East Texas Baptist 3, @UDallasVball 0 | Texas-Dallas 3, #UDCrusaders 2

RICHARDSON, Texas - The University of Dallas volleyball team (0-4) fell twice in day two of the University of Texas-Dallas (UTD) Labor Day Tournament on Saturday at the UTD Activity Center. 

In their third match of the two-day event, the Lady Crusaders were bested in three-straight sets (15-25, 18-25, 18-25) by East Texas Baptist University (ETBU). 

The navy and white then lost a nail-biter to host school UTD, as they were edged in five sets (25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 30-32, 12-15) to round-out play for the weekend.

Match 3: East Texas Baptist defeats Dallas, 3-0:

Dallas traded scores with ETBU in the first set of the afternoon.

After consecutive attacking errors from the Lady Tigers, head coach Emily Holombek's squad managed a four-point (10-6) lead. Seven unanswered points by their counterpart ensued. Although the navy and white were able to square the set at 14 all, they were unable to keep pace.

ETBU took the next two sets by a score of 25-18.

In the final frame, Dallas jumped-out to a 3-0 advantage. In a set with one lead change and five ties, ETBU eventually tallied five-straight points to close-out the match.

Junior middle-blocker Jaime Birzer (Ottawa, Kan.) paced the team with seven kills, while senior middle-blocker/setter Emily Caples (Walnut Creek, Calif.) contributed five of her own.

Sophomore defensive-specialist Allison Seager (Dallas, Texas) led the defense with 12 digs. Senior setter/defensive-specialist C.J. Broadbent (Goodyear, Ariz.) also entered double figures, as she paired seven digs with 12 assists.

Match 4: Texas-Dallas defeats Dallas, 3-2: 

Dallas garnered a 2-1 advantage after three sets versus the Lady Comets.

A season-high, seven-point lead (21-14) in the fourth set was not enough to put away the home team. 

Despite being up 27-26 and 28-27, Coach Holombek's bunch could not hang on for their first victory of the season. Allie Harman fired consecutive kills for UTD to finish the intense set. 

The Lady Crusaders managed a 3-0 stretch in the decisive fifth set, but a six-point swing helped UTD take the spirited match.

A quartet of Dallas' student-athletes reached double figures in kills to combine for a season-high of 65.

Birzer and sophomore outside-hitter Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) each poured-on a season-high 15 kills. Junior middle-blocker/right-side hitter Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis, Mo.) and Caples added 14 and 11, respectively. 

Broadbent posted a season-best 49 assists. The senior setter totalled 122 over the four-match format.

Next Opponent: 

Dallas celebrates their home-opener versus Wiley College in a 6 p.m. start time on Tuesday at the Maher Athletic Center.

Story by: Nathan Yacovissi | Contributions from James Marks III