BELTON, TX (11.03.16) - After receiving a first-round bye, the No. 3-ranked UT Dallas volleyball team kicked off the 2016 American Southwest Conference Tournament Thursday night with a 3-0 win over divisional foe East Texas Baptist, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The Comets (now 27-1) will put their 22-match winning streak on the line Friday at 5 p.m. against the winner of Thursday night's match between host Mary Hardin-Baylor and Texas-Tyler. A win in that match and UTD will play for its second straight ASC title at 2 p.m. Saturday, at the Mayborn Event Center.

Senior Abbie Barth collected a match-high 14 kills while freshman Dylan Brinkman added 12 kills in her postseason debut as the Comets would hit .212 as a team against ETBU. Holyn Handley finished with eight kills after a very hot start and Michelle Toro had seven kills.

Barth and Handley got things started in the opening set with six and five kills, respectively, as the Comets held off ETBU for a 25-19 win. UTD hit .269 in the opening set, getting three blocks and a pair of aces to take a 1-0 lead.

Barth and Brinkman each knocked down four kills in the second set as UTD grabbed a 2-0 lead on the Tigers after another 25-19 victory. The Comets collected three more blocks and got five digs each from Brinkman and Barth while hitting .271 as a squad.

The Tigers (now 16-12) took early control of the third set before UTD would complete the sweep with a 25-18 win. The Comets regained control with four blocks and five kills from Brinkman to move on into the winner's bracket.

Brinkman led UTD with 13 digs while libero Briana Tully finished with 12 digs. Caroline Shecterle dished out 23 assists while Fayna Zeng had 21 assists. The Comets finished with 10 total blocks, getting five each from Brinkman, Handley and Emma Wallbrown.

For ETBU, Mallory Sanders finished with nine kills and Sydney Lopez had seven kills. The Tigers will play at 12 p.m. Friday in an elimination match against Howard Payne.