When they headed off to the NIVC, the TCU volleyball team hoped it might earn a chance to play at home again.
For about half the team, advancing to the third round meant exactly that.
Eight of the 17 players on the TCU roster are North Texas products, from Everman through Addison and Plano to Lucas and Allen, down to Waxahachie, back over to Arlington and up to Southlake, and they get another chance to play in Fort Worth on Thursday against Colgate.
It’s not by accident.
“The Metroplex has some of the best volleyball in the country,” coach Jill Kramer said. “We’ve taken an approach where we want our relationships to be great with all of the clubs in the country, but putting our time and energy into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex — there’s not enough scholarships on a team to get all of the best from an area that is one of the best in the country.”
Middle blocker Katie Clark of Arlington High, setter McKenzie Nichols of Southlake Carroll and outside hitter Julia Adams of Plano were three of the primary drivers behind the Frogs’ late-season push and proved heavily responsible for victories in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships — the sport’s version of the NIT — last week against Miami (Ohio) and Bowling Green.
Outside hitter Audrey Nalls of Waxahachie and middle blockers Afedo Manyang of Everman and Sarah Langs of Lucas Lovejoy bring more authority at the net. On the back row are Berklie Baker of Trinity Christian Addison and Ina Ignacio of Allen.
Their contributions reflect the benefit of looking in your own back yard.
“There’s some type of value in staying close to home, playing in front of your family and your loved ones, not having the stresses of moving far away, being able to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get home to see your folks or when something important is going on,” Kramer said. “That’s been an important part of our strategy in recruiting. Building relationships with all the clubs in the area, all the high school coaches in the area, has really helped.”
Said Clark, who tied the team record with 12 blocks against Miami: “I think it helped us get a relationship started earlier instead of waiting until you got on campus. We were able to connect with each other before we got here and able to hang out and start being friends and build relationships.”
The rest of the roster hails largely from Texas, including Leander (hitter elan McCall), Magnolia (middle Madilyn Cole), Johnson City (defensive specialist Bella Swafford), Georgetown (hitter Calli Novak) and Dripping Springs (hitter Ashley Waggle).
From outside of the state come defensive specialists Dani Dennison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Ashley Wehrstein (Rockford, Ill.), middle Sarah Swanson (Elkhorn, Neb.) and an international player, setter Irem Ucar of Izmir, Turkey.
“I have been playing against most of the freshmen my entire life, all through club ball,” Adams said. “Audrey, Kenzy, Bella, Maddie. Ena and I played club together for three years. I think we all know each others’ strengths and where we can trust each other to get better.”
All 17 players players get the benefit of playing in front of a sold out crowd. For the first time, TCU played to capacity on every home date at the TCU Rec Center, and the school prepared for another on Thursday despite a scheduled 4 p.m. start. The winner meets Georgia Tech in the semifinals, the round TCU reached two years ago.
“The goal was to sell out every Big 12 match when I got here,” Kramer said. “And after we did that for a couple of years we really, really worked to sell out every match. The cool thing is we played more home matches this year than we played any other year. Usually we play between 13 and 15, and this year we played 16, which is a ton.”
What made it happen?
“It’s our marketing department,” Kramer said. “It’s the players that we have who the community wants to connect with and the way they play the game. They are fun to watch.”
And for many around here, familiar.
(TCU Athletics)
