Sept. 11, 2004

Final Stats

BOSTON, Mass. - Boston has thus far been very, very good to the Horned Frogs, as they collected their third win in a row in the Massachusetts city this morning. Dominika Szabo hit 17 kills in the match against Saint Peter's in the Harvard gymnasium ofthe Malkin Athletic Center. TCU swept the Peahens 30-21, 30-22, 30-27.

"I was very impressed with Domi's play today," Head Coach Prentice Lewis remarked.

The Saint Peter's Peahens defense took a while to heat up, especially in the back court. However, when the ball would manage to stay off the floor on their side of the court, they rarely missed the opportunity to score.

TCU's serving improved from its previous lackluster statistics, as the Frogs out-aced their errors and landing 14 successful serves. Loren Barry collected three service aces in a row, tacking the eighth, ninth, and 10th point to the growing discrepancy in the two teams' scores. Junior transfer Erin Ludeke came off the bench to dish out 34 assists.

"It was great to see Erin Ludeke play so successfully in her first debut," Coach Lewis praised. "She led the team well with good composure."

Saint Peter's setter, Valeria Kovaleva, had a lethal jump serve of her own. She landed a surprising ace on her first serve which led the Peahens on a four-point run, only foiled by her own serve into the net.

Much like the officiating from the first match yesterday, the whistle stopped the action often; this time the infraction called on both sides was the double hit or other ball-handling errors. The Frogs led by as many as 13, but the Peahens would close the gap to five due to several such calls. TCU maintained the win, however, at 30-21. Anna Vaughn and Ellen Rehme each had four kills and Talaya Whitfield had five digs.

For the second match in a row, the whole Frog team came in to contribute. Shameka Marve picked up a couple good digs in the second game that the Frogs won 30-22.

The third game the Peahens put up a bigger fight, sticking to the Horned Frogs' score, even taking their first real lead of the match, at 12-14. They continued to trade scores with the Purple and White and the possibility of the four game match loomed larger. At 29-25, the Peahens scrapped it out to 29-27, only to suffer a miscommunication and blow their final chance. They put their own dreams to rest, and the Frogs went on to a 30-27 victory in their third win in a row.

"This was a great team effort," Coach Lewis said. "We're definitely ready to play Northeastern. As the home team, they will have the advantage on us, but we are really looking forward to this match."

Later today, at 6 p.m. CDT, the Horned Frogs take on the Northeastern Huskies. After taking a tough loss from the Huskies last year, the Frogs look to conquer the home team and round out the weekend.