ABILENE (November 1, 2012) -- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team grabbed control of the match early and the Cru rolled to a 3-0 victory over Texas Lutheran University in the opening match of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Thursday in Abilene. UMHB will now advance to face U.T.-Dallas in a winner’s bracket match at 5:00 PM today. The loss knocks TLU into an elimination match on Friday at 2:30 PM.

UMHB rolled to a 25-15, 25-13, 25-20 win over the Bulldogs to advance. The Cru is now 3-0 in matches against Texas Lutheran this season. UMHB broke open a tight first set as Elise Butler served five straight points. TLU closed to within 20-5, but the Cru scored the final five points to close it out. Shelby Prather served five straight points to open up the second set and Elise Butler served the final five points to give UMHB the set. The Cru fell behind 14-11 in the third set before Sapphire Reid served seven straight points. Tina Miller ended a late TLU rally and closed out the match with a kill on match point.

Reid led the Cru with 11 kills and Miller and Kendall Pye added 10 kills apiece. Prather had 34 assists and 14 digs and Pye topped five UMHB players in double figures with 18 digs. The Cru hit .256 as a team and added 7.0 team blocks.

Haley Lassiter and Marcia Sagebiel led the Bulldogs with seven kills apiece. Manda Martin added 16 assists and Megan Lee recorded 22 digs. TLU hit .040 as a team and posted just 2.0 team blocks.

UMHB improves to 21-6 on the season and matches the school single-season, Division III era record for victories set last season. The Cru is 0-2 on the year against U.T.-Dallas. The loss drops TLU to 15-12 on the year.