Women’s Volleyball Falls in Four at TCU; Career High 21 kills for Alexander

FORT WORTH, Texas—The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team (5-4) opened the Fight in the Fort tournament, falling to host TCU in four sets, 27-25, 25-27, 15-25, 20-25. Sophomore outside hitter Caylen Alexander led Hawai’i with a career-high 21 kills while senior middle Amber Igiede added 14 kills on Thursday at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Rainbow Wahine let a five-point advantage slip away in the first frame, but were able to hold off the Horned Frogs, 27-25 to take a 1-0 match lead. Hawai’i led the second set all the way to when TCU took their first lead of the set for the come-from behind set win, 27-25 to tie the match at 1-1. TCU took their momentum from the second set into the third as they rolled to go up 2-1 winning Set 3 going away, 25-15. In the fourth frame, after UH took an 8-7 lead, a 9-to-3 TCU scoring run catapulted the Horned Frogs to a five point lead at 16-11 and never looked back. TCU extended its lead to nine at 23-14 before UH was able to string some points together. With its back against the wall and TCU serving for the match at 24-16, Hawai’i was able to rally to score four-consecutive points, but TCU’s Melanie Parra, put down her match-high 27^th kill to end the match in four.

In addition to Alexander recording a career-high in kills, she also put down her 400^th career kill in the first set. She needed just four to reach the milestone. The Alpharetta, Ga.-native notched her third-straight double-double with 10 digs. Alexander finished a dig shy of her 200^th career dig.

After posting two kills in the first set, Igiede put down seven in Set 2 while hitting .875 (7-0-8) in the frame. She finished with 14 kills with a .393 hitting percentage (14-3-28) two service aces and two blocks. Junior setter Kate Lang dished out 49 assists for the third time this season.

Senior opposite Kendra Ham made her first start of the season and came through with a career-high eight kills and a team-high and season-best 13 digs.

In Set 1, the Horned Frogs took an early lead at 10-6 on a 4-to-1 run. Hawai’i came right back to tie then overtake TCU via a six point scoring run for a 12-10 lead. UH would extend their lead to five at 20-15. Later with UH leading 23-19, TCU scored six of the next seven points to overtake Hawai’i to have a crack at serving for the set at 25-24. The ‘Bows then regrouped to win the final three points on a pair of Alexander kills sandwiching a kill by Ham to escape with Set 1, 27-25.

Hawai’i did not trail in Set 2 until the very last point. The two teams had 11 ties in the frame, but UH was able to keep the Horned Frogs in check through most of the set. UH led by as many as four at 22-18, and was serving for the set to take a 2-0 lead at 24-20. TCU had other things in mind as they rallied to survive three UH set points before tying then taking the lead at 25-24. Hawai’i got out of one set point, but TCU’s Parra put down two kills to take Set 2, 27-25.

The Horned Frogs took their momentum in their season home opener into the third set. TCU jumpedg out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back. The home team led by as many as nine, cruising to a 25-15 set win going away to take a 2-1 match lead.

The two teams were tied five times early in Set 4. After the ‘Bows knotted the score at 9-9, TCU scored four straight points then slowly pulled away. Leading by as many as nine at 23-14, UH was finally able to get some traction scoring two points to be down by seven at 16-23. With their backs against the wall, UH held off four match-points before coming up short, 20-25.

TCU’s Parra had a career-high 27 kills while Brianna Green had a match-high 10 blocks. The win snapped a seven-match win streak against Hawai’i.

Although UH led TCU in kills (56-to-54), assists (54-to-47), and digs (55-to-53), 30 attack errors plus 10 service errors doomed the Rainbow Wahine. TCU, showed why they came into the week ranked No. 10 in blocks. They were dominant at the net, recording 13 of their 16 blocks in the third and fourth sets alone.

The Fight in the Fort tourney continues on Friday. Hawai’i will face Western Carolina at 9:00 a.m. HT at the Ed and Rae Schollenmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.