Aug. 26, 2006
Final Stats
FORT WORTH, Texas - For the first time in four seasons, the TCU volleyball team opened the year with a perfect 3-0 record thanks to a 3-1 (24-30, 30-18, 30-27, 30-22) victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-1) Saturday afternoon at the University Rec Center. The Horned Frogs, playing the third of four matches at the 2006 Molten-LaQuinta Invitational, will look to claim the tournament title Saturday evening with a match against Boise State at 7:30 p.m.
In the 10-year history of TCU volleyball, only the 2002 squad opened the season with at least three straight victories. That squad eventually won four in a row before suffering its first loss of year.
"This is good for us," fifth-year net boss Prentice Lewis said. "It's the first time we have been 3-0 since my first season here."
Coming off an emotional high where the Frogs rallied to defeat South Carolina in five games Friday night, TCU opened the first game with a sluggish hitting performance (.143) and eventually suffered a 30-18 setback.
"We were coming off of our hangover from last night against South Carolina," Lewis said. "Having an early match also affected us. We got off to a slow...but we were able to recover from that against a fantastic Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad. We need to be better mentally prepared."
The defensive authority of redshirt freshman Kourtney Edwards was key for the Frogs, as she recorded eight block assists and six kills for 10.0 points.
"Kourtney Edwards had another great game for us," Lewis said. "She finished with eight block assists and the next closest person had three. This is essentially her freshman season and now that she is starting to get reps, it is really starting to click."
Redshirt junior Emily Allen had an all-around outstanding match, totaling 16 kills on 29 attempts for a .448 hitting percentage. She added three aces, eight digs, and four total blocks (1-3) for a match-high 21.5 points.
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Emily Allen also did a great job for us today," Lewis stated after the match. "After not really factoring into the scoring last night, it was nice to see her rebound with a good game today. It's a positive thing when others step up to pick up the slack."
Senior Anna Vaughn paced all Frogs with 18 kills on 35 attempts (.371) and freshman Lauren Otto led the defensive attack with 19 digs. She almost registered her second double-double in as many matches after pounding out nine kills.
Court general Nirelle Hampton was on target for 52 set assists and she added a match-high four aces.
Once TCU got the first game out of the way, the Purple and White hit .294 in game two, fell to .200 in the third outing, and finished the match with an impressive .382 hitting performance in the final bout.
Kasey McBrearty led all Texas A&M-Corpus Christi players with 16 kills.
