ASC Tournament Central

RICHARDON, Texas– The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team earned its third consecutive Runner-Up title at the 2017 American Southwest Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament.
 
UMHB opened the day with a semifinal win over Concordia University Texas. The win advanced the Cru to the first championship match of the day where they defeated UT Dallas 3-2. The UMHB win forced an if-needed match in the tournament's double-elimination format. The Comets beat UMHB 3-0 in that match to secure their third consecutive championship.  
 
UMHB took a 3-1 win over Concordia Texas to open the day. The Cru earned back-to-back 25-20, 25-16 wins over the Tornados before falling 28-26 in the third set. UMHB responded with a commanding 25-13 win to advance to the championship match. Sarah Paolini led the Cru with 15 kills followed by Corinne Novak with 14 and Miranda Klein with 11. UMHB hit .272 in the match, led by Natasha Evans with 37 assists. Defensively, Natasha Evans led with 23 digs while Madison Welch added 11 and Klein had 10. UMHB totaled 55 kills on 136 attacks, adding 64 digs and six team blocks. Marissa Stinson led Concordia Texas with 13 kills while Georgia Quiroz had 17 digs. Concordia Texas totaled 46 kills on 158 total attacks for a .095 average, adding 58 digs and four team blocks.
 
In the first championship match against UT Dallas, UMHB fell 25-15 in the first set before rallying a come-from-behind 26-24 victory in the second. The Comets flipped the script in the third set taking that 26-24 before UMHB earned 25-15, 15-11 set victories for the 3-2 win. Novak and Paolini led the Cru with 16 kills each followed by in and Maddie Frerich with 13 each. UMHB hit 67 kills on 183 attacks for a .224 percentage. Natasha Evans led all athletes with 50 assists. Haleigh Evans was the dig leader with 28 followed by Klein with 24 and Natasha Evans with 21. Paolini led defensive efforts at the net with five solo blocks en route to a team-total of eight. Alana Geymer and Emma Wallbrown led the Comets with 14 kills each. UT Dallas hit 61 kills on 209 attempts for a .182 percentage, adding 84 digs and eight team blocks.
 
The Comets took a commanding lead in the if-needed match, beating the Cru in straight 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 sets. Klein and Frerich led the Cru with seven kills each while Novak, Paolini and Welch each added six. Natasha Evans recorded 28 assists as UMHB hit .149 in the contest. Novak and Natasha Evans led with 11 digs each while Paolini and Klein each had five blocks. UMHB totaled 34 kills on 114 attacks, adding 55 digs and seven team blocks. Wallbrown was the leader for the Comets with 17 kills. UT Dallas hit a team-total 47 kills on 132 attacks with 56 digs and nine team blocks.
 
Natasha Evans and Corinne Novak took home ASC All-Tournament Team honors for their performances. With the championship, UT Dallas earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship Tournament. The Selection Show airs Monday, November 6^th at 11:30 a.m. on NCAA.com. UMHB ends their season at 28-5, the second highest win total in Division III program history. The Cru set new team season records in kills per set (13.48) and hitting percentage (.248) while Sarah Paolini set a new record in hitting percentage in a season (.373).