TCU Olympic Sports Update: Beat Baylor Edition

In our last Olympic sports update the volleyball team was coming off a dramatic win against OU at home, the soccer team was off to a 2-1 start in Big XII play, the swimming and diving team dominated in their first meet, the equestrian team had defeated two top-ten teams in their first three matches and the rifle team was off to a blistering start after winning first place in their first two competitions of the year.  Today we're going to take a look at those sports and others to see how their season's have progressed.

In case you missed our previous updates in this series, I look at these sports as something akin to, as Tom Petty would say, the great wide open.  Football is New York City, basketball is Chicago and baseball is LA because, you know, they're a "baseball town". These sports are all glitzy and glamoury, all of the games are on TV and they all have cable networks basically covering their on-goings 24/7/365.  Yes, we love them, and their popularity is well deserved.

The monuments that we build to these sports and the games themselves are breathtaking, but outside the city is another kind of beauty.  One defined by the absence of all the hustle and bustle.  That's how I look at our beloved Olympic sports.  I sat down to watch the TCU vs Oklahoma volleyball game a couple of weeks ago and I was up until 1 in the morning on the edge of my seat.  For everyone who watches the Olympics every two years, or has the pleasure of watching any of these sports live, you know what I am talking about.  The competition is fierce, the drama is real, and the thrill of victory is no less exhilarating.  So, here we go.  Join me once again for an excursion into The Land of Under-appreciated Athletics.

VOLLEYBALL BEATS BAYLOR IN FIVE SETS We did it you guys! We beat Baylor! Any victory over the Bears in a good one and this one was a thrill-ride. The Frogs were down 1-0 after the first set and won the second.  Then they were down 2-1 after the third set and came back again to force the tie-breaker.  In front of a rowdy, sell out crowd they jumped out to a 14-8 lead in the fifth and final set.  Baylor battled back to 14-10, but the game was put away by junior Ashley Smith.  Smith was the hero of the match and led the team with 17 kills and 13 digs.

With the win the Frogs move to 15-5 overall and 5-3 in Big XII play.  Prior to the Baylor game, the Frogs notched a 3-0 road win at Texas Tech on 10/10/15 and took a 3-1 loss to Iowa State in Ames.  They currently sit in fourth place in the Big XII, right behind 5-2 Iowa State.  They have now faced every Big XII program once and they get another shot at no.2 Texas in Fort Worth on 10/28/15.

SOCCER HITS THE SKIDS ON THE ROAD The soccer team was off to a 2-1 start in Big XII play two weeks ago, with their only loss coming on the road against West Virginia.  Sadly, that was only the start of a long, hard road trip for the Frogs.  After the loss to WVU on 10/2/15, the team went on to drop their next two road games to Texas Tech on 10/9/15 and Texas on 10/11/15.

In the match against Texas Tech, the Red Raiders jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half leading in shots (17-6), shots on goal (10-5) and corners (6-1).  Against Texas things weren't much better as the Frogs allowed two goals in the first 21 minutes, ultimately losing that game 3-0 as well.  They return home on Friday 10/23/15 with a chance to get back on the right track against Baylor.  Two days later, on 10/25/15, they will take on Oklahoma at home, so they have a chance to turn things around quickly.  So far on the year they are 6-1 at home.

TCU GOLF CHAMPIONS AT THE CONNECTICUT CUP The men's golf team set a new tournament record at The Connecticut Cup, posting a score of 19 under par and basically blowing everyone else out of the water on their way to winning the team championship on 10/12/15-10/13/15.  Not only was the next closest team 17 strokes back, but the Horned Frogs were the first team at The Connecticut Cup to score under par at Ellington Ridge Country Club. Paul Barjon won first place individually with 11 under par and Chelso Barrett was right behind him in second place with 10 under par.

The women's gold team competed in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational on 10/6/15-10/7/15 finishing in 11th place out of 13 teams.  The Lady Frogs are ranked no.37 nationally and have finished no.2 overall in two out of the four tournaments that they have competed in this year. They have one more tournament to play this fall, the Alamo Invitational on 10/25/15-10/27/15.  They open up spring play in Puerto Rico on Valentines day 2016.  The men's team has finished fall play and they will open up spring play in Hawaii on 2/4/16.

CROSS COUNTY PREPARES FOR BIG XII CHAMPIONSHIPS The cross country teams finished up their respective regular seasons since our last update.  The women's team placed 27th at the pre-national invite on 10/17/15.  While they did not get the finish they wanted, they competed against some of the best teams in the nation and the heightened competition should help them in the conference championships.  The men's team finished fourth in the Incarnate Word invite on 10/10/15.  Both teams will begin competition at the Big XII Championships on 10/31/15.

TENNIS CLEANS UP IN MID OCTOBER Sophomore Cameron Norrie of the TCU men's tennis team claimed his second fall title by winning the singles competition at the Futures of Mansfield.  Norrie won seven straight matches on his way to claiming the title..  This was the first professional title of his career. The women's tennis team competed in the SMU invitational in Dallas where sophomore, Aleksandra Zenovka, and junior, Sofiko Kadzhaya, each had three straight wins to claim their respective singles titles.  The USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championships begin today for the women's team and on 10/27/15 for the men's team.

SWIMMING AND DIVING TEAMS WIN SECOND HOME MEET TCU hosted Incarnate Word and Liberty back on 10/9/15 and both the men's and women's teams found success against the well-known Baylor football opponent.  In the end, TCU finished in first place in 14 of 26 overall events.  It is worth nothing that senior Kristen Connolly set a school record in the 1-meter dive with a score of 321.30.  The women's team traveled to the SMU Women's Invite on 10/17/15 and came in sixth place.  The men's team will host SMU on 10/28/15 and the women will host Kansas on 10/31/15.

EQUESTRIAN TEAM TAKING A BREAK, PREPARING FOR NO.3 BAYLOR That's right people, the football team isn't the only one hosting a top 5 Baylor team this year.  The equestrian team hasn't competed since taking down no.8 New Mexico State on 10/8/15, although several Frogs have garnered individual honors during the break in team competition. Sophomore Jayme Omand won first-place in the Senior Norcal Medal Final, freshman Haley Giddings qualified for the ASPCA Maclay Finals and freshman Jenna Jacobs claimed both the Youth World and Congress Championships.  The team is 1-0 at home and 2-1 on the year with all competitions coming against top-10 teams.  The Frogs will host no.3 Baylor on Friday at 10:00 CT.

RIFLE TEAM WINS HOME OPENER The TCU rifle team won their home opener against Nevada on 10/17/15 as Sally Li posted a season-high score of 1,176.  TCU needed all they could get in a close match against Nevada.  The Frogs posted their second-highest smallbore score of the season, shooting a 2,323 against a Nevada score of 2,307.  Rachel Garner led all shooters with a score of 584 and Li scored a 583.  TCU won the air rifle competition with a score of 2,363 to 2,334.  Mindy Miles won that competition and has won all four air rifle competitions this season.  Sally Li was named a TCU Muscle Milk Athlete of the Week this week along with Trevone Boykin of the football team.  This comes two weeks after Mindy Miles was named a TCU Muscle Mile Athlete of the Week along with Montrel Wilson.

Thanks to www.gofrogs.com for most of the stats and information in this article.