TYLER, Texas -- UT Tyler returned to the court after 438 days since its last home volleyball match, and the Patriots put together a spirited four-set victory (25-27, 28-26, 25-15, 25-10) over DBU in Tuesday night's season opener.

The victory was satisfying as much for the final result as it was for simply returning to intercollegiate competition, and the Patriots got stronger as the match proceeded, emerging from a split of the first two sets by two-point margins to race to lead from start to finish in dominant third and fourth set victories.

Mikayla Ware put away a match-high 17 kills in her first match as a Patriot, and she led a trio of hitters with double-digit kills. Savannah Guzman recorded a team-high 25 digs, and Loren Guerra led UT Tyler at the net with 6 blocks.

After losing the opening set and falling behind early in the second, UT Tyler surged in front in the middle of the second set and never trailed again in the match as the Patriots doubled DBU's score in the final two sets with a combined score of 50-25.

With the victory, UT Tyler improved to 1-0 in its second season of Lone Star Conference membership, while DBU dropped to 0-1.

How It Happened: The opening set featured 11 tie scores and six lead changes, and DBU provided the final lead change by fighting off set point to win 5 of the next 6 points to claim a 27-25 opening-set win. UT Tyler opened the match with a 3-0 lead, but that turned out to be the largest lead by either team in the first set.

After DBU took a 12-8 lead in the second set, UT Tyler answered with a 13-4 run to take control of the second set after Hattie Murray and Loren Guerra teamed up for a block that gave the Patriots a 21-16 edge. DBU battled back to tie the set at 24-24, but Christina Escamilla and Mikayla Ware finished off the set with back-to-back kills to lift UT Tyler to the 28-26 win.

UT Tyler raced out to a 10-1 lead in the third set and led by as many as 12 points during a 25-15 third-set win, and the Patriots never trailed in a 25-10 fourth-set win. UT Tyler scored 11 of the final 14 points of the set to close out the match victory.

By The Numbers: UT Tyler committed 9 attack errors in the opening set but only committed 12 more attack errors over the final three sets combined… The Patriots produced a hitting percentage over .300 in each of the final three sets, finishing the match at .258 with 60 kills and 21 errors in 151 attempts… After recording 32 kills with just 8 errors in the first two sets combined, DBU hit for a negative attack percentage in the final two sets to finish the match at .144 with 45 kills and 23 errors in 153 attempts… UT Tyler led in every team statistical category in the match, posting more kills, digs, aces, and blocks than DBU… The match featured 19 tie scores and 7 total lead changes, although they all took place in the first two sets of the match.

UT Tyler Stat Leaders: Mikayla Ware collected 11 of her match-high 17 kills in the first two sets of the match, and she added 14 digs to go with a team-high 28 service receptions without an error. Freshman Evelyn Torres added 15 kills and 10 digs, while Loren Guerra registered 10 kills while having a hand in 6 of the Patriots' 9 blocks in the match. Maiya Peña added 8 kills with 5 blocks and 3 aces, and Savannah Guzman notched 25 digs while tying Peña with a team-high 3 aces. Setters Taylor Stoops and Callie Craus combined for 55 assists (Stoops 28, Craus 27).

DBU Stat Leaders: Savannah Whitfield finished with a team-high 13 kills, but no other DBU player registered more than 7 kills in the match. Alyssa Pevehouse notched a match-high 26 digs, and Sofia Black had 3 blocks to go with 7 kills.

What's Next: UT Tyler and DBU return to the Herrington Patriot Center again Wednesday night at 6 p.m., wrapping up the first two matches of a four-match season series in an abbreviated 12-match spring schedule.