FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU defense was incredibly strong Tuesday night against the Abilene Christian volleyball team as the Horned Frogs dug out 65 shots and blocked 10 others en route to a 3-1 victory at the Rec Center.
TCU won the match by scores of 25-10, 25-17, 19-25 and 25-16 and outhit the Wildcats by a margin of .339 to .099.
Abilene Christian's outside hitter combination of Jennie Loerch and
Stephanie Schoelman ripped 29 kills, but each was left more frustrated than not. Loerch led all players tonight with 18 kills, which came on 56 attempts, while Schoelman was successful on 11 of 32 attempts. Loerch also added 12 digs and was credited with a solo block - one of two for the Wildcats; the other coming from senior
Neely Borger.
The Horned Frogs were led offensively by Ashley Smith, who hit .400 with 17 kills and a service ace. Several other TCU players hit .350 or above as the home team improved to 7-4 on the season, while ACU dropped to 1-9.
The Wildcats outhit TCU by 35 points, .235-.200, and had a sideout percentage of 63 percent in winning a see-saw third set that featured nine ties and two lead changes.
The Horned Frogs tied the score a final time at 19-19 on an attack error by Loerch, but the Georgetown, Texas, native gave her team the lead back on the next possession on a kill assisted by
Sarah Siemens. Loerch then moved back to the service line and watched as Schoelman delivered five consecutive kills to end the set.
Unfortunately, ACU was slow out of the gate in set four in dropping seven of the first 10 points. From there, the Wildcats could only get as close as three points as the Horned Frogs ended the match on a 14-8 run.
The Wildcats return to action this weekend for the Lone Star Showdown hosted by Texas Tech. ACU will first play the host Red Raiders Friday followed by a Saturday doubleheader against Air Force and Weber State.
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