ASC Championship Tournament Central

RICHARDSON, Texas - The UT Dallas volleyball team will play for the program's eighth American Southwest Conference championship Saturday when they face East Texas Baptist in the finals of the ASC Championship Tournament at 2 p.m. inside the UTD Activity Center.

The Comets (19-6) will play in their 13th overall final and ninth in a row, having battled Mary Hardin-Baylor in the previous eight title matches, dating back to 2014. The regular season champions punched their spot with a 25-15, 22-15, 25-22, 25-15 win over fifth-seeded Hardin-Simmons (14-10) Friday night.

After splitting the first two sets, the Comets took control by hitting .244 on 15 kills in the third. They limited the Cowgirls to just a .021 hitting percentage in the final and deciding set to earn another trip to finals.

For the match, UTD hit .181 on 50 kills, eight aces, eight blocks and 95 digs. HSU hit .116 with 45 kills, four aces, six blocks and 98 digs.

UT Dallas Notes
- Freshman middle blocker Lauren Johnson hit a season-best .333 on six kills and tied her season-high of six blocks.
- Senior outside hitter Abby Jones recorded 11 kills and 18 digs to go with a career-high four aces. She also tied for ninth place on the Comet career kills list at 1,106.
- Senior Madison Ball also had a double-double of 11 kills and 26 digs.
- Junior libero Rachel Baxter came up with 24 digs.
- Junior setter Emma Sevening recorded 24 assists and 11 digs. Izzy Sundquist added 20 assists.
- Freshman right side Gabi Engels and senior middle blocker Karle Lynd connected on seven kills each.
- Senior Catherine Croft had eight kills and five blocks.

Hardin-Simmons Notes
- Aubree McCann paced the Cowgirls with 19 kills to go with 20 digs.
- Ari Villaneuva had 23 digs.
- Setter Hannah Huckabee recorded 21 digs and seven assists.

Up Next
- The Comets will try to repeat as ASC champions at 2 p.m. Saturday against East Texas Baptist.