RICHARDSON, TX (10.01.19) - The UT Dallas volleyball team rolled off its ninth straight victory Tuesday night as the Comets earned a 3-1 home win over Austin College in non-conference play.
With the win, the Comets improved to 12-3 overall and will return to American Southwest Conference action Friday night as they host Louisiana College in the second of five straight home matches. Match time is 6 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.
UTD exploded for a dominant 25-12 win in the opening set behind the swing of freshman
Catherine Croft. Croft had five kills, in addition to a squad-best eight digs, in the opening stanza as the Comets hit .298 as a team in the lop-sided victory.
Madison Ball,
Madeleine McCall and
Jillian Via each added three kills.
The Comets cooled off slightly in the second set, hitting just .190, but managed to hold off Austin College for a 25-18 win to grab a 2-0 match lead. UTD managed just 11 kills in the set with McCall leading a balanced attack with three kills of her own. The Comets would pick up eight points at the net as
Lauren Schilling lead the wall with five blocks in the set.
UTD would grab multiple six-point leads in the third set before the 'Roos rallied for an extended 27-25 win in the third frame. The Comets fought off a pair of set points before the 'Roos could string together back-to-back points to force a fourth set. UTD hit just .052 for the set as a team, suffering from 10 hitting errors. The Comets would extend rallies throughout the set, finish the stanza with 33 digs.
The Comets regained momentum by way of the serve in the fourth set, using seven aces to roll to a 25-13 win in the deciding frame. Jillian Vai had five aces during a stretch of 11 straight points for the Comets as UTD turned a 10-9 deficit into a 20-10 advantage midway through the set.
Sydney Fitt and Croft each added an ace as the Comets needed to hit just .158 in the set.
Croft finished the night with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .229, while McCall had 10 kills. Via and Schilling each finished with seven kills. Schilling had eight blocks in the match and Via collected a match-high 25 digs. Via ended the match with six aces while Fitt had five and Croft two.
