LUBBOCK, TEXAS - #15 UT Tyler grinded out tough third and fourth set wins to remain a perfect 15-0 on the year and clear their first obstacle in the weekend road trip with a 3-1 (25-12, 12-25, 25-23, 25-23) victory over Lubbock Christian on Friday night.
 
The Patriots won both the third and fourth sets by 25-23 final tallies to escape Lubbock with the win after two of the top three squads in the Lone Star Conference flexed their respective muscles in alternating 25-12 wins in the first and second. The UT Tyler defense ultimately allowed the Patriots to claim regular season win number 27 in a row thanks to a career night for libero Savannah Guzman.
 
Guzman had 33 digs and helped limit the Chaps to a .048 team hitting percentage for the night with 40 kills in 167 swings. UT Tyler notched 92 digs as a unit as Guzman posted the highest single match dig total of her career and Addison Evans (19) and Mikayla Ware (17) both reached double digit dig totals.
 
The Patriots committed an uncharacteristic 31 attack errors on the night, the highest in a match so far in 2021 for the team, but relied on an unrelenting defensive backrow from the combination of Guzman and Evans to stay unbeaten in conference play in the first of two key road tests for the weekend. Ware captained the offensive output for a Patriot side that hit .117 despite the unusually high attack error figures, putting down 17 kills to go along with her 17 digs to register the double-double in the match.
 
Ware and company got going early offensively, hitting .314 with kills on 15 of 35 swings in the first set to cruise to a 25-12 win. Sophomore Evelyn Torres had four of her 11 kills for the match in set number one alone while Ware and senior Hannah Callison each chipped in three to the offensive output.
 
UT Tyler led 10-3 to start out the contest and then extended the advantage with a 10-1 run to close out the opening set firmly in control of the match.
 
Set number two was almost the polar opposite for the Patriots as Lubbock Christian worked their way to a 25-12 set win of their own. 11 of those points for the Lady Chaps came by way of Patriot attacking errors as UT Tyler posted 11 in the second set alone to go along with just seven kills.
 
Lubbock Christian took advantage of the uncharacteristic mistakes for the Patriots with a 13-1 run midway through the set to break the frame open with a 20-8 lead, pulling away for the 25-12 win.
 
UT Tyler responded to the second set let down by jumping out to an 11-7 advantage to start set number three with the match all square at 1-1. The lead extended to 13-7 before Lubbock Christian made their rally back into the set to narrow the Patriot lead to just 15-14.
 
Head coach Lyndsay Mashe used a timeout to settle her squad down after the onslaught of Lady Chap points, resulting in three straight Patriot points to force Lubbock Christian into a timeout of their own trailing 18-14.
 
Lubbock Christian finally tied the set up at the 23-23 mark thanks to their second comeback of the frame before kills from Torres and Callison allowed the Patriots to grind out what would be the first of two hard set wins to move to 11-0 in LSC play.
 
That second straight set win to close out the match in the fourth proved to be an all-out battle as the score differential never climbed greater than three. Ware and Guzman each rose to the occasion in that final frame as Ware put down six kills and Guzman collected eight digs to notch 15 kills for the team while only conceding nine to win their second straight 25-23 decision.
 
UT Tyler scored three out of the final four points of the set to come from behind in the last few points trailing 23-22. Ware put down kills in two out of the final three straight points needed to collect the 3-1 road victory and move to 15-0 on the season and 11-0 in LSC play.
 
Lubbock Christian entered the contest having won every set they had competed in on their home court prior to Friday night's contest.
 
Callison finished the evening with the best hitting percentage for the Patriots, notching eight kills in 23 swings for a .304 mark.
 
The Patriots will now head to San Angelo, Texas tomorrow afternoon for a 2 p.m. meeting with #4 Angelo State. Tomorrow's contest will be a rematch between the two programs of last spring's 2021 Lone Star Conference Spring Volleyball Championship match.