SAN ANTONIO, TX (09.07.18) - The UT Dallas volleyball team returned to the court Friday afternoon and split a pair of matches to open the Trinity Fall Classic Volleyball Tournament.
The Comets (3-1) opened the day with a 3-1 loss to defending NCAA Division III National Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, but bounced back for a 3-0 sweep of in-state foe Texas Lutheran.
UT Dallas will play two matches Saturday afternoon to close out the weekend trip. The Comets will face La Verne at 12:45 p.m. Saturday before wrapping up the event at 5:15 p.m. against No. 5 Trinity.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. C-M-S
- UTD fell behind C-M-S early with a 25-23 loss to the No. 4-ranked Athenas, but rallied for a solid 25-18 win in the second set to even the match. However, C-M-S snagged two close wins late, 26-24 and 25-22, to secure the four-set victory and improve to 4-1 on the young season.
- Lauren Schilling led the Comets with 10 kills, along with seven blocks, while Dylan Brinkman had nine kills. Jillian Via, the reigning American Southwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week, finished with eight kills and a match-high 14 digs.
- The Comets hit .220 as a team in the opening set and took a 22-21 lead late on C-M-S, only to watch the Athenas end the set on a 4-1 run. Alex Nolan led UTD with five kills and four digs in the set.
- UTD hit just .184 in the second set, but never trailed the Athenas after taking the first four points of the stanza. Via and Schilling each had three kills to lead the Comets.
- The Comets struggled offensively in the third set, hitting just .028, and hit just .029 in the fourth set, as C-M-S pulled away for the victory. UTD had five blocks in the third set to remain close with the Athenas before C-M-S ended the set on a block and a kill.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. TLU
- Brinkman led the Comets with 10 kills adn 18 digs while Schilling pitched in six kills and a pair of blocks in the quick three-set match.
- UTD hit .198 as a team in the match, hitting an impressive .308 in the opening set, a 25-10 victory.
- The Comets hit .130 in the second set and .208 in the third set, both 25-17 wins.