2022 Season Recap: TCU Volleyball

In the first year under head coach Jason Williams, TCU volleyball had an excellent season, reaching the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament, earning the third NCAA tournament win in program history along the way. The Frogs finished the season 17-11 overall and 11-5 in Big 12 conference play. The 11 victories in conference play set a program record for wins in the Big 12 in a season and the Frogs finished third in the Big 12. This season was just a preview of what’s possible for a program on the rise with Jason Williams leading the way.

Season Overview:

The Frogs started off the season with a very tough schedule in match-ups against two, top-five-ranked opponents in No. 3 ranked Wisconsin and No. 5 ranked Minnesota. They, unfortunately, lost in both contests but bounced back nicely with a win over Coastal Carolina in Fort Worth. After two tough losses to Texas A&M and Memphis, the Frogs won four of their next five with victories over Western Carolina, Indiana, Alabama, and Abilene Christian.

Much like the non-conference schedule for the Frogs, the conference schedule started out tough with a road match against a top-15 Baylor team at the time. After dropping that game in Waco, however, the Frogs secured two straight conference victories over Iowa State and West Virginia in the Schollmaier. TCU then traveled to Austin for a matchup against the now national championship game bound Longhorns and lost despite solid performances from Audrey Nalls who led all players with 16 kills and Callie Williams who had a team high 19 assists.

The Frogs split the next two matchups with a home win over Texas Tech in 4 sets and a loss in Lawrence to the Jayhawks. TCU would win its next game in the state of Kansas with a victory in Manhattan over Kansas State in a thrilling come from behind victory in 5 sets. The Wildcats started fast, winning the first two sets but the Frogs stormed back to take the last 3 and the match behind a great performance from Callie Williams who finished with 57 assists and 20 digs.

Next up was a win over Oklahoma back in Fort Worth in 4 sets thanks in part to a 45 assist and 12 dig performance from Williams and a 16 kill and 12 dig outing from Audrey Nalls. TCU had yet another comeback victory in their next match, this time against Kansas at home as they again won the last 3 sets to secure the win after losing the first 2. TCU dropped its next game on the road to Iowa State and then had to forfeit their matchup with top ranked Texas at home because of a lack of available players due to non COVID related illnesses. The Frogs would bounce back from this setback by winning 5 straight to end the regular season.

First, was a road trip to Lubbock where TCU won in 4 sets. Next, came the signature win of the regular season for the Frogs as they knocked off a top 10 ranked Baylor team in 4 sets at home. This was a big win for head coach Jason Williams as he had worked at Baylor for 7 years as an assistant coach before he was hired by TCU. A crowd of well over 3,000 people got to witness the Frogs first victory over a top 25 opponent in 6 years. The Frogs kept the momentum going in their next game, picking up a road win in Morgantown over the Mountaineers in 5 sets.

TCU finished the regular season with a 4 set win over Kansas State at home and a straight sets win at OU. The Frogs were selected to participate in the NCAA tournament for the 4th time in program history and were matched up with the Washington Huskies in the first round in the Madison regional. The Frogs were not intimidated by the bright lights of the tournament and had an excellent performance against Washington to advance to the round of 32 in 4 sets. Sabrina Sustala had a great game against the Huskies with 17 digs while Audrey Nalls continued her excellent season with 25 kills which led both teams.

The Frogs were matched up with the #3 overall seeded Wisconsin Badgers in the second round and were eliminated there but had an incredible season in 2022. The Frogs are primed for big things in the future especially with the growing home court advantage as TCU finished top 25 in the nation in overall fan attendance and 3rd in the Big 12 despite having one of their biggest home games of the year in a matchup against the Longhorns cancelled.

Honors and Awards: Callie Williams and Audrey Nalls were named to the All Big 12 first team this season at setter and outside hitter respectively. Williams had an excellent season running the offense for TCU as she finished with over 1,000 total assists and 9.29 assists per set to go along with 270 total digs with 2.43 digs per set. Nalls led the way in kills for the Frogs with 424 on the season at 3.85 kills per set and was named to the AVCA All-Southwest Region team this season.

Julia Adams was also excellent for the Frogs with 329 kills on the year. Mykayla Myers was great defensively for TCU with a team leading 97 blocks this season. TCU had a big time turnaround in 1 offseason from a team that finished 8-18 last year to an NCAA tournament appearance and victory. Much like with TCU football, stealing a coach from a rival school worked out quite well for the Frogs as Jason Williams led the Frogs to an excellent 2022 season and looks to have to program on the rise.