TCU Thumps Texas Tech to Sweep Season Series vs. Red Raiders

Saturday, November 5

Lubbock, Texas

1 PM

TCU

12-10,7-4Big 12

Texas Tech

14-10,3-8Big 12

TCU

Texas Tech

TCU Thumps Texas Tech to Sweep Season Series vs. Red Raiders

11/5/2022 6:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Horned Frogs regain sole possession of fourth place in Big 12 standings with the win

LUBBOCK – The volleyball iteration of the Saddle Trophy is firmly in possession of TCU.

The Horned Frogs thrashed Texas Tech in four sets, 25-15, 29-31, 25-16, 27-25, in Big 12 action on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

TCU (12-10, 7-5 Big 12) completed a season sweep of the Red Raiders – its first since 2016 – with the win.

The first leg of the sweep arrived four weeks earlier, when the Horned Frogs took down their west Texas rival 3-1 on Oct. 8 inside Schollmaier Arena.

And the rematch proved to be even more lopsided than the initial go-around.

TCU hammered home a season-high 70 kills on .311 hitting – the same clip it connected at vs. the Red Raiders in October – while matching its season-bests in digs (70) and assists (68). The Horned Frogs outscored the Red Raiders 81-58. The 23-point margin of victory was TCU's second-largest of the 2022 season.

On the other side of the net, Texas Tech (14-10, 3-8 Big 12) had nothing to offer the Horned Frogs. TCU stifled the Red Raiders to 48 kills – their fewest in a four-set match this season – against a .143 hitting percentage. The Horned Frogs held Texas Tech to nine kills and under .100 hitting in sets one and three.

The dominant effort was made even more gratifying by the fact that TCU bussed to Lubbock shorthanded. The Horned Frogs were just days removed from a flu outbreak that forced the cancellation of their match vs. No. 1 Texas on Nov. 2.

The win swung sole possession of fourth place in the Big 12 standings to TCU with four games remaining in conference play. The Horned Frogs last won seven games in Big 12 play in 2018.

TCU also picked up its fourth victory over an NCAA RPI top-50 foe. Texas Tech entered Saturday's spot ranked No. 48, two spots ahead of TCU.

Four players finished with 10-or-more kills for the first time this season.

Audrey Nalls again proved to be Texas Tech's boogeyman. She led all players with 20 kills to run her season total against the Red Raiders to 46. Nalls, who leads the Big 12 in total kills, total points and kills per set, now has seven matches with 20-plus kills this fall.

Zoe Hall and Julia Adams each laced home 15 kills of their own. They were the most efficient players on the court. Hall committed just one error on 21 swings to notch a .667 hitting percentage. The sophomore's kill tally and hitting percentage both were career-highs. Adams hit .333 – her 10^th match hitting .300-or-better in 2022.

Jalyn Gibson earned her fifth consecutive start at outside hitter and contributed 12 kills to the tune of .391 hitting. TCU is 4-1 since inserting the freshman into its starting rotation.

Callie Williams assisted on 60 of TCU's kills. The performance marked her second 60-plus assist of the match this fall, both of which have come at the expense of Texas Tech.

Williams also contributed 10 digs to post her seventh straight double-double and ninth of the fall.

She was one of four players to finish in double figures in digs. Libero Sabrina Sustala finished with a match-leading 20. McKenzie Nichols pitched in 13 while Taylor Raiola had 10 of her own.

The opening frame was as thorough of a performance as TCU has delivered in a set this season. TCU tallied 14 kills, digs and assists apiece while scoring on 81 percent (13-16) of side-out plays. The digs, combined with 3.5 total blocks, helped pester Texas Tech into 10 attack errors. The Red Raiders hit -.028.

A 9-1 TCU run to open the match set the tone for how the afternoon was to play out. Nalls landed four kills while Texas Tech committed three errors.

Back-to-back kills by Nalls and Hall soon saw the Red Raiders doubled up at 16-8, forcing Texas Tech to burn its final timeout of the set. TCU connected on 56.2 of its attacks through the match's first 24 plays,

The first set kill counter soon reached 12, as TCU extended its edge to 20-10. The Horned Frogs closed the show with a 5-0 scoring run.

Nalls notched six kills in the set while Hall had three on a perfect 1.000 hitting clip. Williams and Sustala anchored the back row with five digs each.

TCU nearly positioned itself for its first sweep of the fall in set two. The Horned Frogs staved off set point three times in a frame that featured 14 ties and four lead changes.

Texas Tech worked its way to a 17-13 lead, only for TCU to rally and force a 20-20 gridlock behind five combined kills from Nalls, Gibson and Mykayla Myers. The teams alternated points to the tune of a 23-23 tie. A TCU service error on the following play gave Texas Tech its first shot at forcing a 1-1 match tie and set off a back-and-forth marathon.

Myers and Adams split the Red Raider defense twice to keep the score level at 25-25. TCU briefly regained the lead 26-25 off a Red Raider service error. The Red Raiders punched back with a trio of kills to again serve for the set at 27-26 and 28-27, but Nalls and Hall to return fire with kills of their own. A net violation by Texas Tech, aided in part by a challenge by head coach Jason Williams, leveled the score one final time at 29-29. Texas Tech then grabbed the set via a kill and a ball-handling error by TCU.

TCU refused to allow the pendulum to swing in favor of Texas Tech. A 4-0 run to begin set three doubled up the Red Raiders 8-4. Texas Tech pulled within a point at 9-8, only for TCU to counterpunch with an 8-2 run to widen the lead to 17-11. TCU poured in 13 kills behind a .632 hitting percentage to build its six-point edge. The Red Raiders tried to rally once more, drawing within two points of TCU at 18-16, but TCU closed the books in short order with a 7-0 run – its fifth of the season.

The Horned Frogs' season-long progression in road matches shone bright in the fourth-and-final frame.

TCU first fired off a 9-3 run midway through the set to transform a one-point deficit into a 19-13 advantage. Gibson and Nalls bombed in consecutive kills to put TCU in front 15-12 at the media timeout. Hall then bookended kills around a Texas Tech error to punctuate the run.

But the Red Raiders rallied with an 11-2 surge of their own to regain the lead at 22-21. TCU, though, put its foot down from there. Adams and Gibson kept the score level at 22-22 and 23-23, respectively, with kills. Two errors gave TCU its first pair of attempts at match point. Nalls narrowly missed out on securing the match-ending point with a spike that just missed the back row left corner of the court. Gibson slammed home her final kill of the contest to position to position TCU for match point at 26-25. Nalls found a crease from the back row to clinch the win.

TCU stretched Texas Tech's losing streak to six matches with the result.

TCU now has a prime opportunity to fortify its prospects of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs have a week off to prepare for their next match – a home date with No. 11 Baylor on Nov. 12. TCU pushed Baylor to four sets in the teams' first meeting on Sept. 21 in Waco and took the Bears the full five in the programs' most recent meeting in Schollmaier Arena on Nov. 13, 2021. A win over the Bears would give TCU its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2016 – the year of its third and most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.