By Paul Freelend Skiff staff TCU swept three matches in the TCU Invitational to improve to 6-7 on the season and claim the title in their first home tournament. Along with winning their home tournament for the first time, the Volley Frogs set a number of records en route to their title. · Defensive specialist Stacy Olson tied a school record and set a senior record for most service aces in a match with six. · Sophomore middle blocker Allison Lynch claimed two spots on the all-time list for highest hitting percentage in a match. She hit .500 in the win over Stephen F. Austin, which was third overall at that time, and set a new school record with an .813 percentage in the victory over Villanova en route to being named to the all-tournament team. · Senior outside hitter Jill Pape claimed the ninth spot on the Western Athletic Conference's all-time kills list against Colgate, passing Fresno State's Diana Nalbandian. Pape was named the tournament most valuable player. The Volley Frogs opened play with a win against the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks, 11-15, 15-7, 15-8 and 15-2. The Ladyjacks claimed the first game by using TCU's blocking to their advantage, but the Volley Frogs made the necessary defensive adjustments and took back the second game on a series of wild rallies, the longest of which lasted more than three minutes. In the third game, TCU's servers took center stage, serving up four service aces en route to the win. The Ladyjacks took their first lead at 1-2 in the final game, but the Volley Frogs quickly rallied behind Lynch's hit, claiming the next 14 points to take the match. Co-captain Olson said the Volley Frogs' quick turnaround from play Tuesday night to being fed up with their performances at home. "We were tired of coming out flat at home," Olson said. "We wanted to prove ourselves as a quality team and our performance against Southwest Texas showed us we have to work harder to attain that." "We were working on our mental preparation before the game and keeping our focus throughout the match," Lynch said. The Volley Frogs were led by sophomore outside hitter Marci King's 10 kills and sophomore setter Lindsay Hayes, who recorded 40 set assists. Lynch led the defensive effort, recording seven blocks in the match. TCU's next match was against the Patriot League's Colgate. The Red Raiders entered the contest at 5-5 after falling to Stephen F. Austin the day before. The Volley Frogs made short work of Colgate, finishing off the Red Raiders in three games, 15-7, 15-7 and 15-7. TCU did its work on the defensive side of the net, holding Colgate to a match hitting percentage of just .093. The Volley Frogs closed the 1999 chapter of the TCU Invitational against the Villanova Wildcats, who entered the match with a 4-6 record. TCU opened the match hot, racing out to an 8-2 lead behind the serve of freshman outside hitter Stephanie Watson. The Volley Frogs closed out the game on kills by King and freshman middle blocker Katie Kieffer. The second game opened much like the first, with TCU opening a 6-1 edge before Villanova attempted to slow play down with a timeout. The strategy failed, though, as TCU continued to pour on the offense, gaining nine of the next 10 points to win the second game. The third game saw the Wildcats take the offensive, clawing out to a 3-7 lead before the Volley Frogs scrapped back to tie the game at 7-7. TCU never looked back after that, taking the final two points on an assisted block and a kill by sophomore setter Rachel Shirley. Hayes passed out 34 set assists and Watson served up three assists. TCU's defense held up its end of the bargain, holding Villanova to a -.011 hitting percentage. Pape said she believes that the team's performance in the tournament will go a long way in helping the Volley Frogs prepare for the WAC season. "Our wins this weekend will give us all a whole lot of confidence," Pape said. "This gets us started on a winning streak, which also builds up our confidence. We are going into Sam Houston at 6-7 and we have a chance to start the WAC season at .500."
Paul Freelend
By Victor Drabicky staff reporter Although the TCU women's soccer team managed to win its match Saturday against the Oklahoma Sooners, the team didn't play at the level they normally do, head coach David Rubinson said. "The team was a little bit lethargic," he said. "I don't think we played with the same intensity that we did earlier in the season." The women defeated the Sooners, 1-0, at the TCU Soccer Complex. Even though the first half of the game left both teams searching for some sort of rhythm, TCU managed to pull ahead on a goal by senior midfielder Allison Calleri midway through the half.
Both teams began to play physically, with the Sooners receiving the first of their four yellow cards only seven minutes into the half. Sophomore goalkeeper Keith-Ann Wagner, who received a cut eyelid late in the game, said she thought TCU benefited from the rough play. "We like to play physical," Wagner said. "It makes it more exciting." The pace of the game continued to increase as freshman forward Sherry Dick took control of TCU's offense and managed five shots, each of which narrowly missed the goal. "Sherry played well," Rubinson said. "I would have liked to see her get another goal and take some of the pressure off of us, but I was impressed with her play." TCU's defense also played well earning its fourth shutout in seven games. Rubinson said he was impressed with the way his team's defense handled Oklahoma. "Everything Oklahoma had was from outside our goal mouth," Rubinson said. "Our defense kept its composure under the pressure." Despite TCU's win, the team did suffer the loss of team leader Calleri. Calleri was ejected from the game with only three minutes left following a scuffle with an Oklahoma player. "It was a simple mistake by a senior player," Rubinson said. Although Calleri will miss the next game, TCU's roster depth will fill in the gaps, Wagner said. "We'll miss her," she said, "but we have a lot of players on the bench that can take her place, so I'm not worried." The team will return to action against Texas Tech University at 4 p.m. Friday at the TCU Soccer Complex.
Victor Drabicky
By James Zwilling Skiff staff The TCU men's soccer team left the Nike/Snicker SoccerFest IV tournament Sunday with its second win of the season. The Horned Frogs split their tournament games with a 4-1 victory over Butler University (Indiana) Friday and 0-1 loss to No. 8 Indiana University Sunday. Despite the loss, junior midfielder Matt Groves, junior goal keeper Ian Keate and sophomore midfielder Josh Rife each received All-Tournament Team selections. The Horned Frogs headed into Friday's game with a 1-2-1 record and were confident facing Butler. "I felt very optimistic," junior midfielder Charlie Schulz said. "I knew it would be the toughest game yet and probably the best game of the season." Despite TCU's confidence, it was Butler who scored the first goal of the game 14 minutes into play. TCU's first goal of the game came off an error by Butler defender Bryan Foxworthy. The ball accidentally rolled into the goal when Foxworthy attempted to kick the ball to goal keeper Jason Richarz tying the game 1-1. The Horned Frogs took a commanding lead when Rife scored back to back goals in the 55th and 69th minutes to give the team a 3-1 lead. Junior midfielder Brad Johnson completed the scoring with a 15-yard goal sending the Horned Frogs to a 4-1 victory and extending their season record to 2-2-1. Schulz said the win is a big step for the Horned Frogs who have adjusted to many new teammates this season. "Not only was winning the Butler game a positive outcome for the tournament, but it was a turning point in our season," he said. "For the first time, we played with heart, showed character and had luck on our side." TCU's biggest challenge of the weekend came Sunday versus Indiana who entered the tournament as a two-time defending tournament champion as well as last year's national champions. The Hoosier's outshot the Horned Frogs 23-4. Keate, however, managed to block the shots and recorded nine saves. Schulz said Keate's performance really helped hold Indiana to their lone goal. "Ian was unbelievable," he said. "It was one of the best games he has had. He was unstoppable." It was not until the 83rd minute that Indiana's senior forward Aleksey Korol scored to win the game and carry the Hoosiers to their third-straight tournament title. Although the Horned Frogs managed to hold the defending national champions to one goal, they were still disappointed by the loss. "We felt that we could have won," Schulz said. "We just didn't play with the same intensity as we did in the Butler game." The Horned Frogs, now 2-3-1, travel to Wichita Wednesday to take on Midwestern State at 7 p.m.
James Zwilling
By Matt Welnack staff reporter True freshman Casey Printers will start at quarterback this weekend when TCU travels to play Arkansas State University, a source close to the team said Monday. Printers replaces senior quarterback Patrick Batteaux. Batteaux suffered a torn ligament in his left hand in the Frogs' 17-7 loss to Northwestern University two weeks ago. The source said Printers had been taking snaps with the first team in practice last week and will continue to this week. Printers made his college debut in the fourth quarter of the Northwestern game after Batteaux fumbled an attempted pitch at the Wildcat 6-yard line. Printers threw for 109 yards on 9 of 13 passing against Northwestern. The TCU offense hit a wall against Northwestern after its first scoring drive of the game when the opposing defense tried to make Batteaux beat them through the air. The source said the offense will benefit from Printers' passing ability. "It is good because teams have seen our game film and they stack the middle because we can't pass," the source said. "Printers can pass at the Division I level." Coach Dennis Franchione could not be reached for comment. Batteaux is 22 of 43 passing for 146 yards this season. He has thrown one touchdown and no interceptions this season. Batteaux led the team to a 7-5 record and a victory against University of Southern California in the Sun Bowl last season. Batteaux threw for 519 yards last season with one touchdown and seven interceptions. Printers threw for 1,826 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior at DeSoto high school. He is the first true freshman to play quarterback at TCU since 1992.
Matt Welnack
By Steven Baker staff Reporter Up-hill battles didn't stifle the TCU cross country teams this weekend. The men's and women's cross country teams completed the SMU Invitational with two third-place finishes Saturday at Norbuck Park in Dallas. Senior David Lagat led the TCU men's runners in the 8K race with a second place time of 25:27. In the women's 5K race, sophomore Glady's Keitany forged ahead of the other TCU women to place second with a 17:11 finish. Lagat, who was last week's Western Athletic Conference men's Athlete of the Week, said the hills at Norbuck Park made this race more difficult than last week.
SMU runner Clyde Colenso increased his lead over Lagat in the last halfmile and last hill. He won the race in 25:05. Senior Adrian Martinez was the next TCU man to cross the finish line in 11th place, 26:12. Additional TCU men finishers were junior Ryan Womack, 27:25; junior Adam Helm, 27:33; senior Jared Pope, 27:40; and freshman Justin Pillsbury, 28:08. Head track and field coach Monte Stratton said the TCU men ran well, but there is room for improvement. "I thought David ran a better than good race today," he said. "Adrian Martinez ran a solid race. I don't think it was a especially good for him, but it was solid." Keitany said she needs to work on her third mile. That is where Hanna Smedstad from Oklahoma State University dashed past her. "The race was a little bit disappointing, but without our second placerunner (sophomore Robin Schacht who was out with a hip injury) we did fine." Behind Keitany were TCU women senior Alison Harvey, 19:17; sophomore Georgeanne Biancardi, 19:19; freshman Shannon McKinney, 19:45; freshman Melody Raffloer, 20:26; and senior Heidi Francen, 21:27. Head cross country coach Dan Waters said losing to women's second place Oklahoma by two points, 75-73, was a frustrating situation. "You kind of pick and choose the races you really want to look good at and then kind of develop your whole workout schedule around that," he said. "We are going to be in much better shape down the line." The men's and women's teams from the University of Texas won the divisional races with 38 and 36 points. Both SMU teams placed second, while the TCU teams followed in third place with 89 points for the men and 75 points for the women. Other women's final team scores were Oklahoma State in fourth with 98 points; Texas-Arlington, 99; Texas-El Paso, 109; and Northwestern State (La.), 162. In the men's division, Texas-El Paso was fourth place, 95 points; Texas-Arlington, 112; Oklahoma, 130; and Northwestern State (La.), 174. Some WAC cross country coaches are predicting bigger things for the TCU men's and women's cross country teams this season. According to the WAC preseason poll, the women will finish in first and the men second. Stratton said the cross country teams are taking the season race by race and not focussing on the preseason pole. "I think we don't really even have to address it," he said. "They know we have a chance to win the conference, but they know there are no guarantees." Waters said these expectations are unspoken within the team. "It was a good performance, but it wasn't fantastic by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "We have a long way to go." The women's team races Oct. 1 at the North Texas Invitational in Denton. The men's team will compete Oct. 2 at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla.
Steven Baker |
The second half started with an obvious increase in tempo
that continued to rise throughout the half. 
"I was hoping to do a lot better,"
he said, "I went in there the way I wanted to, except for the last
half-mile. That is when I lost it."| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |