ST. LOUIS, MO (10.21.16) - The No. 8-ranked UT Dallas volleyball team earned two four-set wins Friday to open the Active Ankle Invite, including one of the biggest victories in program history.

The Comets (now 22-1) opened up the weekend with a 3-1 win over Bowdoin (ME) before downing No. 17-ranked tournament host Washington-St. Louis in four sets. UTD returns to the floor Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against No. 3-ranked Wittenberg as the Comets look for their 18th straight win.

MATCH 1 - UTD 3, Bowdoin 1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20)
UTD's only match of the weekend against a team not ranked nationally was a tough test as Bowdoin forced the Comets to four sets before UTD could opened the tournament with a victory.

The Comets stormed to a 25-16 win in the first set against the Polar Bears, but watched a late five-point lead turn into a 25-23 loss in the second set as Bowdoin ended the stanza with seven straight points. UTD rallied for a 25-22 win in the third set before finishing the win with a 25-20 decision.

Abbie Barth led the the Comets with 14 kills while adding 26 digs and a block while Emma Wallbrown finished with 11 kills and four blocks. Michelle Toro had seven kills and six total blocks in the four-set victory.

The Comets hit .250 as a team in the opening set, committing just four errors, but ended the match at .142 as Bowdoin adjusted to the UTD offensive attack. Caroline Shecterle would finish the match with 31 assists while Fayna Zeng added 18 assists as the duo again shared duties. Libero Briana Tully led five Comets in double digits with a match-high 30 digs.

MATCH 2 - UTD 3, Washington-St. Louis 1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15)
The undersized Comets made up for it with defense as UTD earned its first win over a nationally ranked team since the 2014 season in a 3-1 win over Washington-St. Louis. UTD's 17th consecutive victory did not come easy as the first three sets were all won in come-from-behind fashion.

Toro led the Comets with 19 kills and a .389 hitting percentage as she was nearly unstoppable by a Bears front line which contained multiple players over six feet tall. Toro finished with three blocks and three digs as she led three Comets in double-digit kills in the victory.

UTD trailed the host Bears, 21-20, in the opening set before rolling off five straight points to take a 1-0 lead. The Comets got a kill from Wallbrown to take a 23-21 lead, forcing a WashU timeout. UTD then ended the set with kills by Wallbrown and Holyn Handley. However, the second set saw the Comets hold a 19-18 lead late before WashU finished strong to even the match, 1-1.

The Bears continued their momentum into the third set, taking a 4-1, lead before UTD regained its composure. Toro collected back-to-back kills to cap an 8-0 to lift the Comets to a 10-5 advantage. WashU would climb back within two points on three occasions, the last at 21-19, before the Comets secured a 2-1 lead. The Comets would never trail in the fourth set as UTD capped the wrapped up the victory by hitting .419 as a team in the 10-point win.

Dylan Brinkman finished with 17 kills and Barth had 10 kills and 13 digs. Wallbrown added six kills and a team-high four blocks while Brinkman led UTD with 14 digs. Zeng and Shecterle each finished with 25 assists.

The Bears (now 16-9) out-blocked UTD, 10-5.