BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team fought back from a two-set deficit to force a five-set match with UT Dallas Friday evening in Belton. The Cru rallied but fell by two points to the Comets, sufferings its first loss of the season.  UMHB fell to 21-1 overall and 15-1 in American Southwest Conference action while the Comets improved to 13-9 overall and 11-4 in league play.
 
UT Dallas used a pair of 3-0 runs late in the first set to earn a 25-22 win. UMHB won the first point of the second set but found themselves trailing early. The match tied at 16 before the Comets outscored the Cru 9-3 to take the set 25-19. UMHB rallied in the third, taking a seven-point lead and cruising to a 25-19 third-set win. UMHB took the fourth set in similar fashion using a 10-4 run to close the set and win 25-19. UMHB led early in the fifth but the Comets tied the match at two. The fifth set saw 10 tied scores up until the 14-14 point when the Comets sealed the win off a UMHB attack error and a kill from Madison Ball.
 
"I am pleased with absolutely everything except the outcome," Head Coach Mark Pryor said. "We didn't play well in the first two sets, but we decided we wanted to fight and we forced five. We had a chance we just didn't put it away."
 
Kayla Janikula led the Cru offensively, hitting .485 with 17 kills. Hannah Frasca added 16 kills while Kylie Metcalf recorded 10. UMHB hit 59 kills on 176 attacks in the match with Alli Pierce totaling 48 assists. Defensively, Maddie Gillispie totaled 28 digs followed by Frasca with 20. Metcalf led UMHB's defense at the net, totaling five blocks while Sarah Grace Merry added three.
 
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, October 23^rd in a 2 p.m. match against LeTourneau University at the Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.