BELTON, TX (09.2.18) - The UT Dallas volleyball team opened up the first American Southwest Conference crossover tournament of the fall Friday with a split against a pair of programs from the league's West Division at the Mayborn Campus Center at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

The Comets (8-5, 3-1 ASC) kicked off the day with a 3-2 loss to host UMHB, but responded with a dominant 3-0 win over Concordia Texas. UTD will close the event at 10 a.m. Saturday against Howard Payne before heading home.

UMHB 3, UTD 2 (20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11)
Lauren Schilling had 14 kills and eight blocks while Jillian Via added 13 kills and 18 digs as the Comets began their three-match weekend with a five-set loss to host UMHB.

The Comets hit .177 as a team and finished with 14 total blocks as the two of the top teams in the ASC squared off in the first match of the weekend. The Cru hit .247 as a squad and had 12 blocks.

UTD to ok the opening set, 25-20, but was edged in the second set, 25-23. The Comets then dominated the third set, grabbing an 18-4 lead before UMHB battled back for a four-point loss, 25-21. The Cru again countered with a 25-22 win in the fourth set and then hit .407 as a team in a 15-11 win in the decisive fifth set.

UTD 3, CTX 0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-7)
The Comets needed just over an hour to complete quick 3-0 sweep of Concordia Texas in their second match of the day.

Via led the Comets with 10 kills along with seven digs while Schilling had nine kills and six blocks in the dominant performance. UTD hit .293 as a team, committing just seven errors over the three sets, and averaged 16.0 digs and 3.0 blocks per set.