RICHARDSON, TX (09.29.15) - In its first home match in nearly a month, the UT Dallas volleyball team battled rival Texas-Tyler in five sets Tuesday night in American Southwest Conference East Division play. The Comets held off UTT, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 15-25, 15-9, for their seventh consecutive victory.
Tuesday night's match had extra significance for the Comets (now 14-2, 5-0 ASC) as UTD hosted its soon-to-be annual "Gold Out" in honor Childhood Cancer Awareness. On hand for the match was the Comets' teammate from Friends of Jaclyn, five-year-old Kaitlyn Renee Johnson (pictured above). The Comets wore special gold warm-ups and socks to honor Johnson's fight against Leukemia and Johnson's cheer team performed during the intermission.
Juniors
Michelle Toro and
Holyn Handley each finished with 16 kills, leading four UTD players in double digits.
Abbie Barth ended the marathon match with 14 kills while
Kristyn Schott had 11 kills. Senior setter
Kayla Jordan, the NCAA Division III assists leader, collected 54 assists, nearly 11 per set, while Barth had a match-high 28 digs.
The Comets stormed out of the gate in the opening set, hitting .372 as a team, committing just two errors in 43 swings. Toro finished with six kills in the set while Handley added five kills in a 25-16 win. However, the second set was a different story as UTD cooled off to a .104 hitting percentage as the Comets did not appear as sharp. The Patriots, hitting just .115 in the set, took advantage of three late service errors, in a 25-23 win.
UTD returned to right side of the court for set three and again found its rhythm, hitting .389 as a team with Toro collecting five kills and Handley and Barth each pitching in four kills in a 25-17 victory. But, again the Patriots rallied and actually dominated the fourth with a lop-sided 25-15 win, in a set where UTD hit .088.
A fired-up Comet team returned to the floor for the fifth set with exuberance, hitting .688 in the deciding stanza. UTD collected 12 kills and made just one error in 16 swings en route to a quick 15-9 decision. Barth had four kills in the final set to spark Comet finish.
Next up for UTD is a pair of ASC East road games. The Comets will face LeTourneau Friday at 7 p.m. before visiting new ASC member Belhaven at 1 p.m. Sunday.
