by Fort Worth, TX – The No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs continued to stay hot Sunday afternoon as they took down the UCF Knights in four sets inside Schollmaier Arena. The Frogs have now won 11 straight matches and remain undefeated in Big 12 play at 4-0.
The Rundown
The Frogs came out of the locker room like they were shot out of a cannon quickly jumping out to a 10-5 lead then in an instant flew out even further ahead backed by an 11-0 run that extended the lead out to 22-6. The Frogs’ attack was working at a different level in the first set totaling 15 kills while hitting .625 and recording zero errors. The Knights on the other hand struggled to get anything going totaling eight attacking errors and a .037 hitting percentage scoring only 8 points in the 25-8 set one loss.
The Knights would flip a switch in the second set exchanging blows with the Frogs before building out a four-point lead at 19-15, but it was quickly swallowed up as the Frogs fought back to even the set at 20. From this point on there was no separation as each side traded points with multiple opportunities to win the set. The set eventually eclipsed the 30-point mark with neither side willing to give in and the Frogs holding the lead 31-30, but it was then that the Knights finally answered scoring three straight points and stealing the marathon of a set 33-31.
UCF carried its momentum into the third and jumped out to a 12-9 advantage, but the Frogs would not let the Knights pull away. TCU battled back to tie the set at 16 before Kinsley Young put away a kill to give the Frogs the lead. Gibson followed it up with an ace and Evan Hendrix added another kill as TCU began to take control. The Frogs would score 10 of the final 13 points in the set with Becca Kelley putting away the final kill to give TCU a 25-19 victory and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Going into the fourth set the Frogs once again took control early in the fourth and built their lead to five at 17-12 behind the attacks of Hendrix and Kelley, but the Knights just like in the second began to fight slowly pulling back into the set and tying it again at 20 all. This time though TCU would respond defensively coming up with back-to-back blocks regaining control of the match. The final rally of the match was kept alive by Alice Volpe who dove into the scoring table for a one handed save and the point was later lost on a UCF error giving TCU their 11th straight victory.
What’s Next
TCU (13-2, 4-0) will look to keep the streak alive as they close out their three-match homestand against Arizona on Friday Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m.
The UCF (8-6, 0-4) squad will look to get their first conference win as they return to Orlando as they open a weekend home series starting with Cincinnati on Friday Oct. 9, at 6:00 p.m.
