ASC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
BELTON, TX (11.07.14) - Despite a furious rally to force a fifth set, the UT Dallas volleyball team was handed a 3-2 loss by host and top-seeded Mary Hardin-Baylor in a winner's bracket match at the American Southwest Conference Tournament Friday afternoon.
The Comets (now 21-10) dropped the opening two sets, 25-23 and 25-18, before fighting off three match points by UMHB in the third set en route to a 30-28 win. UTD then sailed to a 25-22 win in the fourth set, only to fall, 15-9, in the fifth and final stanza.
The path to a third ASC title got a little more difficult with the loss to the Cru as UTD will now have to win three matches Saturday to earn the crown. The Comets' long day will begin at 12 p.m. in an elimination match against on of the two teams they already defeated, East Texas Baptist or Hardin-Simmons. Those two teams are playing Friday night to remain alive. With a win in that match, UTD would then need to knock off Mary Hardin-Baylor twice in the double-elimination format.
UTD entered the match with the Cru on a 27-set conference winning streak, but that run was ended as UMHB held the Comets to a .051 hitting percentage in the opening set to set an early tone for the match. UMHB then took a dominant 2-0 lead after hitting .231 en route to a seven-point win in the second set.
The Comets used a 6-1 run late in the third set to seemingly turn the tide, but UMHB rallied back to knot the set, 25-25, and eventually earn three match points before UTD bounced back. The Comets trailed 26-25, 27-26 and 28-27 before scoring the final three points of the set to cut UMHB's lead to 2-1.
Taylour Toso knotted the set, 28-28, with a kill and a solo block by
Holyn Handley sent the match to a fourth set.
After a back-and-forth start to the fourth set, the Comets gained a five-point lead, 13-8, on a
Michelle Toro. UTD extended its lead to as many as seven points in the set at 22-51, before the Cru tried to the end match. UMHB rallied within two points, 24-22, before giving UTD the set on a service error.
However, the Comets' momentum did not carry over into the final set, hitting just .033 as a team, committing seven errors in the 15-9 defeat. UTD never led in the final stanza, falling behind by four points at 9-5 and never regaining composure.
Meredith Crawford led the match with 20 kills while Handley finished with 16 kills and Toso had 13 kills.
Kayla Jordan ended the marathon with 57 assists (11.4 per set) while Crawford had a team-high 30 digs. The Comets finished with eight total blocks, compared to 16 by the host Cru.
