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Lifelong Frog
Horned Frogs Bow Out in Round of 32 to No. 1 Seed Wisconsin - TCU Athletics
MADISON – A magical ride reached its last stop in 2022 on Saturday for TCU volleyball.
GoFrogs: Horned Frogs Bow Out in Round of 32 to No. 1 Seed Wisconsin
MADISON – A magical ride reached its last stop in 2022 on Saturday for TCU volleyball.
Squaring off with the reining national champions, the Horned Frogs fell in straight sets to No. 1 seed Wisconsin, 9-25, 11-25, 23-25, inside UW Field House in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
Ultimately, it took a trip to America's Dairyland to face a team that entered having won 20 consecutive matches to put a halt to the biggest turnaround in Power Five conference volleyball.
The Badgers (27-3) played close to a perfect postseason match in front of a sold out 7,500-spectator crowd. Wisconsin hit .395 while committing just four attack errors. Eight of the host's 11 total blocks arrived in sets one and two.
TCU (17-11) embraced the spirited atmosphere early on. The Horned Frogs hit .400 over the first seven plays to assume a 4-3 edge behind a kill and a block by Audrey Nalls.
But decisive Badger scoring runs soon proved to be too much for TCU to overcome. Wisconsin rattled off a 6-0 run to lead it 9-4. Consecutive kills by Adams, who led all players with four in the frame, brought TCU back within three points. The Badgers, though, scored four unanswered to double up the Horned Frogs 14-7 before finishing on a 9-0 run.
A similar narrative played out in the second frame.
TCU again came out of the gate hot offensively, landing kills on four of its first six scoring plays to briefly lead 6-5. Wisconsin again counterpunched, this time with a 10-0 run. The Badgers closed the set with five straight points.
The Horned Frogs flashed their grit one final time in set three. TCU hammered home 18 kills on the strength of a .364 hitting percentage, never trailing by more than four points.
Fueled by a service ace by McKenzie Nichols and kill from the back row by Nalls, TCU opened up a 4-2 advantage. Two straight kills from Zoe Hall kept the Horned Frogs ahead 6-5. TCU continued to lead 9-8 off a block from Sarah Sylvester. The freshman was integral in keeping the Horned Frogs within striking distance of the Badgers during the middle portions of the set. Sylvester, 6-3, chipped in two kills to claw TCU within two points of the Badgers at 18-16. Hall and Nalls later teamed up for back-to-back kills to fight off match point twice, only for Wisconsin to whistle for time and draw up a match-deciding kill.
Jalyn Gibson led TCU with nine kills on .333 hitting. She landed five of her kills in set two. Gibson, who notched 11 kills in the Horned Frogs first round win over Washington one day prior, hit over .300 in both postseason contests.
Hall and Nalls finished with eight kills apiece.
Callie Williams tallied a match-high 22 assists in the final match of her six-year collegiate career.
TCU out-landed the Badgers in assists (33-32) and digs (35-33).
Five graduating players suited up one final time for TCU; Nichols, Williams, Afedo Manyang, Mykayla Myers, Nichols and Sabrina Sustala.
