After a two-game losing streak, the volleyball team (11-6) beat LeTourneau (6-11) 3-1 on Sept. 30.The Comets had a fast start in the first set, holding off a small comeback from the YellowJackets to end the set with a score of 25-15.
In the second set, the Comets had a strong lead early on, not letting up on either side of the ball. By LeTourneau’s first timeout that set, UTD had already achieved a 16-6 lead. The game ended with a score of 25-9.
A major contributor to the team’s success was junior outside hitter Meredith Crawford, who had 10 kills by the end of the second set.
“I think our offense was a power today,” Crawford said. “We were doing fast transitions and that’s one of the reasons we were able to open so many things up on the offensive side. We could still get a bit better with our ball control and defensive, but our offense was taking care of the ball when they needed to.”
Crawford ended the game with 11 kills, a .391 hit percentage and 15 digs for UTD.
The Comets started to struggle in the third set, as they hit only .091 and gained just 10 kills. LeTourneau came out strong and pulled out a 25-23 win.
The fourth set was a different story, as the Comets answered their lackluster third-period performance with a bold statement in the game’s final set.
Holding the lead the entire set with no sign of letting up, they won 25-13, hitting a .379 average.
“A win is always nice, but there are always things we need to continue to get better at,” said head coach Marci Sanders.
Senior middle blocker Taylour Toso finished the night with 13 kills, 3 assists and 13 digs.
“I think I did a really good job of communicating with my teammates on what was open and talking about defense and scouting reports and attacking which zones and stuff like that,” Toso said.
Other standouts included junior setter Kayla Jordan who had 3 kills, a .429 hitting percentage, 38 assists and 14 digs. She also set 38 of the team’s 50 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Holyn Handley made 9 kills and 18 digs.
UTD followed its win over LeTourneau with three straight losses to 10th-ranked Elmhurst, Texas Lutheran and UT Tyler. The Comets will play again  Oct. 7 at East Texas Baptist.