Nov. 11, 2007

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The TCU Horned Frogs suffered a 3-1 (23-30, 30-21, 17-30, 25-30) defeat at No. 25 UNLV Saturday night. TCU was led on the court by Lauren Otto's second straight double-double as she finished with 16 kills and 14 digs. Calli Corley totaled a team-high 15 digs. With 65 digs in the game, the Horned Frogs established a new single-season team record.

The UNLV Rebels put on an outstanding offensive show in game one and so did the Horned Frogs as both teams earned every one of their points. The Rebels, however, racked up 25 kills in the set as they claimed the 30-23 game one victory.

The Frogs fell into a three-point hole early in the game and struggled to string points together in their attempt to get back in the match. A Rebel attack error spurred the Frogs on a 3-0 run that tied the game at 15, which was highlighted by back-to-back kills from Lauren Otto. UNLV responded with a 4-1 run to regain the lead and never looked back.

TCU battled back to tie the match at a game apiece with another strong offensive set in which they hit .548 as a team with 19 kills and held the Rebels to a .222 hitting percentage with just 13 kills.

With the set tied at 11, Nirelle Hampton dropped in a kill to give the Frogs a lead they would never relinquish. Christy Hudson added to the lead with a cross-court blast to give the Frogs a two-point cushion. Following a UNLV service error, back-to-back blocks pushed the Frogs to four-point lead.

Three straight kills from LeMeita Smith gave the Frogs their biggest lead at 21-15 and the Frogs cruised from there. They closed out the game with a 4-0 run highlighted by kills from Edwards, Smith and Hampton to earn the 30-21 win.

Out of the intermission, the Frogs lost the groove they had found in game two as the Rebels took advantage of Frog mistakes and turned them into points as they took the 2-1 match lead. TCU fell behind early and couldn't recover as UNLV ran away with the 30-17 game two win.

Trying to send the match to five games, the Frogs battled hard in game four, but the Frogs couldn't overcome 19 kills from the Rebels. TCU took a 10-8 lead on a solo block from Devon Kirk, but he Rebels would battle back to tie the game. Back-to-back kills from Otto gave TCU its biggest lead of the set, 14-11, forcing a UNLV timeout.

The Rebels turned the set around from their as they went on a 6-1 run to regain a two-point lead. While the Frogs would take a 19-18 lead, they couldn't hold it as the Rebels went on another big run to open up a commanding lead and they went on to claim the 30-25 game four win.

Edwards finished the match with 14 kills and Hudson was the other Frog in double-digits with 10. Kirk totaled a match-high seven blocks. Loren Barry pitched in with 12 digs as well.

The Frogs fall to 21-11 on the season and 8-7 in conference play. They will wrap up regular-season play Thursday night at home when they host top-25 Colorado State at 7 p.m. Following the match, the Frogs will honor three seniors.