Volleyball: TCU drops home series against Iowa State

Outside hitter Melanie Parra’s return to the starting lineup wasn’t enough for the TCU volleyball team during Friday and Saturday’s home series against Iowa State. After a tough five-set loss against the Cyclones on Friday, TCU conceded a three-set sweep on Saturday to fall to 13-12 overall and 6-8 in the Big 12 Conference.

The Horned Frogs, who will face Baylor on the road this coming Friday and Saturday, have now lost six of their last seven games dating back to Oct. 14, when TCU fell against West Virginia on the road. With only five games remaining in the regular season, TCU will need a stellar late-season rally if it has any hopes of contending for the NCAA Tournament.

Friday: Iowa State 3, TCU 2

The Horned Frogs and Cyclones played a nearly even match on Friday, with TCU taking advantage of 21 service errors on the Iowa State side while the Cyclones held the Horned Frogs to a .226 hitting percentage. TCU held a 2-1 set advantage, but Iowa State rallied to take the final two sets to hand the Horned Frogs a 23-25. 28-26, 25-23, 18-25, 13-15 loss.

Jalyn Gibson and Melanie Parra each recorded double-doubles on the TCU side, with Gibson notching 14 kills and a team-best 20 digs while Parra totaled a team-high 19 kills with 10 digs. Audrey Nalls dished out 17 kills and freshman setter Lily Nicholson handed out 47 assists for the Horned Frogs, who were without injured starting setter Riley Buckley. Starting libero Cecily Bramschreiber also had 20 digs to anchor TCU’s back-row defense.

Saturday: Iowa State 3, TCU 0

The Cyclones were in full control on Saturday, with the Horned Frogs struggling to find their offensive rhythm against a tough Iowa State defense, which limited TCU to a .163 hitting percentage. Five back-row errors including four receiving errors and one ball handling error also doomed the Horned Frogs in a 14-25, 22-25, 23-25 defeat. Jalyn Gibson finished with 12 kills to lead the TCU offense, while Melanie Parra added nine kills and Audrey Nalls followed with seven kills. The Horned Frog offense committed 20 hitting errors in the loss.