TYLER, TEXAS - #17 UT Tyler is set to begin postseason play tomorrow afternoon with a 2:30 p.m. meeting with no. 10 seeded St. Edward's in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championships in San Angelo, Texas.
 
The Patriots finished second in the LSC regular season standings with a 15-2 record in league play, earning the no. 2 seed in the 12-team field, and received a first-round bye for Tuesday night's opening round games as a top four seed. UT Tyler will meet no. 10 seeded St. Edward's, who upset no. 7 seed UAFS on Tuesday night by a 3-0 final score in Fort Smith, Ark.
 
This weekend will be the second appearance for the Patriots in the LSC Postseason Tournament after qualifying for the event last spring as the no. 1 seed with a perfect 12-0 regular season record in the abbreviated spring schedule. The cancellation of the 2020 fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed the Patriots to compete in the conference tournament despite being in the third year of the mandatory three-year transition period to full-fledged Division II status as all NCAA fall championships were cancelled.
 
Tomorrow afternoon's winner will move on to face the winner of no. 3 vs. no. 6 seeded Lubbock Christian and DBU's match, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m.
 
THE BRACKET IS SET
 
The Patriots went 1-1 to close out the regular season last weekend with a 3-0 victory on Thursday night against Western New Mexico and a 3-2 loss at the hands of UT Permian Basin on Saturday afternoon. UT Tyler finished the regular season with a mark of 19-2 on the year, and navigated the regular seasons slate of games with 12 victories by way of a 3-0 sweep.
 
Head coach Lyndsay Mashe's squad faced just one five-set match in their 21 regular season matches in the season finale against UT Permian Basin, and will now set their sights on a run through the 2021 LSC Volleyball Championships. All four quarterfinal matches will take place on Thursday afternoon at no. 1 seeded Angelo State's host site inside the Junell Center.
 
The semifinals will take place at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday night and the championship match on Saturday afternoon at 6 p.m.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
 
The UT Tyler volleyball program was recognized with eight all-conference awards as announced at the LSC Volleyball Championships banquet on Wednesday evening. Mikayla Ware (First Team), Christina Escamilla (First Team), Savannah Guzman (Second Team), Callie Craus (Honorable Mention), Hannah Callison (Honorable Mention) and Maiya Peña (Honorable Mention) all earned a spot on the All-Lone Star Conference list while Craus and Escamilla each received All-Academic honors for their combined efforts on the court and in the classroom in 2021.
 
NATIONAL AND REGIONAL RANKINGS
 
The Patriots enter the LSC Postseason Tournament ranked no. 17 in the AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll and at no. 6 in the third edition of the 2021 South Central Regional Rankings. UT Tyler climbed as high as no. 13 in the national polls back on Nov. 8 prior to their second loss of the season against UT Permian Basin last Saturday, and sat at no. 5 in the regional rankings in the first two editions of the rankings.
 
The potential three games in San Angelo this weekend in the LSC Volleyball Championships will give UT Tyler the chance to either guarantee their spot in the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament with a victory in the tournament as one of two automatic qualifiers into the eight-team field, or earn a spot as one of six available at-large bids.
 
The field for the South Central Regional Tournament is set to be announced on Nov. 22^nd in what will solidify the eight teams representing the South Central region in the 64-team bracket of the NCAA Division II Volleyball National Tournament.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS FOR THE PATRIOTS
 
Ware and Escamilla highlighted a Patriot offense that led the LSC with a team hitting percentage of .251 on the year, and ranked fifth in all of Division II volleyball with an average of 14.82 kills per set.
 
Ware was dynamic both offensively and defensively throughout 2021 for the Patriots, leading the team with 278 kills for the season and ranked second on the squad with 279 digs. The San Antonio, Texas native averaged 3.81 kills per set, fourth best in the LSC, and averaged 4.27 points per set, also fourth best amongst the conference.
 
Ware totaled 11 double-doubles in 2021, and notched double-digit kill totals in 15 matches this fall. She posted a season high 19 kills in the Patriots 3-1 win back on Sept. 17 against West Texas A&M, and logged 18 kills in three different matches throughout the season.
 
Escamilla put down 200 kills in 427 attempts in 2021 for a .384 hitting percentage. She ranks 11^th in all of Division II volleyball with that mark, and posted back-to-back games of 20 or more kills in the UT Tyler wins back on Sept. 4^th against New Mexico Highlands and Central Oklahoma.
 
Guzman was an elite libero throughout 2021 for head coach Lyndsay Mashe, and received All-LSC Second Team honors after totaling the most digs for the Patriots with 359. She ranked third in the LSC with an average of 4.92 digs per set, and helped pace a UT Tyler defense that ranked third in the LSC with 18.04 digs per set for the season.
 
The San Antonio, Texas native surpassed the 1,000 career digs mark back on Oct. 9^th in the Patriot's 3-1 victory over Midwestern State. She ranks sixth all-time in the UT Tyler volleyball record books with 1,167 career digs.
 
Guzman was also named to the 2021 spring All-LSC team, and the All-Tournament Team. She notched a career high 33 digs in the 3-1 Patriot victory over Lubbock Christian back on Oct. 22^nd, and went for 20 or more digs in seven matches in 2021.
 
Junior Callie Craus was a member of a setter unit for UT Tyler that leads Division II volleyball with an average of 14.18 assists per set in 2021, and was named as an Honorable Mention All-LSC selection for her role in the group's success. She paced that unit with 504 assists throughout the season, and ranked ninth in the LSC with an average of 6.90 assists per set.
 
The Grapevine, Texas native was fourth among the team with 150 digs this fall, and posted six double-doubles on the year.
 
She was named the LSC Setter of the Week on two different occasions, back on Oct. 5^th and on Nov. 9^th. Craus posted her career high assists total with 35 back on Sept. 4^th in the victory over Central Oklahoma.
 
Senior Hannah Callison and junior Maiya Peña joined Craus on the Honorable Mention All-LSC list, completing a deep offensive presence for the Patriots on the All-Conference list this fall.
 
Callison totaled 161 kills in 2021, and finished the 2021 regular season with a hitting percentage of .331 for the year. Her best volleyball came at the end of the 2021 regular season as she posted 10 or more kills in each of the final five matches for UT Tyler to close out the regular season, including a season-high 15 kills in the season finale against UT Permian Basin.
 
Peña led the LSC with a .391 attack percentage for the year, putting down 125 kills in just 256 attacks in 2021. She ranks 11^th in all of Division II volleyball in that category, and committed just 25 attacking errors in 21 matches for the Patriots.
 
Her impact was also felt defensively for UT Tyler as she averaged 0.94 blocks per set, seventh best in the LSC, and led the Patriots with 69.0 blocks.
 
HEAD COACH LYNDSAY MASHE
 
Coach Mashe became the all-time leader in career wins for the UT Tyler volleyball program with her 95^th career victory in a 3-0 sweep of St. Mary's back on Sept. 24^th in San Antonio, Texas. Mashe is now 107-38 (.738) in her six seasons as head coach of the Patriots, and has compiled a 33-3 record over the span of the 2021 calendar year.
 
She won her 300^th career game as a head coach at the collegiate level in a 3-1 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 6^th, and is 301-160 (.653) in her 16-year career as a head coach. She compiled a 194-122 (.614) record in 10 seasons as head coach at her alma mater East Texas Baptist University from 2006-to-2016.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
 
UT Tyler and St. Edward's have each won a game in the two program's series dating back to the Patriot's inaugural campaign in the LSC in the 2019 season. St. Edward's defeated UT Tyler back on Sept. 6, 2019 in a neutral site contest in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
The Patriots notched their own 3-0 victory earlier this season on Sept. 25^th on the road in Austin with 25-12, 25-17 and 26-24 set victories. The defensive effort for UT Tyler shined in that match as they forced St. Edward's into 30 attacking errors and limited the Hilltoppers to a .000 team hitting percentage for the match.
 
Ware posted a double-double in that win with 10 digs and 13 kills, while Guzman led the way with 14 digs. UT Tyler notched 11 kills in each of the three set victories to post a team hitting percentage of .202 as a team.
 
The Hilltoppers enter Thursday's meeting with a 14-11 overall record and posted an 8-9 mark in LSC play to secure the no. 10 seed in this weekend's post season tournament. St. Edward's hit .287 in their victory in the opening round over UAFS on their home court, posting 51 kills in 129 attempts.
 
Senior Kaitlyn Krafka led the way with 15 kills on Tuesday against UAFS, and ranked second on the team with 213 kills throughout the 2021 season. Maiya Smalls and Caroline Swann were each named All-LSC Honorable Mention selections on Wednesday night.