BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team clinched the 2018 American Southwest Conference Volleyball Championship with a 3-2 win over the University of Texas at Dallas Saturday afternoon in Belton.
UMHB and the Comets went back-to-back in the first four sets with UMHB winning the first and third sets 25-17, 25-20 and UT Dallas taking the second and fourth sets 25-18, 25-22. The Comets held an 8-4 lead at the split in the fifth set but UMHB tied the match at 10-10 then used a 5-3 win to seal the match and conference championship. Corinne Novak led the Cru with 18 kills while Sarah Paolini added 15, Jenna Gillean had 13 and Hope Hoelscher put up 11. UMHB hit .253 in the match, powered by Miranda Klein with 57 total assists. Defensively, Haleigh Evans led the Cru with 32 digs while Klein added 23 and Gillean had 20. Paolini and Klein led the defensive efforts at the net with four blocks each. UMHB totaled six aces, 116 digs and six team blocks in the match while UT Dallas hit .200 with 102 digs, nine aces and eight team blocks.
This is UMHB’s third American Southwest Conference Volleyball Championship and second under head coach Rob Frost. UMHB named three athletes to the All-Tournament team in Jenna Gillean, Corinne Novak and Miranda Klein. Klein was also named Most Valuable Player of the 2018 tournament.
UMHB also earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships. The selection show will air Monday, November 5th at 11:30 a.m. online at NCAA.com.
