TCU Sweeps UMBC to Win the Cowtown Classic

Friday, September 3

Fort Worth, Texas

7 PM

TCU

3-2,0-0Big 12

UMBC

1-6,0-0America East

UMBC

TCU

TCU Sweeps UMBC to Win the Cowtown Classic

9/3/2021 10:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score TCU vs UMBC Box Score

Horned Frogs Sweep All Three Matches in First Home Tournament of 2021

FORT WORTH -- TCU volleyball (3-2) swept UMBC, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-23) on Friday night to win the Cowtown Classic in Schollmaier Arena. TCU swept its opponents in all three matches, marking the first time the Horned Frogs have recorded three-straight sweeps since the 2018 season.

"First off, I'd like to thank all of the fans for coming out tonight," head coach Jill Kramer said. "Schollmaier is starting to feel more and more like home and we're really appreciative of the TCU fans for that. I thought our players did a great job of coming in today and working through day two of a tournament. We played twice yesterday, had school this morning, scouted a match right after that and then competed tonight. They managed their energy level coming into the match well. It took us a while to get going in the first set, but once we did, I thought we did a really great job. We were much better from the service line today. Our blocking and defense is really what helped us get it done. We had some great runs of points from serving well and executing well on defense. We had exceptional performances from our pins in this match, that was really good to see. Overall, well done from our team."

TCU NOTABLES:

The Horned Frogs have now swept three consecutive matches for the first time since the 2018 season.
TCU hit .354 as a team over the last three matches while holding opponents to .060 hitting.
The Horned Frogs held UMBC to .089 hitting tonight, marking the third match in a row that TCU has kept an opponent under .100 hitting – the longest such streak since the 2014 season.
McKenzie Nichols posted 31 assists tonight, along with two service aces, two digs and two blocks.
She finishes the week averaging 10.33 assists/set, 2.22 digs/set and 1.33 blocks/set, earning tournament MVP in the process.
The Horned Frog outside hitters: Julia Adams, Taylor Raiola and Audrey Nalls, combined for 36 of TCU's 44 kills tonight.
Adams led the charge with a season-best 16 kills on .324 hitting (5.33 kills/set).
It was her fourth career match averaging five or more kills/set and her second highest kill/set average ever (5.66 k/s vs. Colgate in 2019).
Adams led the Horned Frog attack all week, finishing with 40 kills (4.44 kills/set) on .418 hitting, earning herself All-Tournament team honors.
Raiola delivered 11 kills tonight for her second-straight double-digit kill match. It was her sixth-career 10+ kill effort and the first time she has done so in consecutive matches.
Raiola finished the week with 29 kills (3.22 kills/set) on .343 hitting securing All-Tournament honors for herself.
Nalls posted nine kills in two sets of work (4.5 kills/set) on a career-best .400 hitting.
She led TCU in hitting percentage on the night while collecting over four kills/set for the sixth time as a Horned Frog.
Madilyn Cole led the TCU blocking effort with a career-best seven blocks.
Cole is now averaging 1.47 blocks/set this season. She has secured at least one block/set in all five career starts.
The Horned Frogs collected nine blocks in total tonight, marking the third straight match in which they have secured at least three block/set – the longest such streak since the 2015 season.
Cecily Bramschreiber led TCU on the back row, finishing with 14 digs (4.66 digs/set).
She has now secured double digit digs in three of her five matches in Purple and White, scoring four or more digs/set twice.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set 1 (TCU, 25-14): TCU got off to a sluggish start, allowing UMBC to go in front, 10-11. Adams tied the match up with a kill before a phenomenal run of serving from Nichols, including a pair of aces, sent TCU on a 5-0 scoring run, going in front, 15-11. TCU rode that momentum through the remainder of the set, never allowing UMBC to score twice in a row and winning the frame by 11 points. The Horned Frogs closed out the set on a 15-3 run, turning a 10-11 deficit into a 25-14 set victory. Raiola led the offense with six kills and tied Cole for the team lead in blocks (two). Bramschreiber was steady from the jump, finishing with five digs in the opening set.

Set 2 (TCU, 25-18): UMBC made adjustments with its blocking in the second frame, making life difficult for the TCU hitters. But the Horned Frog back row was steady, retrieving would-be blocks and allowing the TCU outside hitters to swing freely. That Retriever block helped keep the score close in the beginnings (10-10) before a 4-0 scoring run on Ashley Wehrstein's serving put TCU in front for good. The Frogs squelched all hopes for a UMBC come back with a 5-0 run late, giving TCU set point, 24-14 with Nichols at the service line once again. UMBC fought off some set points before Nalls stepped up to deliver the finishing kill. The support from the back row, namely Bramschreiber, Wehrstein and Dani Dennison, resulted in 17 TCU kills. Nalls led the attack, coming off the bench to deliver six kills in the frame. Adams added five and Raiola chipped in four as well. Cole, once again led the blocking effort with two while Bramschreiber posted five more digs.

Set 3 (TCU, 25-23): TCU got off to a great start in the third, going in front 5-1 thanks to three kills from Adams and another block from Cole and Nalls. UMBC managed to catch up later on, 9-9, as the teams traded points to a 13-12 score. But once again, strong serving from Nichols allowed the Frogs to go on a 3-0 run, re-establishing the four-point advantage. The Retrievers stayed vigilant, slowly chipping away at the lead until eventually tying the score, 22-22. Adams would break that tie with a kill only for UMBC to tie it up on the next point, 23-23. But a service error from UMBC gave TCU its first match point with Nichols back on the service line. After Nichols sent UMBC out of system, it was Adams and Cole who would team up for the block, securing the match for TCU. Adams led the offense in the clutch moments finishing the final set with eight kills, hitting .467 in the process. Cole's match clinching block was her team-best third of the set while Bramschreiber led the back row for the third straight set, delivering four digs.

UP NEXT:
The Horned Frogs return to the practice gym to rest and recover before hosting another home tournament, the Fight in the Fort. TCU hosts Louisiana Tech, Houston Baptist and North Florida next Thursday-Friday inside Schollmaier Arena. Tickets are available at gofrogs.com.

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