TYLER, TEXAS – #19 UT Tyler extended their 3-0 sweep streak to five straight matches on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-17) win over UAFS.
 
The Patriots have now won 16 straight sets and counting over the course of the last two weeks of LSC play, and move to a perfect 10-0 on the year and 6-0 in conference play. Senior Mikayla Ware stayed hot for the Patriots on Saturday, leading the way offensively with 16 kills and matching the team high in digs alongside Savannah Guzman with 11 digs.
 
The output for Ware gives the San Antonio, Texas native her fourth straight double-double in a as many matches, and solidifies a weekend in which she totaled 29 kills and 21 digs between the two wins.
 
UT Tyler has now reeled off 22 straight regular season wins dating back to last season, and is a combined 24-1 in 2021 after a 14-1 mark during the 2021 spring season. The Patriots have won 30 out of their 33 sets played this season, and have yet to see a fifth set.
 
The Patriots hit .300 or better for the second straight match, posting 49 kills in 107 swings for a .308 team hitting percentage on the weekend. UT Tyler combined for 99 digs in just six sets between the two wins over Oklahoma Christian and Arkansas-Fort Smith, and stands as the lone undefeated team in the Lone Star Conference.
 
UT Tyler broke open tightly contested first and second sets late and then kept a comfortable margin of separation in the third set to handily defeat a UAFS team that advanced to the semifinals of last spring's Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championships.
 
The turning point came at the 14-14 mark of set number one for UT Tyler as the Patriots rattled off seven straight points to pad a 21-14 advantage. Head coach Lyndsay Mashe's team kept the pressure on the Lions and closed out the opening set with four straight points to close out the frame on an 11-1 run.
 
Set number two was much of the same for the Patriots as they turned another 14-14 tie in their favor into a 23-17 lead with another multi-point run following the 18-17 mark. The five-point run was sparked by a pair of kills from Ware after a Hannah Callison kill got the momentum shifted firmly in the hands of the Patriots.
 
It took UT Tyler less time to stretch out their lead in set number three, building a 10-6 advantage into a 13-8 lead. UAFS never found their way back into the set and established a UT Tyler victory in just one hour and six minutes.
 
Sophomore Evelyn Torres got back into the double-digit kills category, putting down 10 for the night in 21 kills for a .333 hitting percentage. UAFS managed just 29 kills on the night against the Patriots for a .132 hitting percentage.
 
The Patriots out-dug the Lions by a 53-to-38 margin as Ware and Guzman each had eleven, and freshman Addison Evans chipped in seven for the night. Callison contributed seven kills to the offensive effort while setters Callie Craus and Taylor Stoops provided balanced assists numbers with 21 and 18, respectively.
 
UT Tyler entered Saturday's match as one of just two remaining undefeated teams in all of Divison II volleyball alongside Nova Southeastern, and will look to extend their 22 regular season match undefeated streak in LSC play next weekend.
 
Those matches will take place on the road Friday night against Cameron at 5:30 p.m. and on Saturday afternoon against Midwestern State at 12 p.m.