UT Dallas volleyball coach Marci Sanders set a goal of winning an American Southwest Conference championship within five years when she began the Comets program in 2004. With the end of that fifth season winding down, Sanders and her Comets finally realized their goal.
The Comets rallied after losing the first set to East Texas Baptist University to take the next three sets and win the ASC Championship Tournament title game on Saturday afternoon in Seguin, Texas.
The win gives UT Dallas its first volleyball championship in program history and the University Athletic Department its sixth league championship in the last seven years.
The Comets also claim the ASC’s automatic berth into the 2008 NCAA Division III national tournament, which begins with regional tournaments next weekend.
After struggling in the first set, UT Dallas turned the tide on in the second and third sets, dominating their East Division rivals with 25-12 and 25-16 wins.
In the fourth set, the score was tied at 24-24, ETBU played a shot from Jessica Nassau that was seemingly heading out of bounds, and the return went outside of the pole for a Comet one-point advantage. UT Dallas then got the match winner when ETBU tried to return a hard shot from the Comets’ Pattie Allen and hit the ball into the net.
UTD got a heroic effort from junior Kyleigh Irish, who as named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Irish, who had been injured the previous two weeks and sat out the first set, came in to start the second set.
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