RICHARDSON, Texas - The UT Dallas volleyball team dropped its 2023 home-opener in five sets to St. Thomas (Texas) at the UTD Activity Center Tuesday night. The visiting Celts (3-0) pulled out the win from the Comets (0-4) 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 25-27, 15-11.

After exchanging fairly easy wins in the first two sets, the third set proved to be pivotal, with UST holding off UTD 25-21. The fourth set saw 12 ties and six lead changes. The Comets held off match point with a kill from Lauren Johnson to tie the set 25-25. A kill from Sydney Sabin and another from Erin Rogers ended the frame 27-25 and knotted the contest at two sets apiece. UTD held a 10-9 lead in the final game, before the Celts ended the night with 6-1 run.

For the match, the Comets hit .141 with 62 kills, nine aces, 100 digs and four blocks. The Celts hit .158 with 53 kills, six aces, 94 digs and two blocks.

UT Dallas Notes
- Freshman Bailey Schievelbein recorded her second double-double of the season with 18 kills and 17 digs while serving four aces.
- Senior outside hitter Erin Rogers recorded a career-high 16 kills and came up with seven digs.
- Johnson finished with seven kills and two blocks in the middle.
- Emma Sevening also had a double-double with 26 assists and 15 digs.
- Freshman setter Sydney Sabin posted the first double-double of her collegiate career with 23 assists and 13 digs.
- Freshman libero Mari Hernandez led all players with 28 digs.
- Senior Rachel Baxter chipped in 10 digs as well.

St. Thomas Notes
- Audrey Cataline led the Celts with 18 kills and had 17 digs.
- Brenna Groenemann hit .500 with nine kills.
- Libero Kara Spice posted 27 digs.
- Setter Kendall Howard had 23 assists and 11 digs, while Mia Medina finished with 18 assists and 11 digs.
- Ally Peters added 12 digs.

Up Next
The Comets will host East Texas Baptist on Tuesday, September 12 at 6 p.m. in their American Southwest Conference opener.