Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (10.20.12) - The three seniors on the UT Dallas volleyball team drove the Comets to a 3-1 home win over East Texas Baptist Saturday afternoon as UTD claimed its seventh straight American Southwest Conference East Division title. The Comets downed ETBU, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-16.
The Comets (now 20-4, 13-2 ASC) hold a two-game lead in the East Division chase with just one regular season game remaining after rallying back from a first-set loss to ETBU with three straight wins.
UTD wraps up ASC play Tuesday night when they visit LeTourneau. Game time is 7 p.m. in Longview. The Comets then travel to Georgetown for the Southwestern Halloween Tournament next weekend before claiming one of the top two seeds in the ASC Championship Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 1-3 in Abilene.
On Saturday, seniors
Dana Hilzendager,
Halea Williams and
Amy Gunter were recognized in a pre-match ceremony for Senior Day and all three had a pivotal hand in the Comets' crucial win over ETBU. The Lady Tigers (now 15-8, 12-4 ASC) entered the match in second place in the ASC East and the only team in the division to hand the Comets a loss this season.
Hilzendager led UTD with a match-high 15 kills while Williams just missed a "double-double" with 11 kills and nine blocks, including a school-record tying four solo rejections. Gunter had a match-best 24 digs as UTD's libero.
In the opening set, the Comets hit just .065 with eight errors as they found themselves on the wrong end of a 25-23 decision. UTD never seemed to find its rhythm as the Lady Tigers grabbed a 14-13 advantage on a Kassie Freitag kill and never trailed again in the set. The Comets tied the match at 16-16 and 17-17 but could not get over the hump. Williams and
Taylour Toso each had three kills to lead UTD while freshman setter
Kayla Jordan was limited to just eight assists.
After a back-and-forth start to the second set, the Comets grabbed a 10-7 lead on the service of Gunter. UTD widened its lead to as many as five points three times in the set before the Lady Tigers attempted a late rally. ETBU grabbed its first lead since early stages of the set at 20-19 on a Comet error and then got an ace from Melanie Moyer to give the Lady Tigers a two-point advantage. However, the Comets added kills by
Meredith Crawford, Williams and
Abbie Barth over the next four points to knot the game, 22-22.
Ashley Lyles served the final four points of the match, getting an ace sandwiched between kills by Toso and Barth to lift the Comets to the 25-22 win.
UTD's momentum continued into the third set as the Comets hit .222 as a team. Hilzendager caught fire with six kills while Jordan dished out 13 assists as UTD never trailed in the stanza. The Comets scored the opening point on a solo block by Williams and quickly took a 4-1 lead. Leading 15-11, UTD forced the second timeout by the Tigers and got three blocks late in the match. Williams ended the set with three kills and four blocks in the set as the Comets downed ETBU, 25-19.
In the fourth and final set, the Comets again never trailed as they cruised to a 25-16 win to quiet ETBU. UTD hit .286 as a team, getting four kills from Toso and three each from Hilzendager and Williams to complete the come-from-behind victory. The Comets rolled out to a 5-1 lead, forcing the first ETBU timeout, and then extended its lead to 8-2, forcing the second Lady Tiger timeout, as they controlled the match from the start. UTD again put the Lady Tigers away on the service of Lyles, getting four late points, including an ace, to give the Comets a 23-15 lead. UTD finished the match with back-to-back kills by Williams and Toso.
The Comets have now secured their seventh-straight 20-win season and could still eclipse the school record for wins (25), set in 2009. UTD had 24 wins each of the past two seasons.
