Tallahassee, Fla., - FGCU nearly made their debut in Division I just the way it wanted, with a win. However, after taking a 2-1 lead in the match, TCU rallied to spoil the Eagles first Division I contest with a 3-2 victory.
The match started on a sour note, with the Horned Frogs taking game one 30-19. FGCU was limited to a .050 hitting percentage in game one while TCU racked up 15 kills to record a .438 percentage.
The Eagles limited the Horned Frogs to 19 points in the second game and a .068 percentage. Down 8-5 early in game two, FGCU scored six straight to take a lead they would never relinquish. FGCU would steadily pull away for a 30-18 win in game two to even the match. Game three was scripted similarly to the second game, with TCU taking an early 5-3 lead. The Eagles ran off four straight points to take a 7-5 lead. Again the Eagles steadily pulled away to a 30-23 win. The Eagles recorded 18 kills in the third game and hit .359 in the game.
In the fourth game, FGCU took an early lead and saw a late five point lead evaporate. The Eagles pushed their lead to 16-11 and from that point, the two teams traded points until the score was 26-21. The Horned Frogs then scored four of the next five to cut the lead to 26-25. TCU was able to take a 29-28 lead, but FGCU fought off two game points before TCU took a 31-29 win and force game five. TCU sprinted to an early 6-1 lead in the decisive fifth game, forcing an FGCU timeout. The Eagles scored six of the next eight points to trim TCU's lead to 8-7. The Horned Frogs scored the next three points and went up 11-7. TCU would go on to wrap up the match, hitting .308 in the decisive game and earn a 15-10 win in the final game.
Kourtney Edwards and Nurielle Hampton led TCU with 14 and 12 kills respectively. Edwards hit .333 in the match and added seven blocks. Hampton recorded a triple-double with 12 kills, 47 assists and 12 digs.
Roberta Santos (Recife, Brazil) had a phenomenal debut, dishing out 51 assists and recording 11 digs while adding six kills and a pair of aces. Senior Brooke Youngquist (Fort Myers, Fla.) led all players with 21 kills and added 8 digs. Whitney Hendry added a team-high 25 digs.
The Eagles will be back in action tomorrow when they face UNC-Asheville at 2:00 pm in their final game of the 2007 FSU Invitational.
