The Horned Frogs, who fell at Texas on Wednesday, improved to 10-3 on the season.
Looking for a bounce-back weekend after conceding a three-set loss against No. 2 Texas in Austin on Wednesday evening, No. 9 TCU traveled to Houston for the Rice Invitational, where the Horned Frogs swept all three of their matches to reach 10-3 on the season. TCU, which tips off conference play against Houston on Sept. 24, defeated Cornell, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Rice on Friday and Saturday to conclude its nonconference schedule.
TCU rounded out the weekend with a four-set win against Rice on Saturday, beating the Owls 25-21, 16-25, 25-23 and 25-15. The Horned Frogs hit .290 in the match and found their offensive rhythm over the third and fourth sets, where TCU hit .364 and .519, respectively. Freshman hitter Samara Coleman collected a team-high 16 points for the Horned Frogs, posting 12 kills on a .370 hitting percentage while adding two aces. Evan Hendrix earned a double-double with 12 digs and 11 kills, while middle blockers Sarah Sylvester (8 kills, 9 blocks) and Alexis Roberson (7 kills on a .400 hitting rate) proved tough to handle on the front line. Sophomore libero Alice Volpe, whose mother Genny is the head coach at Rice, recorded 20 digs to lead the Horned Frogs on the back line.
In the second of two matches on Friday, TCU rolled for a four-set win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, defeating the Islanders 25-11, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23. The Horned Frogs held the Islanders to a .058 hitting rate and compiled 69 digs with 8.5 blocks in the win. Outside hitter Evan Hendrix led the way offensively, earning 10 kills and 10 digs while hitting .474 for the match. Becca Kelley posted 12 kills and Lauren Murphy added 7 kills on a .353 hitting rate with four aces. In the middle, Sarah Sylvester notched nine kills and hit .750 for the offense. Alice Volpe dug up 23 balls and recorded the third of her four 20-dig matches this season. Rosemary Archer and Ella Foti combined for 37 assists, with Archer totaling 20 while Foti added 17 to aid the TCU offense.
The Horned Frogs tipped off the tournament with a three-set sweep over Cornell on Friday. Behind a dominant second set, TCU rolled for a 26-24, 25-13, 25-23 victory and held the Big Red to a .104 hitting percentage. The Horned Frogs posted 10 aces and Becca Kelly led the offense with 10 kills on a .350 hitting rate. Evan Hendrix followed with 9 kills and Sarah Sylvester compiled 8 kills on a .667 hitting clip with 4 blocks from the middle. Ella Foti and Rosemary Archer combined for 28 assists, with Foti earning 18 and Archer ending up with 10.
Category: General Sports
