FORT SMITH, Ark. – UT Tyler dropped its second straight match against a Lone Star Conference unbeaten, falling on the road in three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-9) to UAFS (University of Arkansas-Fort Smith) Friday night in the opening match of a weekend road trip which continues Saturday at Cameron University in Oklahoma.

Each team had one player finish with double-digit kills, as freshman outside hitter Kylee Becker led the Patriots with a 10-kill, 10-dig effort. UAFS was led by Rachel Williams, who tallied 16 kills in 31 attempts to lead the Lions to the victory.

With the loss, UT Tyler falls to 7-8 overall and 2-5 in Lone Star Conference play, while UAFS remains one of two teams in the league without a conference defeat as the Lions improved to 13-4 overall and 7-0 in the LSC.

How It Happened: Maiya Pena served back-to-back aces early in the first set, giving UT Tyler its first lead of the opening set at 4-3 before UAFS used two different runs of four consecutive points to gain the separation it needed for a 25-20 opening-set win.

In the second set, the Patriots again held an early lead after Kyana Alvarez registered a kill which gave her team a 5-3 edge, but UAFS answered with another 4-0 burst and never trailed again in the set. Kayla McCoy and Kylee Becker notched back-to-back kills to bring UT Tyler within a point, 18-17, but the Lions reeled off seven straight to close out a 25-17 second-set win.

UAFS raced out to a 7-1 lead in the third set and never looked back, closing out the sweep with a 25-9 victory.

By The Numbers: UT Tyler's best single-set attack percentage was .163 in the second set, and UAFS registered an attack percentage of .263 or higher in all three sets, including a .417 percentage in the third set… The teams were virtually even in digs, with UAFS finishing with a slight 48-47 edge.

UT Tyler Stat Leaders: Kylee Becker finished with 10 kills and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Kyana Alvarez and Hannah Callison tallied 5 kills each, and Savannah Guzman led the Patriots defensively with 11 digs.

UAFS Stat Leaders: Rachel Williams tallied a match-high 16 kills on 31 attempts to finish with a .355 hitting percentage, and she was joined by three other hitters with an attack percentage of .300 or better. Anna Demmer recorded a team-high 11 digs, and Erin Black and Amanda Van Wyk each registered 4 blocks as UAFS tallied 7 blocks as a team.

What's Next: UT Tyler finishes off another Lone Star Conference weekend road trip Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. matchup at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma.