BELTON, TX (11.04.16) - The No. 3-ranked UT Dallas volleyball team suffered just its second loss of the season Friday night as the Comets fell to tournament host Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-2, in the semifinals of the American Southwest Conference Tournament, held at the Mayborn Event Center. The West Division Cru outlasted UTD, 25-20, 23-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-11, to snap the Comets' 22-match winning streak.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The Comets (now 27-2) will face an elimination match at 11 a.m. Saturday against an East Texas Baptist. A win over the Tigers would send UTD to the ASC title match, where the Comets would have to knock off UMHB twice for a second straight conference crown.

Senior Holyn Handley collected a career-high 27 kills, hitting .267, while adding five blocks and four digs for the Comets against UMHB. Michelle Toro finished with 15 kills while Dylan Brinkman had 11 kills and Abbie Barth added 10 kills to round our four Comets in double figures.

The Cru (now 20-9) opened the match with a 25-20 decision, hitting .273 as a team, to take a 1-0 lead. Handley picked up five kills while Toro added four kills, but it was not enough as the Comets hit just.170 as a team in the defeat.

UTD rallied for a 25-23 win in the second set to even the match, 1-1. Barth led the Comets with five kills while Handley and Brinkman each contributed four kills as UTD found its rhythm with a .326 hitting percentage in the stanza.

The Comets were en route to a 2-1 lead with late 19-16 lead over UMHB in the third set, but could not hold the lead and win the set. The Cru hit just .195 as a team in the third set, but UTD managed just a .153 team hitting percentage. Handley led the Comets with eight kills in the set.

With their backs against the wall, the Comets would manage a 25-22 win in the fourth set to force the teams' first five-set contest of the season. Handley had six kills while Toro and Emma Wallbrown each contributed five kills as UTD won the set despite hitting just .081 as a team.

After the two teams traded leads early in the fifth set, the Comets would grab a two-point advantage at 8-6 after a Brinkman service ace. However, the Cru got back-to-back kills by Sarah Paolini to take back a 9-8 lead and would not trail again in the set. Handley again led UTD with four kills.

Brinkman finished with a team-high 28 digs while libero Briana Tully had 27 digs and Barth added 21 digs as three Comets topped 20 digs. UTD ended with 11 blocks, getting a team-high six from Wallbrown.