RICHARDSON, TX (10.15.16) - The 9th-ranked UT Dallas volleyball team kept its 2016 American Southwest Conference record unblemished Saturday, holding off a pair of West Division heavyweights in Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor.

The Comets (now 19-1, 10-0 ASC) opened the second day of the ASC Crossover Tournament with a 3-0 win over HSU before collecting yet another sweep over UMHB later in the evening. UTD has now won 14 consecutive matches and 28 straight regular-season league matches, dating back to the 2014 season. The Comets have now lost just one set during its 10-0 run to open ASC play this season.

MATCH 1 - UTD 3, HSU 0
During the hard-fought 25-17, 25-22, 30-28 win over the Cowgirls (11-9, 7-4 ASC), senior Michelle Toro became UTD's all-time leader in blocks after stopping five HSU attacks. She passed former Comet Halea Williams' record of 375.

Neither team hit particularly well (.129-.041 in UTD's favor), thanks to a combined 37 blocks between the two teams. The Comets were credited with 24 blocks in the three-set win along with 50 digs. Emma Wellbrown assisted Toro in padding those stats with nine solo blocks. Briana Tully led the team with 11 digs.

Freshman Dylan Brinkman continued her late-season run as an offensive force, leading the team with 13 kills as UTD edged HSU, 41-35, in that category. Toro picked up nine while Holyn Handley had eight.

After an uneventful 25-17 win in the first set, the Comets jumped out to a big lead in Set 2 before HSU stormed back to tie the score at 19-19. The Comets, however, finished off a 7-3 run to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-22 victory. The third set, however, was anything but uneventful. UTD got off to another hot start, but the Cowgirls fought back to tie the score at 15-15. The score was knotted eight more times before the set was decided with both teams holding set point twice before the Comets got the final two points.

MATCH 2 - UTD 3, UMHB 0
Brinkman continued with the hot hand against the Cru (16-6, 10-3) as she collected 18 kills in the match, one shy of UTD's three-set record. Brinkman hit .308 and added nine digs, a block and an ace for the Comets.

UTD hit .263 as a team against the Cru with Toro added 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage, in addition to another block. Toro now has 377 career blocks in her four years with the program as she continued to add to her record set earlier in the day.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first set as UTD managed a 25-19 win, but Comets heated up in the second set en route to a 25-15 victory to grab a 2-0 advantage. UTD hit .378 as a team in the second set to take control of the match. The Cru made UTD fight for the sweep as the guests hit .300 in the third stanza but the Comets were able to hold on for a 25-23 win to seal the victory.