RICHARDSON, TX - The Texas-Dallas volleyball team secured its sixth straight American Southwest Conference East Division title Friday night as the Comets cruised to a three-set home win over Mississippi College. UTD downed the Lady Choctaws, 25-11, 25-16, 25-13, in a match that lasted under an hour.

The win not only locked up the division title, but also gave the Comets the right to host the ASC Tournament, Nov. 3-5. This will mark the third time UTD has hosted the event, also serving as host in 2007 and 2009. The Comets won the tournament in 2009 and fell in the semifinals in 2007.
The Comets (now 19-4, 14-2 ASC East) hit .422 as a team against MC as nine different UTD players recorded at least one kill in the sweep. Dana Hilzendager led the way with 12 kills while Halea Williams had eight kills and Hillary Baugh had seven kills. Setter Hayden Higgins ended the night with 21 assists while fellow freshman Chelsea McHenry added 13 assists.

UTD jumped out early lead after hitting .423 in the opening set for a dominant 25-11 win. Williams, Christina Murphy and Taylour Toso each had three kills in the set while the Comets held MC to an -.179 hitting percentage as a team.

The Comets cooled off a bit in the second set, hitting just .250, but Hilzendager stepped up for five kills with an .833 hitting percentage to boost UTD to the 25-16 win. Tabitha Terrell added four kills in the set while adding a pair of blocks.

In the third and final set, the Comets finished strong as they hit .640 as a team. Hilzendager again had five kills while WIlliams added four kills in the 25-13 win.

The Choctaws dropped to 8-18 overall and 5-11 in ASC East play with the loss. Nicole Horton led the Lady Choctaws with five kills.

UTD returns to action Saturday afternoon for the final home match of the regular season. The Comets host Centenary at 2 p.m. at UTD Activity Center.

-Courtesy University of Texas at Dallas Sports Information Department