TYLER, TEXAS – #18 UT Tyler will welcome Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International to the Herrington Patriot Center this weekend for Friday and Saturday matches.
 
The Patriots will put their undefeated 12-0 record and 23 regular season match win streak on the line and will look to remain as the only undefeated team in all of Division II volleyball. UT Tyler will take on a 11-2 Texas A&M-Kingsville team at 6 p.m. on Friday night and Texas A&M International on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
Friday night will be the team's annual "Dig Pink Night" recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness month. Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of the cause, and will also be offered pink ribbons upon arrival by the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority group.
 
ONE STREAK BROKEN YET STILL IMPRESSIVE
 
UT Tyler extended it's 3-0 Lone Star Conference victory streak to six straight matches last Friday with a 3-0 win against Cameron. That run of sweeps was finally snapped on Saturday afternoon in Wichita Falls, Texas, as the Mustangs collected a set win over the Patriots before falling by a 3-1 final.
 
The 25-21 loss in set number two for the Patriots was the first dropped set by the team since Sept. 17, and was the lone blemish in yet another outstanding weekend of play for the Patriots. The Patriots allowed their opposition to eclipse the 20-point mark just twice in their seven sets played, limiting Cameron and Midwestern to a combined .119 hitting percentage between the two matches.
 
The Patriots notched a season high block total with nine in both matches and out-dug their two competitors by a 121-to-91 margin between the two matches. Junior Savannah Guzman and senior Mikayla Ware were outstanding defensively for the Patriots, totaling 33 and 32 digs respectively.
 
Junior Maiya Peña also had her best weekend of the 2021 season from her middle blocker position, totaling 12.0 blocks between the two matches and 17 kills.
 
IN THE POLL
 
UT Tyler remained at no. 18 in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll for the second week in a row and picked up their first first-place vote of the 2021 season. The Patriots are the only remaining undefeated team in the country, one of two teams undefeated in LSC play, and lead the nation in two major statistical categories and the conference in four different categories.
 
The Patriots hold 3-1 wins over a pair of teams that are currently receiving votes in the poll and will take on a Texas A&M-Kingsville team that received votes in earlier polls this season. Angelo State stayed as the only other Lone Star Conference representative to receive a ranking in the sixth regular season edition of the poll, checking in at no. 3 for the third week in a row.
 
STAT RANKINGS
 
The Patriots remained atop the Division II statistical rankings in both assists per set (14.62) and kills per set (15.25) after the pair of wins against Cameron and Midwestern State. UT Tyler notched just 36 kills in the Friday win against Cameron, the second lowest total in the 2021 season, but recovered with a solid 60 kills in the four sets against Midwestern State.
 
Head coach Lyndsay Mashe's team also reclaimed the throne at the top of the conference statistical marks with a team hitting percentage of .256 for the year. The Patriots .304 percentage in Saturday's win against Midwestern State helped the squad overtake West Texas A&M for the top team hitting percentage in 2021.
 
UT Tyler also ranks second in the LSC in digs per set (18.20) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.135).
 
CAREER MARKS
 
UT Tyler volleyball reached a pair of impressive career marks in Saturday's win over Midwestern State as coach Mashe recorded the 100^th win of her UT Tyler career and Savannah Guzman notched the 1,000^th dig of her Patriot career. Coach Mashe already became the program's all-time wins leader earlier this season while Guzman now ranks seventh in the UT Tyler volleyball record books with 1,007 digs for her career.
 
Both Mashe and Guzman are scheduled to be presented with plaques recognizing their accomplishments prior to first serve of Friday night's match.
 
CONTINUING TO PUT IT ALL IN PERSPECTIVE
 
The 2021 calendar year has been a wave of success for the Patriots as the program has combined for a 26-1 record between the 2021 spring season and the current campaign. UT Tyler is now firmly in consideration for what could be the program's first ever appearance in the NCAA National Tournament in the first year the Patriots are eligible to qualify at the Division II level.
 
As last year's spring schedule did not feature an NCAA sanctioned national tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you have to imagine the regional committee could take the calendar year's worth of work into consideration when looking at the six at-large bids that will be available into the South Central Regional Tournament on Dec. 2-4. You would be hard pressed to find a program that has been as successful and as dominant as UT Tyler between the two seasons as the Patriots have won 80 out of their 93 sets played and have seen a fifth set just twice in the last 27 games over the last two seasons.

SCOUTING THE JAVELINAS
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville will be no doubt the toughest test for UT Tyler since the Sept. 17 meeting against West Texas A&M inside the Herrington Patriot Center. The Javelinas were one of four semifinalists into the 2021 Spring LSC Volleyball Championships and are 11-2 so far in 2021.
 
Both losses have come in Lone Star Conference play for the Javelinas back on Oct. 1 and 2^nd against #3 Angelo State and Lubbock Christian. Both losses were 3-0 defeats, but have seemingly kickstarted the Javelinas into solid play as they have won their last three matches by 3-0, 3-1 and 3-1 finals against Texas Woman's, Dallas Baptist and Westminster.
 
The Javelinas are ranked within the top five of the Lone Star Conference in both team hitting percentage (.215) and opponent hitting percentage (.118). Jackie Alanis leads the team and ranks fourth in the LSC with an average of 3.66 kills per set.
 
Setter Emily Witt is one of the league's best for Texas A&M-Kingsville and ranks third in the LSC with an average of 9.56 assists per set. Ayanna Jackson ranks second in LSC with an average of 1.02 blocks per set and has totaled 48 for the year.
 
The two programs have met just once prior to Friday evening's clash inside the HPC in a 3-2 Texas A&M-Kingsville win back on Sept. 21, 2019 in Kingsville.
 
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS
 
Texas A&M International is 2-12 in 2021, but will be coming off of their best performance of the season in a 3-0 win over Texas Woman's last Saturday. The Dustdevils also claimed a 3-1 victory back on Sept. 18 over Cameron for their other win of the league schedule.
 
The team has yet to pick up a road win this season and currently ranks 14^th in the LSC in both team hitting percentage (.157) and opponent hitting percentage (.221). Teams are also averaging the most kills per set against the Dustdevils with an average of 13.85.
 
Senior Mackenzie Catalina has been the featured member of the Dustdevil offense all season long and leads the team with 168 kills. Libero Daniela Sandoval leads the team with an averaged of 3.77 digs per set while Catalina is second on the list with 3.27 per set and a total of 157 for the year.
 
Saturday's match will also be the second ever meeting between the two schools. UT Tyler won the first match between the program's by a 3-0 margin back on Sept. 20, 2019.