RICHARDSON, Texas – The Concordia Texas volleyball team dropped the opening set, but bounced back, winning three sets in a row and took down McMurry 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the American Southwest Conference Tournament on Thursday to tie the program record for most wins in a single season.
The Tornados faced the War Hawks for the third time this season, overcoming a nail-biting first set loss and winning the match 23-25, 25-21, 25-22 and 25-18.
It is the 23rd win of the season for the team, tying the program record for wins in a single season set in 1999. Meanwhile, for head coach
Nicole McCoy-Dalby, it is the 100th win of her coaching career.
After falling in the opening set, CTX rallied in the following set, winning the first three points of the frame, aided by
Tristyn Massey's back-to-back service aces. She finished with four of the team's 10 service aces on the night.
The Tornados never relinquished their early lead and squashed a late McM comeback as Massey capped of the set with one of her team-high 15 kills in the match to even it at 1-all.
In the third set, Massey found her groove offensively, registering eight of the team's 15 kills in the set as CTX held off the War Hawks once again, ending on a 5-2 run to take their first lead of the match at 2-1.
In the final set, the Tornados hit at a game-best .381 mark, recording 18 kills and only one error, finishing off McM 3-1 to advance to the ASC Tournament semifinals for the third year in a row.
Massey finished with 15 kills and 19 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
Lianne VanDyke, meanwhile, tallied a season-best 45 assists along with 14 digs for a double-double.
Sam Mendez and
Marjani Myles, fresh off their ASC Second Team honors, both reached double figures in kills with 14 and 13, respectively.
Next, Concordia Texas will face tournament host UT Dallas in the conference semifinals with a spot in the ASC Tournament Championship match on the line. In their lone regular season meeting, the Comets won in straight sets.
The Tornados will face off against UTD on Friday at 5 p.m. in Richardson, Texas, at the UTD Activity Center.
