TCU was able to edge Coastal Carolina in a gritty performance to win all three sets earning consecutive sweeps to begin the season.
Each set came down to the wire. In the first set, the Frogs were down 20-13 when head coach Jill Kramer called a time-out to slow down the game and take momentum away from the Chanticleers. The Frogs came back to win the set 26-24.
“We were really taking ourselves out of the game,” Kramer said. “Our serving turned on, we started touching the ball in the block a bit more, we started slowing the game down, and they started to make some errors that they hadn’t made throughout the set at that point.”
The Frogs won the second set 26-24, and the third set 27-25. Kramer was extremely proud of her girls for “gutting out” three very close sets in the game.
“At some point we were behind in every one, so it was great to fight,” Kramer said. “We were too focused on the score yesterday and it determined how hard we were going to play. I thought they did a better job of managing that today. They made big plays at the end of sets to close it out, and everybody that went in had ice in their veins.”
Kramer commented on why Coastal Carolina was able to play so tough against the Frogs.
“They’re very athletic,” Kramer said. “They have a lot of great players, are a very good serving team, and are very well coached.”
Kramer has known Coastal Carolina’s head coach for a while. She met him almost 10 years ago when she was an assistant coach for the University of Alabama and he was a coach for Mississippi State.
Kramer thanked the students and fans for all of the support while the team was down.
“We have an amazing group of students, and they were huge for us,” Kramer said. “They get louder the closer the game gets to the end. They may have had the biggest impact on the team when we got down 20-13, they didn’t sit down or give up!”
Kramer promises that before the next home match, she will get all of the students together and take them to lunch. If any students want to join, email or direct message Coach Kramer on Twitter.
TCU finished the Cowtown Classic with two wins and zero losses. The Frogs’ next home match will be against Rice Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
