MARSHALL, TX (10.07.14) - In a battle with one of the American Southwest Conference's hottest teams, the UT Dallas volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 start, but saw its  comeback come up short in a 3-2 road loss at East Texas Baptist Tuesday night.
 After bouncing back with a pair of wins to force a fifth and deciding set, the Comets let a lead slip away late in the final set and fell, 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 12-15, to the Lady Tigers.
The loss was the fourth straight for UTD (now 11-8 overall), which fell to 5-4 in conference play. ETBU (10-8 overall), which has now won eight straight matches after starting the season 2-8, improved to 8-1 in the ASC. The Comets have dropped six of their last seven matches.
Down 2-0 moving to the third set, UTD battled to pull out 25-20 wins in both the third and fourth sets, and had all the momentum jumping out to an 8-4 lead in the final set. But after the two teams switched sides of the court, the Lady Tigers scored six of the next seven points to take a 10-9 lead. The Comets tied the score at 10-10, and were within a point at 12-11 before ETBU finished the match, scoring three of the final four points.
UTD got double-digit kills from
Meredith Crawford (14),
Michelle Toro (12) and
Samantha Schwenke (10), but hit just .179 as a team in the match. ETBU, which was held to a .208 hitting percentage, still won the battle at the net, posting 15 blocks to UTD's 8.
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MICHELLE TOROThe Comets opened the night flat, falling behind 9-2 in the opening set before cutting the margin down to two at 21-19. ETBU finished off Set 1 with a 25-21 win.
In the second set, UTD again fell into an early hole and was forced to rally. The Comets cut the lead down to three twice - at 16-13 and 24-21 - but ETBU was able to polish off the set for a 2-0 lead.
In the critical third set, UTD responded in a battle that included 14 ties and seven lead changes before emerging with a 25-20 win. In the fourth set, the Comets took command early and led 18-10 before ETBU stormed back to get to within 19-17. UTD finished on a 6-3 run, though, to force the final set.
The Comets will try to halt their skid with two home matches this weekend. UTD hosts Howard Payne Friday night at 7 pm, and Hardin-Simmons Saturday at 2 pm.
