FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Western Carolina volleyball closed out nonconference on Saturday night suffering a 3-0 setback to host TCU at Schollmaier Arena on the campus of host TCU in the final match of the Fight in the Fort. The Horned Frogs won by the scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-17.

WCU finishes nonconference play with a 3-8 mark as TCU climbed to 7-4 with Saturday's result.

Sarah Janourova led the Catamounts with 17 assists while also recording seven digs to her stat line. Bailey Hartsough tallied eight kills and eight digs in the action. Eda Yalcinkaya led WCU with 13 digs. Janelle Blue paced the block with five blocks as Eden Punch tallied four in the contest.

Melanie Parra had a match-high 15 kills along with 11 digs to lead the way for TCU. Jalyn Gibson had 10 kills along with five digs on the defensive end for the hosts. Riley Buckley had a match-best 28 assists along with nine digs for TCU. Cecily Bramschreiber had 12 digs to pace the Horned Frogs on Saturday night.

WCU started quickly with a 5-3 advantage in the opening set before the hosts responded with an 11-1 run to gain the early edge and force a Catamounts timeout. TCU was able to extend the lead scoring five of the next eight points out of the timeout pushing the lead to 19-9. WCU responded with a 6-2 run of its own before the hosts scored four of the final six points to take the set 25-17.  

The start of the second set featured four early ties before TCU used a 5-3 run to grab a 10-8 lead and force a Western Carolina timeout. The Catamounts and Horned Frogs went back and forth once again in the middle portion of set two before TCU scored four of the next five points to extend it to a 16-12 lead. WCU quickly evened the score at 16 before the Horned Frogs pushed it to 22-19 on the heels of a 6-3 run to force a Catamounts timeout. WCU scored two quick points before the Horned Frogs finished the set 25-21.

TCU started the third set quickly scoring eight of the first 11 points to get out to the early lead. The Catamounts answered with back-to-back points before the Horned Frogs scored five of the next six points to push it to a 13-6 lead forcing a Catamount timeout. The hosts pushed it to an eight-point advantage in the later portion of the set before the Catamounts answered with a 6-1 run to cut it to a 19-16 lead for TCU.  The hosts were able to finish the set with a 6-1 run to grab the straight-set win on Saturday night.

The Catamounts return home for their SoCon opener against ETSU set for Thursday Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. WCU concludes the opening weekend of league play the next night at 6 p.m. against Furman. Both matches will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) as both matches will have live stats provided through CatamountSports.com.

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