UMHB Claims Fourth Volleyball Championship

BELTON, TX – Mary Hardin-Baylor captured the 2020-21 American Southwest Conference Volleyball Championship on its home court Saturday, defeating UT Dallas 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 at the Mayborn Campus Center it win its fourth title.

The No. 8 Cru (16-2) also won the championship in 1998, 2014 and 2018.

UMHB trailed by five early in the first set but fought back to tie the set at 13-13. The set went back-and-forth but UMHB used a 5-0 to close the set with a 25-20 win. The second set played closely with UMHB edging the Comets through the final points. UMHB forced a UTD timeout at 19-15 and outscored the Comets 6-2 from there to win the set 25-18. UMHB put the Comets away with a 25-19 win in the third, giving No. 3 UT Dallas (15-1) its first loss of the season.

Hannah Frasca, the tournament Most Valuabale Player, led the Cru with 12 kills while Corinne Novak and Kayla Janikula each added 10. UMHB hit 43 kills on 149 total attacks with Alli Pierce assisting 34 points. Defensively, Frasca led the Cru with 22 digs followed by Pierce with 17 and Maddie Gillispie with 14. UMHB totaled nine team blocks in the match, led by Pierce with four.

The Comets hit .127 as a team on 40 kills, with 74 digs and eight blocks. Cahterine Croft led UTD with 13 kills to go with 15 digs, while Madison Ball had 12 kills and 16 digs. Sydney Fitt recorded 17 assits and Rachel Baxter posted 25 digs.

Saturday was the seventh consecutive year that UMHB and UTD met in the ASC Championship Finals.