TCU Reverse Sweeps K-State to Secure Best Start to Big 12 Play Since 2015

Saturday, October 15

Manhattan, Kan.

6:30 PM

TCU

9-9,4-3Big 12

Kansas State

11-8,2-4Big 12

TCU

Kansas St.

TCU Reverse Sweeps K-State to Secure Best Start to Big 12 Play Since 2015

10/15/2022 11:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Julia Adams recorded her 1,000th career kill in the win

MANHATTAN – TCU volleyball may very well be the clubhouse leader for the unofficial designation of being the most resilient team across the Big 12 and Division I ranks.

The sentiment certainly rang true on Saturday, anyway.

The Horned Frogs rallied from two sets down to secure a reverse sweep of Kansas State, 20-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-20, 15-5 in a Big 12 affair inside Bramlage Coliseum.

TCU (9-9, 4-3 Big 12) is now 4-0 in five-setters this fall, with seven of its nine victories arriving in come-from-behind fashion.

The comeback marked the second time in the last four weeks TCU has erased a 2-0 hole. The Horned Frogs' first reverse sweep came on Sept. 17 at the hands of Abilene Christian.

And with the result, TCU off to its best start to conference play in seven years. TCU last began Big 12 play 4-3 in 2015, a year in which the Horned Frogs went on to finish 9-7 and earn its second-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

If not for a handful of ill-timed errors the first two frames – the Horned Frogs committed 14 to the Wildcats' five – the match likely would not have gone the distance. TCU was superior in every facet of the game. The Horned Frogs had a 67-48 advantage in kills– 39 of which came in sets three through five. TCU also finished with the edge in digs (66-50) and assists (62-43).

Audrey Nalls led all players with 24 kills.

She landed seven in a third frame that saw TCU find open court 16 times and hit .560 – by far its best clip in a set in 2022. Nalls accounted for six of TCU's nine strikes in set five.

Nalls was not the only outside hitter to help TCU turn the tide. Fellow senior Julia Adams had 20 kills of her own, with 13 coming in the final two sets.

The fourth frame was particularly memorable for Adams, as she recorded her 1,000^th career kill midway through the set to stake TCU to a 13-9 lead. Adams became the 12^th player in program history and just the second in TCU's Big 12 era to achieve the milestone.

Callie Williams fed the two outside hitters all night, as she tallied a match-high 57 assists and 20 digs to record her third straight double-double and fifth of the fall.

There certainly exists a correlation in the win column with strong offensive performances by the trio. Nalls and Adams combined for 48 kills while Williams dished out a career-high 61 dimes in TCU's four-set win over Texas Tech on Oct. 8.

Sabrina Sustala joined Williams in double figures for digs with 13 – her fifth double-digit dig effort of the season.

TCU matched its largest margin of victory in a set this season in the fifth-and-final frame. The Horned Frogs held Kansas State (11-8, 2-4 Big 12) to just one kill on 16 swings for a -.188 hitting percentage. On the other side of the net, TCU took advantage of a tight bunch block to find open court with regularity, racking up nine kills while going a perfect 6-6 on side out plays.

The Horned Frogs raced out to a 6-3 lead behind three kills – two by Nalls and one from Adams – and a block by Zoe Hall. TCU then put the hammer down with a 7-0 run. McKenzie Nichols served on all seven plays and landed two aces. Nalls tacked on a trio of kills in the sequence. Adams attained match point via a kill from the left pin four plays later.

Nichols' serving prowess was invaluable in dictating the end result. She led all players with four service aces. Her first two capped TCU's first 7-0 run of the contest in set four.

TCU trailed 5-2 to open the frame. Head coach Jason Williams Nichols off the bench. Four errors and a kill from Nalls comprised TCU's first five points in the run. Nichols then forced Kansas State into a timeout with consecutive service aces.

It was Adams' show from there. She laced home nine kills in the frame. Adams found the floor on four of TCU's next five scoring plays to inch the Horned Frogs further ahead at 14-10. The Wildcats clawed back to force a 16-16 gridlock, but Adams had an answer, igniting a 9-4 close with her sixth kill of the set. The Plano, Texas native closed the show via back-to-back kills with TCU leading 23-20 to push the match to five sets.

The Horned Frogs embodied Williams' "Frog Fast" offensive ideology in set three. TCU racked up 16 kills – all of which were assisted on – and registered a .760 side out percentage.

Williams' third ace of the evening capped an 8-4 start to the set. The Horned Frogs kept the Wildcats doubled up at 14-7 on Nalls' 11^th kill of the match and later led 23-15.. TCU grabbed seven of its last 14 points in the set on kills. Three of the spikes came from Nalls while Myers and fellow middle blocker Sarah Sylvester combined to chip in a trio of their own.

Myers concluded the match with eight kills against a .333 hitting percentage.

TCU was unable to overcome a 7-2 Kansas State start to set two. The Horned Frogs pulled within a pair at 20-18 but the Wildcats closed on a 5-1 run.

Zoe Hall was a positive, as she notched four of her eight kills in the period.

Set one featured 14 ties and seven lead changes and saw TCU lead as late as 17-16. TCU enjoyed a 13-8 advantage in kills on .364 hitting at that juncture.

Williams gave freshmen Jalyn Gibson and Gabi Maas their first career starts on Saturday. Gibson rewarded the first-year head coach's confidence, landing five kills on a .375 hitting clip.

Nalls' effort signified her fifth 20-plus kill performance of the fall, four of which have come at the expense of Big 12 opposition.

The win gave TCU its first win in the Sunflower State since a 2018 triumph over the Wildcats in Manhattan.

TCU now possesses a prime opportunity to push its overall record over .500 and move to 5-3 in Big 12 play. The Horned Frogs have a week off to prepare for Oklahoma ( 11-7, 1-5 Big 12), whom they face at 12:30 p.m. on Friday at Schollmaier Arena as a part of Homecoming Weekend.