Box Score
RICHARDSON, TX (09.17.11) - After splitting the first two sets, the UT Dallas volleyball team used a big third-set rally and dominated the fourth set to grab a 3-1 win over East Texas Baptist Saturday in American Southwest Conference play. The Comets downed ETBU, 25-20, 21-25, 26-24, 25-17.
Four Comets reached double-figures kills with
Hillary Baugh and
Halea Williams leading the bunch with 12 kills each.
Dana Hilzendager and
Taylour Toso each added 10 kills for UTD.
Neither team really got off to a hot start, but the Comets (now 5-3, 2-1 ASC) did get 11 digs from junior libero
Amy Gunter to keep momentum in their favorite and pull out the five-point win. UTD scored the first two points of the set and never trailed, leading by as many as seven points, 20-13, before letting the Tigers sneak back. Up 23-20, the Comets got a big block from Hilzendager and
Tabitha Terrell, setting up a kill by Baugh to end the set.
The second set was a different story for the Comets as ETBU (now 2-8, 0-3 AS) hit .343 as a team to pull away with the 25-21 win and even the match, 1-1. The Comets climbed within one point, 19-18, on a kill by Toso, but ETBU ended the stanza on a 6-3 note.
The two teams went back-and-forth in the third set as the squads combined for 34 kills and made just nine errors between them in the 26-24 victory by the Comets. There were 16 ties in the game, the last coming at 24-24, before UTD ended the set on back-to-back kills by Hilzendager and Baugh. Hilzendager and Williams each had five kills in the set.
The Comets stepped up the defense in the fourth and final set, collecting six blocks as a team and forcing seven ETBU hitting errors. UTD hit .366 as a team, earning 17 kills and making just two errors, with Toso leading the way with six kills.
The freshmen setting duo of
Hayden Higgins and
Chelsea McHenry equally controlled the offense Saturday with Higgins ended the match with 28 assists and McHenry had 27 assists. Gunter ended the night with a match-high 19 digs. Williams and Durant both had seven blocks while Hilzendager and
Cassandra Duran each added five blocks.
For ETBU, Stormi Champion had a match-best 13 kills while Kerri Kalina added 10 kills. Breanna Whitaker led the Tigers with 23 assists.
UTD completes its three-game home stand when the Comets host Texas-Tyler Tuesday night. Game time is 7 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.
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