Tournament MVP Kyleigh Irish had 17 kills and 19 digs to lead the University of Texas-Dallas volleyball team to a 27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-10 victory over Colorado College in the championship match of the 2008 Molten Volleyball CC Invitational on Saturday at Reid Gymnasium.

 

The veteran Comets were content to capitalize on an abundance of Tiger errors, including 22 unforced hitting errors and nine service errors. UTD also caught a break when a kill by CC's Meredith Ballard late in the first set was ruled a ball-handling error, giving the Comets a two-point lead late instead of a tie game at 21.

 

Still reeling from the way the first set ended, the young Tigers struggled in the second. Head coach Rick Swan's decision to insert junior libero Holli Palmer and freshman outside hitter Sarah Schmoker into the lineup paid immediate dividends in the third set.

 

CC went on a 7-2 run midway through the set to erase a 16-14 deficit and closed out the set on a kill by Emily Perkins and a service ace from Anna Clithero. But the Tigers could not maintain the momentum in the fourth set.

 

Perkins paced the Tiger attack with 11 kills, while Clithero added 10 kills and 11 digs. Erika Pirotte led the defensive effort the 16 digs and four blocked shots. Perkins and Ballard represented CC on the all-tournament team.

 

Amber Wetz had 15 kills and nine digs, while Niki Calverley had 40 assists and 14 digs. Both were voted to the all-tournament team.

 

In the first match of the day, Wetz had 14 kills and eight digs to lead UTD to a 27-25, 25-22, 25-16 victory over the Tigers. Perkins led CC with nine kills.

 

In the third-place match, Maggie Meixl and Steph Nichols had 12 kills apiece to lead the University of Wisconsin-Stout to a 25-22, 14-25, 25-19, 25-23 victory over George Fox University.

 

Colorado College will travel to cross-town rival CU-Colorado Springs on Wednesday night, and then play host to the Colorado College Classic next weekend at Reid Gymnasium.