TYLER, TEXAS - #19 UT Tyler hit .340 as a team and more than doubled Oklahoma Christian's kill total in their fourth straight 3-0 sweep of a Lone Star Conference opponent on Friday night inside the Herrington Patriot Center.
 
The Patriots cruised to 25-16, 25-17 and 25-11 set wins in a match delayed for over an hour due to officiating issues, extending their school record regular season winning streak to 21 straight matches dating back to the 2021 spring season. Junior Christina Escamilla put on a show for UT Tyler, putting down 15 kills in just 18 attacks to lead the way offensively, and nearly reached match record figures for the Patriots with a .778 attack percentage for the night.
 
Escamilla's .778 percentage was recorded on 18 total attacks, just two attacks shy of qualifying for the school record for individual hitting percentage in a match, which requires 20 total attacks for the contest. That record was posted back on Oct. 11, 2013 by Hali Williams, who had a .667 attack percentage with more than 20 attempts in a match against Hardin-Simmons.
 
UT Tyler totaled 50 kills on the night, posting set kill totals of 16 in the first and second sets, and 18 in the third and final set. Senior Mikayla Ware, the reigning Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, put together her third straight double-double on Friday night with 13 kills and 10 digs for the match.
 
Ware hit .357 on the night with 13 kills on 28 swings.
 
The Patriot defensive effort was just as impressive against an overmatched Oklahoma Christian squad, receiving all 41 Eagle service attempts without a single error. The Patriots notched 48 digs on the night with libero Savannah Guzman recording a team-high 21 for the match, her third game with 20 or more on the year.
 
The Patriots led by as many as 10 in the opening set with a 22-12 advantage, limiting Oklahoma Christian to just six kills in the opening frame. Oklahoma Christian did not reach double-digit kill totals as a team in any of the three sets and only led three times throughout the entire contest.
 
UT Tyler answered one of those few deficits in the second set with eight straight points after trailing at the 10-9 mark. That run for the Patriots padded a comfortable advantage, one that Oklahoma Christian could only narrow down to four points before UT Tyler scored six of the final eight points to close out the second set with a 25-17 win.
 
An 8-0 Patriot lead to open up the third set put an exclamation mark on the fourth straight sweep in as many matches for the squad. UT Tyler put down kills on 18 of their 28 swings in the third frame with just a single attacking error for a .607 team hitting percentage in the frame.
 
Setter Callie Craus led the team with 30 assists for the night. A total of 18 Patriots saw action in the contest.
 
UT Tyler is now one of three teams with a 5-0 record in Lone Star Conference play thus far in 2021 alongside Angelo State and Lubbock Christian, and stands as the lone squad with an undefeated record after a Texas A&M-Kingsville loss to Angelo State on Friday night.
 
The Patriots will return to the court inside the Herrington Patriot Center tomorrow afternoon for a 1 p.m. match against UAFS.