TCU Dominates Home Opener

Thursday, September 2

Fort Worth, Texas

12 PM

TCU

1-2,0-0Big 12

Nicholls

3-1,0-0Southland

Nicholls St.

TCU

TCU Dominates Home Opener

9/2/2021 3:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score TCU vs Nicholls Box Score

Horned Frogs Sweep Nicholls State in 2021 Home Opener

FORT WORTH -- TCU volleyball (1-2) extended its win streak in home openers to 16 with a dominant display, taking down Nicholls State 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-10) on Thursday afternoon inside Schollmaier Arena. The Horned Frogs delivered the most lopsided set victory since 2014 in the final set, cementing the first victory of the 2021 campaign.

"This has been great, having our first match at Schollmaier Arena," head coach Jill Kramer said. "Just a really good way for our team to get used to this environment again. With our fans, our cheerleaders and everyone around. I think our players did a really good job of coming in, being sharp and sticking to the game plan. We needed to tweak some things as we went, we missed some serves early, then got into a better flow into the second and third set. We had a lot of great things happen today. We blocked a lot of balls, we were really efficient as a team and Julia [Adams] had a great performance, leading us with 12 kills. I'm really happy with the way we've started our homestand, we just need to keep it rolling."

TCU NOTABLES:

The Horned Frogs tallied 13.0 blocks in three sets, the most in a three-set outing since 2015 (14.5 vs. Nicholls).
Junior Julia Adams led TCU with 12 kills, including eight kills on eight swings in the first set.
She collected her 500^th career kill in the second set, finishing the match with 502 kills to her credit as a Horned Frog.
Adams collected her 12 kills on a career-best .667 hitting. This was the third time in her career to have hit .500 or better in a match and the first time she has eclipsed the .600 mark over a match.
Junior setter McKenzie Nichols secured her 16^th double-double as a Horned Frog, posting 30 assists and 10 digs.
Nichols also set a career high in blocks, with six – her previous career best was three, set last match vs. Minnesota.
Junior middle blocker MyKayla Myers tied her career-best at the net, delivering a team-high seven.
Sophomore Taylor Raiola found her footing as the match went, finishing with seven kills on .636 hitting, the second most efficient night of her collegiate career.
TCU doubled up the Colonels in kills, collecting 44 to Nicholls' 22.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set 1 (TCU, 25-20): Adams established her presence early on, collecting four kills in the first seven points of the match to jolt the Frogs in front, 5-2. Difficulties on the service line allowed Nicholls to keep the score close for a majority of the set as the TCU lead got reduced to just a single point eight times, including a 17-16 margin late in the frame. The TCU block nudged the Frogs in front for good from that point on as Myers and Nichols combined for a block to reestablish the multiple point lead, 18-16. TCU would gather two more blocks to close out the set to finish off the opening frame on a 8-4 run and win it by five points. Adams finished the set with eight kills on eight swings (1.00 hitting %) to lead the squad. Nichols and Adams led the defensive effort with three blocks apiece. TCU delivered 15 kills and six blocks on .429 hitting while holding Nicholls to .000 hitting.

Set 2 (TCU, 25-13): The Horned Frogs started off the second set with an ace from Raiola, setting the tone in what would be a 5-1 scoring run. The Frogs dominated play for the remainder of the set, never allowing Nicholls to get within two points and eventually taking the set by 12. TCU won the last five points of the set off of Dani Dennison's strong performance on the service line to go in front, 2-0, in the match. TCU distributed the ball well throughout the second set as six different Horned Frogs found multiple kills, led by Adams and Afedo Manyang, each with three. Myers and Madi Cole delivered a pair of blocks each as TCU held Nicholls to just .034 hitting in the frame.

Set 3 (TCU, 25-10): Nicholls managed to take a 3-1 lead early in the third set, before TCU flexed its muscles, winning 24 of the next 31 points to earn its most lopsided set victory since 2014 (vs. Abilene Christian – 9/16/14). TCU's longest scoring run of the set came off the serve of Bella Swafford. The junior DS/L provided steady serving along with an ace as TCU went on a 10-0 run, taking the score from 9-6 to 19-6. By the end of the set, Raiola led all Frogs with four kills. Myers paced the defense at the net with three blocks while Swafford and Nichols each added four digs, giving TCU its first victory of the 2021 campaign.

UP NEXT:
The Horned Frogs will play in their second match of the Cowtown Classic tonight at 7 p.m. inside Schollmaier Arena.

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