The LeTourneau University volleyball team fell to host University of Texas-Dallas, 25-17, 25-18, 25-10 in a tightly contested match to wrap up the opening weekend of American Southwest Conference play in Dallas on Saturday.

The YellowJackets (5-9, 0-3 ASC) ran into a hot-hitting Comets squad but they challenged the home team throughout the match. In the loss, freshman Dolores Kroese had another strong all-around match with seven kills and four digs to lead LeTourneau. The frontline had six blocks which included a pair of block assists from freshman Elyse Wright and sophomore Alexia Thomas.

The Comets (9-5, 3-0 ASC) were led by junior Taylour Toso, who had a match-high 12 kills to lead UT-Dallas. Setting up her attack was sophomore Kayla Jordan, who had 21 assists and the service game for UTD played a key role in the win with seven service aces.

The two teams started going back and forth in the opening set until an 8-0 spurt put the home team up 13-5 midway through the set. The YellowJackets were unable to draw no closer than seven for the remainder of the set. The Comets outhit LeTourneau by a .414 to .143 margin to secure the first set.

In the second set, the momentum of the match went to the LeTourneau side of the net as the YellowJackets built leads of 10-4 and 17-10, respectively.  However, the home team withstood the threat from the visitors from Longview as they went on a 15-1 run to close out the set. Early in the set, freshman Mackenzie Davies helped put the YellowJackets up with a pair of service aces. Wright and Kroese each had a pair of kills for LETU in the set.

With the momentum back in favor of the home team, the host Comets raced out to an early 12-3 lead and never looked back. UTD continued its hot play with a .348 hitting percentage in the final set with nine kills.

The YellowJackets will now return home to host the second ASC inter-pod tournament at the Solheim Center. LeTourneau will host nearby rival UT-Tyler on Friday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m.