TCU Beach Volleyball goes 4-0 in TCU Invitational

The #2 TCU Women’s Beach Volleyball team finished off its stellar regular season with four wins over the weekend at home in the TCU Invitational. The Frogs have been unbeatable in Fort Worth, with a win streak now extending 28 matches, greater than two full seasons, back to March 2020. TCU finished the regular season with a 36-2 overall record and 5-1 in the CCSA Conference.

TCU opened its invitational against fellow CCSA member Missouri State and the Frogs dispensed with the Bears in rather straightforward fashion. The Hailey duo of Hamlett and Brockett were challenged in their opening set, but ultimately captured the set 22-20 before taking the 2nd set 21-14. The other points of the match were all also secured in straight sets for the 5-0 sweep. Missouri State finished 0-4 in Fort Worth to fall to 12-13 on the season.

The Friday afternoon match paired the Frogs with its highest ranked opponent of the weekend, #9 Stanford, which proved to be its toughest test. The Frogs took the first point as Maria Gonzalez & Ana Vergara earned the straight set victory with a quick 21-7 first set and a clutch 24-22 second set. TCU dropped the next two points with the Moreno/MacTavish pair falling in straight sets 21-23 and 17-21, and Murret/Scott forcing a third set but ultimately falling 9-15. TCU’s Alexis Filipponel and Hailey Brockett won the fourth point in straight sets to tie the match up at 2 each. That meant the final match up of the day would determine the match winner. TCU’s Kaylie McHugh and Hailey Hamlett worked a clean first set, winning 21-15, but the Cardinal’s Charlie Ekstrom and Maddi Kriz bounced back for a 21-14 2nd set win. An intense battle ensued in the final set, as the Frogs fell behind early, but rallied to eventually claim the set 15-13, securing the match win for TCU. This was Stanford’s only loss on the weekend, moving to 20-8 on the season.

Saturday saw the Frogs take on another ranked opponent in #16 Pepperdine. TCU would earn the 5-0 sweep over the Waves, but it was far from an easy contest. Two of the matches went to the third set and the Frogs won six of the sets by four points or fewer. The Hamlett-McHugh combo again earned the decisive victory, winning in straight sets 21-17, 21-15 to pick up the Frogs’ third point after Muret-Scott won in straight sets and Gonzalez-Vergara won a 15-10 3rd set. Filipponel-Brockett went to extra points in their 2nd set, but came out on top 27-25 to give the Frogs a 4-0 lead. The only drama remaining was if the Frogs would earn the sweep, which was left to the Moreno-MacTavish combo and was a very close contest with the Waves’ Melanie Paul and Madison Shields. TCU took the first set 21-19 but dropped the second set 19-21. The final set was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Frogs complete the sweep with a 15-12 victory. The Waves split the weekend 2-2, winning twice Friday and losing twice Saturday, to move to 19-10 on the season.

In the Frogs’ final match of the TCU Invitational, they earned a 5-0 sweep of Houston Baptist. TCU’s pair of Hayley Boll and Caroline White fell just short in their opening set 19-21, but rallied to take the 2nd set 21-14 and got the point with a 15-9 final set. All other points in the match were earned on straight sets, with the Huskies scoring no more than 16 points in any set. HBU left Fort Worth with a a victory over Missouri State, but losses to TCU, Pepperdine, and Stanford, bringing it to a 2022 record of 11-20.

It was another great weekend of performances from the TCU Beach Volleyball team in what has been a spectacular season. The Frogs will travel to Huntsville, AL for the CCSA Chmpionship April 28-30. The NCAA Tournament will take place in Gulf Shores, AL May 4-8.