With strong performances on both offense and defense, the TCU volleyball team advanced past Miami (OH) in five sets on Thursday afternoon.
Middle blocker Katie Clark led the way on both offense and defense with 12 kills and a career-high 12 blocks, which ties the program record. It was also the most blocks in a single match of any Big 12 player this season, tied for the seventh-most in the country this season.
Outside hitter Julia Adams and middle blocker Sarah Swanson both had strong offensive performances with 24 kills combined.
“We went a little more up and down than we would have liked but, in the end, we’re all competitors and when it came time to really step up and compete, I thought we did a really good job of that,” said head coach Jill Kramer.
The Frogs fell behind early in the first set but came back with the help of a barrage of kills from Adams, outside hitter Ashley Waggle and outside hitter élan McCall. The score was tied at 15 and would be tied eight more times before McCall had a kill to seal the win, 27-25.
The team fell behind again in the second set but came back. Clark and Adams led the Horned Frogs on a 10-1 run to take a 15-14 lead over the RedHawks.
Nevertheless, Miami then went on a 6-1 run and would close out and tie the match.
TCU came out with an early lead in the third set, 15-6. The team never looked back and won the set with an 11-point win, which is tied for their largest margin of victory this season.
McCall and Clark each had three kills in the set and libero Dani Dennison led the way on defense with six digs.
Miami had a 7-0 run early in the fourth set and would ride that momentum to a 25-18 win to tie the match at two sets apiece.
Things did not look good for the Horned Frogs midway through the fifth set, as the RedHawks held a 10-7 lead; but Swanson put down a clutch kill which was followed by a block from Clark to cut the deficit to one.
Adams and Clark would tack on one more kill each, as TCU won the final five points of the set to win the match, 15-12.
Next, the Horned Frogs will have a quick turnaround as they face off against Bowling Green on Dec. 6, at 6:00 p.m.
