The University of Texas at Dallas volleyball and men’s soccer teams kept the rewards of their American Southwest Conference (ASC) tournaments close to home last weekend.

The volleyball team captured its fourth ASC title in the past five seasons with a 3-1 win over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday at the Activity Center, while a late second-half goal lifted the soccer team to a 1-0 home win against Concordia University Texas on Sunday.

Both squads qualified for their respective NCAA Division III National Tournaments, which will begin later this week.

Men’s Soccer

Jovi Munoz capped a tournament MVP performance, scoring the game-winner against Concordia that gave the men’s soccer team its first ASC championship in three years.

Men’s Cross Country

The men’s cross country team will compete Saturday in the NCAA Division III Regional Championships in Memphis, Tennessee. More information about the meet is available from Rhodes College.

Munoz scored his second goal of the tournament and 15th of the season in the 71st minute, and that would be all the offense required. Comet goalkeeper John Nicknish made four saves in his school-record-tying 10th shutout of the season.

Munoz was joined on the all-tournament team by Mason Anderson, Brad Rivenes and Alfredo Kaegi.

Other members of the team are: Gage Ott, Brandon Bohn, Merek Byckovski, Donny Smith, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Ardila, Zach Till, Oliver Hamby, Alejandro Suarez, Adrian Vasquez, Jardel Kuate, Michael Harris, Jose Garcia, Brian Rahmoune, Eric LaWare, Hunter Williams, Fernando Ramirez, Isaias Salgado, Nicholas Trest, Ben Vogel, Victor Orona, Daniel Cea, C.J. Nelson, Micah Ardila, Jackson Huckaby, Hashem Shehata, Justin Ardis, Trey Nickel and Joshua Silcocks.

The Comets (17-3-2), who have set a program record for wins in a season, will play Trinity University (11-6-2) in the first round of its NCAA tournament on Saturday in San Antonio.

Volleyball

After dropping the opening set of their title match against Mary Hardin-Baylor, the Comets (24-4) bounced back to sweep the next three games, 25-23, 25-16, 25-22, to win their sixth all-time ASC championship.

“UMHB came out strong and played really, really well,” UT Dallas head coach Marci Allison said. “We brought our team in for a timeout and regrouped and we battled back. I am proud of how they responded to earn this title.”

Jillian Via was named the tournament’s most valuable player after sparking the Comets in the title match with 13 kills, 21 digs and three aces. Caroline Shecterle and Lauren Schilling joined Via on the all-tournament team.

Other members of the team are: Madeleine McCall, Sydney Fitt, Kennedy Donovan, Allison Owen, Rutendo Chando, Abby Jones, Alyssa Porter, Gabi Sommerfield, Catherine Croft, Brynne Blackmar and Madison Ball.

The Comets, riding an eight-match winning streak, will face Hope College on Thursday in the opening round of their national tournament in Grand Rapids, Michigan. More tournament information can be found here.