BELTON, Texas   – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team earned a pair of wins in the opening day of the 2018 American Southwest Conference Crossover Friday in Belton. UMHB opened with a 3-2 win over UT Dallas and closed with a 3-0 sweep of Belhaven.  
 
UMHB and the Comets exchanged set wins in the first match with UTD earning a 25-20 win and UMHB evening the match with a 25-23 second set. The Cru trailed 18-4 in the third but rallied to pull within four and carried momentum into the fourth and fifth to take the match. Miranda Klein led the Cru with a triple double, hitting 18 kills and 20 assists with 22 digs. Corinne Novak added 16 kills for the Cru, Cory Jo Martin led with 52 assists and Martin and Haleigh Evans each added 20 digs. UMHB hit .247 in the match, slamming 74 kills on 194 attacks. The Cru totaled 12 team blocks in the contest, led by Sarah Paolini, Klein and Hope Hoelscher with five each.
 
The Cru opened the second match of the day with a 7-0 run to take a 10-4 lead in the first. UMHB won that set 25-12 and then took the second 25-16. UMHB trailed early in the third but rallied for a nine-point run to take a 17-6 lead, ending the match with a 25-8 third-set victory. Jenna Gillean led the Cru with nine kills while Novak added seven. UMHB hit .338 with 34 kills. Martin was the leader in assists with 26. Defensively, Gillean had nine digs while Adrien Valdez added eight. Hoelscher was the leader at the net, going up for seven blocks.
 
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, September 22^nd in a 2 p.m. match against Louisiana College at the Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.