RICHARDSON, TX (10.12.19) - The UT Dallas volleyball team locked up a postseason berth for the 16th consecutive season Saturday afternoon, rallying from behind for a 3-2 home win over East Texas Baptist in American Southwest Conference East Division play.

The Comets improved to 16-3 overall after their 13th straight victory and remain atop the ASC East standings with a 9-0 league mark . UTD now needs just two wins in its remaining five conference matches to secure the East Division top seed and the right to host the ASC Tournament, slated for Nov. 7-9.

UTD opened the afternoon by celebrating the 2019 senior class, with five members of the squad along with their families being recognized in a pre-match ceremony. However, the Comets lost any hope of celebrating Senior Day with a sweep after falling to ETBU, 25-22, in the opening set. UTD answered with a 25-19 win in the second set, but fell to the Tigers, 25-13, in the third stanza. The Comets rallied again for a 25-16 win in the fourth set and then held off ETBU, 15-10, in the decisive fifth set.

Senior Jillian Via led the Comets with 14 kills, hitting .163, adding 13 digs, five aces and three blocks in a strong all-around performance. Allison Owen added 31 kills while Catherine Croft had 12 kills. The Comets hit just .155 as a team in the win, compared to .181 by ETBU, but finished with 11 service aces.

UTD hit just .167 in the opening set as the visiting Tigers (11-9, 4-5 ASC) opened the mach with a close win. Croft had five of kills in the opening stanza while Via had four kills in the set. The Comets then used a balanced scoring attack in the second set to even the match, 1-1, after jumping out to an early 18-9 lead. No UTD player had more than three kills as the Comets held ETBU to an .000 team hitting percentage.

The Tigers responded with their best set of the afternoon in the third, hitting .375, compared to .000 by UTD. This time, it was ETBU that raced out to an 18-9 lead. Owen led the Comets with four kills, picking up the first three points of the set for UTD, but the home team would only manage nine kills in the set.

The Comets rallied with a .345 team hitting percentage in the fourth set, getting five kills from Owen and three from Via in building an early lead and then scoring six of the last seven points after the Tigers had cut the lead to three.

In the fifth, the Comets jumped out a quick 4-0 advantage to force an ETBU timeout. After holding off a Tiger rally, UTD would regain a four-point lead at 7-3 and never looked back. ETBU drew within three points, 13-10, on a Comet error, but UTD would close the victory with a Tiger service error and a Sydney Fitt ace.

The Comets will travel to Austin next weekend for the second of two ASC Crossover Tournaments this season. UTD will face ASC West leader Mary Hardin-Baylor at 5 p.m. before squaring off with host Concordia Texas and Howard Payne Saturday.