TYLER, TEXAS - #15 UT Tyler will make their toughest road trip to date this weekend to take on Lubbock Christian and #4 Angelo State in a pair of Lone Star Conference showdowns on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
 
The Patriots stand as the only undefeated team in Division II volleyball and will take on a Lubbock Christian and Angelo State duo that are a combined 30-4 on the year and 18-0 on their home court. Saturday's meeting in San Angelo, Texas against Angelo State has been a highlighted match on the Patriots schedule since the beginning of the 2021 season as the Rambelles defeated UT Tyler in their last meeting in the 2021 Spring LSC Volleyball Championships final match by a 3-2 final tally.
 
Start times are scheduled for 6 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas on Friday night and 2 p.m. on Saturday in San Angelo.
 
Angelo State opened up the year as favorites to repeat as Lone Star Conference Champions and as the no. 1 team in the nation in the 2021 AVCA Division II Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll, and have remained in the top five of the national poll despite a pair of early season losses. The Patriots on the other-hand have simply dominated in 2021 as the second ranked team behind Angelo State in the LSC Preseason Volleyball Poll, sweeping 10 of their 14 matches with 3-0 final scores and winning 42 out of their 46 sets played without seeing a deciding fifth set in 2021.
 
IN FINE FORM FOR A PIVOTAL WEEKEND
 
UT Tyler will enter this weekend's play in arguably their finest form of the 2021 season after notching their ninth and 10^th sweeps of the year in victories over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International. The Patriots hit .394 as a team and didn't allow their opposition to eclipse the 20-point mark in any of the six frames played over the weekend.
 
Senior Mikayla Ware averaged 4.17 kills per set and totaled 25 kills between the two matches to lead the way offensively while junior libero Savannah Guzman had 24 digs combined to help limit the opposition to a .125 hitting percentage between the two matches.
 
The Patriots have out-killed their last six opponents by a 295-to-176 margin, posting a .313 team hitting percentage along the way. They have put a stranglehold on the nation's best kills per set average with an average of 15.53 over the course of the last three weekends of Lone Star Conference play.
 
The defensive effort for UT Tyler has been just as impressive as their offensive work, as opponents are managing just 9.26 kills per set and are hitting .128 as a team against the Patriots.
 
Ware has totaled 75 kills over the course of the last six matches, averaging 3.95 kills per set, while Christina Escamilla (49) and Hannah Callison (46) have been the primary other two attackers used by head coach Lyndsay Mashe and company. Escamilla has put down those 49 kills in just 97 attacks for a .402 hitting percentage, joined alongside middle blocker Maiya Peña (.576) with eye-opening hitting percentages in the last few weekends for UT Tyler.
 
CONTINUING TO RISE, BUT IS IT HIGH ENOUGH
 
UT Tyler is a combined 28-1 dating back to last spring's season, has been virtually untested this fall with a pair of 3-1 wins over two teams receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, and quite simply put is the only remaining undefeated team in Division II volleyball. Yet the Patriots have struggled to make a steep climb up the national rankings, and check in at no. 15 in the latest 2021 AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Poll, their highest ranking to date.
 
The Patriots have won 26 straight regular season matches and sport a resume that features their lone loss in the last two seasons to a top-five national powerhouse in Angelo State by a 3-2 final in a match that easily could have gone either way. The reasoning's behind why the Patriots have yet to crack the top 10 in the national rankings despite the undefeated and untested record could be put to rest if UT Tyler is able to travel to Lubbock Christian and Angelo State and collect a pair of wins this weekend in what will be hostile environments.
 
Neither Lubbock Christian or Angelo State have lost a set on their home court in conference play this season.
 
POTENTIALLY FOR ALL THE MARBLES AND THEN SOME
 
The stakes for this weekend's matches are high, and the results could go a long way in determining a host of scenarios that are set to play out over the next few weeks as we make our way into the end of the regular season and into postseason play. UT Tyler and Angelo State are the only two remaining undefeated teams in Lone Star Conference with 10-0 and 9-0 records, while Lubbock Christian enters the weekend tied with West Texas A&M with a mark of 8-1 in conference play.
 
The LSC Regular Season Champion will host the 2021 LSC Postseason Tournament as the no. 1 seed on Nov. 18-20 on their home floor with quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches slated for the three days. The top four seeds will all receive a first-round bye in the tournament, while the remaining no. 5-through-no. 12 seeded teams will meet in the opening round on Tuesday, Nov. 16 to earn their spot into the weekend's quarterfinal matches.
 
The South Central Region is also shaping up to be once again one of the nation's best and will feature an elite field in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament on Dec. 2-4. Eight teams will be selected, the champion of the LSC Postseason Tournament and the champion of the RMAC Postseason Tournament as automatic qualifiers and then six at-large bids, into the bracket that will take place at the no. 1 seeded team's gym.
 
The region is currently represented by five ranked teams in the latest AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll: MSU Denver (no. 1), Angelo State (no. 4), Colorado School of Mines (no. 7), UT Tyler (no. 15), West Texas A&M  (no. 25).
 
Needless to say, wins this weekend over both Lubbock Christian and Angelo State would be huge as far as the Patriots chances of hosting the LSC Postseason Tournament, earning a spot in the South Central Regional Tournament, and potentially hosting the South Central Regional Tournament as the no. 1 seed.
 
SCOUTING THE LADY CHAPS
 
Lubbock Christian sports a 12-5 overall record and an 8-1 mark in LSC play, their only LSC loss coming at the hands of Angelo State on the road in San Angelo by a 3-0 final. The strength of the Champs lies in the balance of their offensive attack as four different players have registered 100 or more kills so far in 2021.
 
Aaliyah Gray (158) leads that group and averages 2.87 kills per set, followed by Hannah Froeschl (141), Sage Chain (129) and Jenna Lyons (100). The Chaps rank fourth in the LSC with a team hitting percentage of .221 for the year.
 
The weakness for Lubbock Christian has been the consistency of their defensive play so far in 2021. Opponents are hitting .184 against the Chaps, ninth worst in the conference, while the team averages just 12.72 digs per set, ranking eighth in the league.
 
History will be on UT Tyler's side in Friday's meeting between the two teams as the Patriots won the first and only meeting back on Oct. 4, 2019 by a 3-1 final.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMBELLES
 
Angelo State sits fourth in the latest national poll and hasn't dipped outside of the top five despite early season 3-0 losses against Adams State and #17 Wayne State. The Rambelles have stood alongside UT Tyler as the most dominant two teams in league play in 2021, and are the defending 2021 LSC Spring Champions.
 
The Rambelles have made nine straight appearances in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament, including a run to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2016.
 
Angelo State ranks just behind UT Tyler in both team hitting percentage (.256), kills per set (15.43) and assists per set (14.85) in the conference statistical rankings, and is limiting opponents to the second lowest team hitting percentage for the year at .119.  The Rambelles have lost just three sets so far in conference play, and have won all 15 sets in their five home LSC matches.
 
Kailyn Gilbreath returns as a familiar impact player for Angelo State, and is coming off a LSC Offensive Player of the Week nod after averaging a triple-double against Texas Woman's and St. Mary's. She totaled 34 kills, 53 assists and 22 digs for the week while hitting .420 between the two matches.
 
Delaney Fuller and Elsa Lamphere have joined Gilbreath with over 150 kills for the year with 154 and 151, respectively. Baleigh Allen leads the LSC with an average of 1.26 blocks per set and is hitting .353 on the year.