high with 14 kills, while adding a career high 11 digs to register the second double-double of her freshman season. She collected all 11 digs without playing in the back row.
Kate Georgiades set a career high in digs for the second straight match, resetting her mark to 25.
She delivered 11 of her 25 digs in the fourth set.
Julia Adams set a new career high with four aces, including three in a row, in the third set.
McKenzie Nichols set a career high with 68 assists today, the most assists by a Horned Frog in a single match in the 25-point rally scoring era.
This is the second time in Nichols' career that she has broken that record this season
It was her second career 60+ assist match and her second this season.
Dennison finished with nine digs, extending her career total to 1,311.
She holds the third most digs in program history, 23 digs behind 2nd place (Katelyn Blackwood).

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set 1 (TCU, 25-17): Taylor Raiola was excellent in the early goings, coming off the bench with the team trailing, 3-5, and rattling off the first three kills of the match for TCU to take a 10-8 lead. Tarleton sided out well to tie the score, 16-16 when Katie Clark spearheaded a physical and energetic finish for the Horned Frogs. The junior closed out the set with three blocks and two kills to help the Frogs on a 10-1 run, giving TCU a one set advantage. Raiola finished with four kills and three digs while Clark ended up with three kills and four blocks to lead the team. Nichols posted 10 assists and Dennison and Georgiades joined Raiola with three digs. Afedo Manyang was the other half of the dominant front row flourish at the end of the set, getting all three of her blocks in that stretch.
Set 2 (TAR, 25-19): TCU couldn't manage to sideout with regularity in the second set, giving up two 4-0 runs in the middle portion of the set to fall behind and allow Tarleton to tie the match. Myers delivered her second perfect set in as many matches, finishing with five kills on five swings to lead the offense, along with five from Clark. Nichols added on 14 assists and Georgiades led with four digs.

Set 3 (TCU, 25-18): The Frogs' service game made the difference in the third set as Adams and Ashley Wehrstein posted five combined aces. Adams' string of three aces gave TCU a 13-9 advantage before Wehrstein stretched the lead to 18-13 before two kills from Adams helped the Frogs close out the set with a seven-point victory. Adams and Clark led the team with five kills each in the third set, Nichols posted 13 assists and Georgiades delivered six digs to lead the team.

Set 4 (TAR, 25-23): Long rallies forced too many errors and Tarleton managed to force a fifth set. Kate Georgiades led a stout defensive effort from the Frogs. TCU held the Texans to just 10 kills on .159 hitting with 28 digs, including 11 from Georgiades, four from Bella Swafford and three each from Raiola, Clark and Nichols. Raiola and Clark led the offense with six kills each. The Horned Frogs racked up 20 kills, but their aggressiveness came back to bite them in the end, allowing 14 points from errors.

Set 5 (TAR, 15-13): Myers and Clark were the focal points in the fifth set. Myers led the way with five kills while Clark posted a perfect four kills on four swings. Ashley Wehrstein was strong in the back row, leading the Frogs with three digs and five errorless serve receptions but service errors kept Tarleton in the match and an attack error at 13-13 gave the Texans a match point, where their top offensive performer polished off the win with a kill.

UP NEXT
The Horned Frogs go to Oklahoma for a weekend series against the Sooners in Big 12 play next Friday (March 26) and Saturday (March 27).

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