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Frogs soar to victory over Air Force, 3-0
Sept. 22, 2006
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A strong all-around effort by the TCU Horned Frogs helped them earn their first-ever Mountain West Conference road win. The Frogs swept Air Force, 3-0 (30-19, 30-18, 30-22), to improve to 2-0 in conference play. TCU hit .340 as a team and racked up 50 digs to help lead them to victory. Anna Vaughn led all hitters with 13 kills. Nirelle Hampton pitched in with 41 assists, while Calli Corley tallied a match-high 15 digs. The Frogs opened up an early advantage in the first set with crisp passing, timely kills and numerous Falcon hitting errors. A 4-0 lead to open the game was aided by a Vaughn kill, an Emily Allen ace and two Air Force hitting errors. The lead continued to grow, reaching a 12-6 advantage on a Corley ace, forcing a Falcon timeout. The Falcons responded with a mini 3-0 run to pull within five, 14-9, but an Allen blast killed the momentum and the Frogs continued to increase their lead. Kourtney Edwards came on late in game one, blasting three kills down the middle, helping the Frogs build a 10-point cushion, 24-14. Back-to-back kills by Vaughn and a Nirelle Hampton dump brought the Frogs to game point and a Falcon error gave the Frogs the 30-19 victory. TCU got on another roll in game two, jumping out to an early 10-5 lead. Hot hitting by the Frogs carried them and the Falcon errors mounted. Edwards continued to light it up offensively, tallying two more kills and assisting on a block with Allen as the lead grew to 15-6. Air Force battled back in the match, pulling within 22-14, but Edwards stymied the run with a loud kill off the block. Again, Air Force would put together a run, but each time, the Frogs were able to stop the rally with timely kills. Agi Nemeth pushed the lead back to ten, 26-16, with a precisely placed kill in the middle of the court. Three kills by Vaughn brought the Frogs to game point and Hampton blocked a Falcon attack to the ground giving TCU the game two victory, 30-18. Through the two games, the Frogs were hitting a blistering .357. Vaughn's nine kills paced the squad, while Edwards was close behind with seven. Corley was tied with a game-high 11 digs and led all servers with two aces. Another strong effort by the Frogs early in game three helped them to an 11-5 lead. Hampton pitched in with two kills and a block and LeMeita Smith joined the fun as she dropped in a kill and assisted with Edwards on a ringing block. The early lead would prove beneficial as the Falcons strung together their longest rally of the match, pulling within 11-10. Allen quieted the rally with a cross-court kill to give the Frogs a two-point cushion, 12-10. The battle continued, but the Falcons were unable to get over the hump. TCU got back on track as they opened up a four-point advantage at 17-13 forcing a Falcon timeout. The Frogs picked up the pace and sailed to the 30-22 game three win. Smith was a big factor in the Frogs game three win as she tallied four kills late in the set. TCU improves to 13-2 with the win and 2-0 in MWC play. The Frogs will head north to Fort Collins, Colo. to take on Colorado State Saturday night. Match time is slated for 8 p.m. (CST).
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