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No. 20 TCU Falls to No. 14 Oregon in NCAA Second Round - TCU Athletics
EUGENE, Ore. – Fighting for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16, No. 20 TCU came up short, falling to No. 14 Oregon 1-3 on Friday night inside Matthew Night Arena. It marked
GoFrogs: No. 20 TCU Falls to No. 14 Oregon in NCAA Second Round
EUGENE, Ore. – Fighting for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16, No. 20 TCU came up short, falling to No. 14 Oregon 1-3 on Friday night inside Matthew Night Arena. It marked the end of a record-breaking season for the Horned Frogs and four seniors who leave behind a rich legacy of success in purple.
Ashlyn Bourland, Cecily Bramschreiber, Melanie Parra and Stephanie Young closed the book on their volleyball career and left their names in the record book. The Frogs' senior class was responsible for three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and helped TCU advance to the second round each year in the Big Dance.
"I'm just super proud of this team and this group of seniors," said head coach Jason Williams after the match. "We talked about it in the locker room: just a model senior group for what we are trying to do as a program [here at TCU] … But just so excited about what we were able to accomplish this season."
Parra led the Frogs with 18 kills and 10 digs in her final collegiate match, bringing her TCU total to 1,055 kills and 1,238.5 points, the seventh most in school history, in just two seasons with the program. She also added three aces to pass Nirelle Hampton (57, 2005) and Emily Allen (57, 2004) for the most in a single season at TCU (59). Redshirt freshman and Oregon transfer Becca Kelley followed with 11 kills and three blocks against her former bench. Junior Jalyn Gibson led TCU with 15 digs, and freshman libero Alice Volpe tallied 12.
Despite a slow start, the Frogs came out hot, quickly erasing a three-point deficit. A massive block from Kelley and Sylvester capped off a 3-0 run, and TCU never trailed the rest of the set. Tied at six apiece, Kelley went on a tear, helping rattle off five unanswered points and force an Oregon timeout. The Ducks pulled back within three a couple of times, but the Frogs always had an answer. A late 4-0 run to make it 23-16 was the dagger answer as Kelley and Parra each recorded four kills in the set, and back-to-back errors handed TCU the opening set 25-19.
Both teams locked in for set two, which featured 10 ties and five lead changes. Knotted up at seven, s Parra kill followed by three straight kills from Kelley gave the Frog a four-point cushion. However, Oregon answered with a 5-1 run of its own to retake the lead at 15-14 and capitalized on another 4-1 stretch to go up 19-16. TCU kept clawing back out of a timeout and tied the set at 21 late, but the Ducks scored the final four points of the set to even the match with a 25-21 victory.
The home-court advantage started to become a factor in set three. Oregon embarked on a 17-4 run that featured five aces. Taking both timeouts, TCU was able to side out on a kill by freshman Evan Hendrix, but the Ducks cruised the rest of the way to a 25-11 set win.
With their backs against the wall, the Frogs found themselves down 7-1 to start the fourth. Not giving up, TCU chipped away at the lead. Kelley's 10th kill of the night cut the deficit to two at 9-7 before both teams traded runs of 4-0 and 3-0, respectively. Trailing 14-11, six straight Oregon points helped the Ducks open a nine-point lead, which proved to be too much for the Frogs.
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