BELTON, TX (11.05.16) - Since the American Southwest Conference went to a double-elimination format in 2011, no team had ever advanced from the loser's bracket to claim the league title...until Saturday night when the No. 3-ranked UT Dallas volleyball team battled host Mary Hardin-Baylor to a 3-2 win in the championship match to clinch the Comets' second straight championship.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The Comets (now 30-2) secured its third 30-win by matching West Division champion UMHB blow-for-blow in Saturday's title match, ending the weekend with a 21-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-19, 15-12, over the Cru for UTD's fourth-ever ASC crown. UTD forced the tournament's "if necessary" match with a sweep of the Cru, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, earlier in the day after battling through another elimination match earlier in the day against East Texas Baptist. In total, UTD played 11 sets of volleyball on the tournament's final day to win the crown.

Senior outside hitter Holyn Handley (See VIDEO POSTGAME INTERVIEW ) was tabbed the ASC Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player while senior middle blocker Michelle Toro and freshman setter Caroline Shecterle joined Handley on the ASC All-Tournament Team.

With the win, UTD earned the ASC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship and will learn its opening round location and opponent at 11:30 a.m. Monday. Follow the selection show at www.ncaa.com.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - UTD 3, UMHB 2
In a back-and-forth affair, the Comets dropped the opening set to UMHB, 25-21, before taking a dominant 25-13 win in the second set to even the match, 1-1. The Cru answered with 25-22 win in the third set before UTD again tied the match, 2-2, with a 25-19 decision in the fourth stanza and forced a deciding fifth set.

The Comets opened the fifth set on a 6-0 run, but UMHB would not roll over as the Cru clawed back within a point at 11-10 after a block. Handley put the Comets back up by two, 12-10, with a kill, but UMHB rolled off back-to-back points to knot the score at 12-12, on an Abby Voskuil service ace. A Cru error would give the Comets back a slim lead, 13-12, before freshman Dylan Brinkman ended the tournament with back-to-back kills.

Brinkman would lead the Comets in the title match with 18 kills, adding 18 digs and four aces. Handley added 13 kills with three blocks while Emma Wallbrown had 11 kills and five blocks. UTD finished the match with 11 blocks and six aces.

UTD 3, UMHB 0
After a midday win over ETBU, the Comets still had to defeat the Cru twice to claim the title, and they started with a quick. 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, decision over UMHB, avenging a five-set loss to the Cru Friday night, setting up a winner-take-all contest.

Handley set a new program record for kills in a three-set match as the Grapevine native accounted for 22 kills in the short win over UMHB. Handley committed just two errors in 46 swings for a a .436 hitting percentage and added five blocks to keep UTD's title hopes alive.

Brinkman rounded out the Comets in double-digit kills with 12 while setter Caroline Shecterle had 31 assists (10.3 per set) in UTD's 6-2 offense. Libero Briana Tully had a match-high 23 digs to lead four UTD players in double figures.