Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Volleyball takes on Bearkats
By Blair Busch
Skiff Staff

Head volleyball coach Sandy Troudt said the Volley Frogs have practiced better than they have all season this week.

The Frogs (5-12, 2-5 Conference USA) hope that will translate into a victory against Sam Houston State (9-10, 5-5 SLC) 7 p.m. today in the Rickel Building.

“We are better than our 5-12 record, but we haven’t been putting our game on the floor,” Troudt said. “We need to play as well as we have been practicing.”

After losing six of their last eight matches, the Frogs need this win to boost the team’s spirits before heading into a four-game conference series, senior middle blocker Allison Lynch said.

“It has been difficult to stay positive,” Lynch said. “We have a great team with great players. We have the hard work and dedication needed to win.”

The Bearkats have won five of their last eight matches including a 3-0 victory over Southwest Texas State. The Frogs defeated Southwest Texas State for the first time in program history, 3-2, Oct. 9.

“We will have to run offense well, confuse their middle blockers and basically play our game,” Troudt said.

The Bearkats are led by outside hitter Carrie Sartain. Sartain leads Sam Houston State with 247 kills, 597 attacks and 219 digs for the season.

Senior outside hitter Marci King’s statistics are comparable. King has 249 kills, 611 attacks and 187 digs.

“Marci is a big contributor to the team,” Troudt said, “but I hope Allison Lynch will step up for us.”

Lynch leads the team in blocks and holds the record in total blocks with 405. Lynch also has 183 kills, 445 attacks and 120 digs for the season.

“(King) is the go-to girl,” Lynch said. “My role is to help her to get a kill and to help the rest of the team stay emotionally focused so we can come out strong.”

Blair Busch
b.a.busch@student.tcu.edu