TYLER, TEXAS – No. 6 seed UT Tyler will meet no. 7 seeded West Texas A&M in the first of two semifinal matches of the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. (MST) in Denver, Colo.
 
The Patriots and Lady Buffs will meet for the second time in 2021 on the heels of a pair of upsets on the bottom half of the bracket in the South Central Region as the Patriots took down no. 3 seed Colorado Mesa by a 3-1 final in their quarterfinal match. West Texas A&M, the no. 7 seed and 2021 Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament Champions, continued their postseason run with a 3-2 win over no. 2 seeded Colorado School of Mines in the second of four quarterfinal matches on Thursday afternoon.
 
The winner of the UT Tyler-West Texas A&M rematch will advance to Saturday night's 2021 South Central Regional Tournament Championship match slated for an 8:30 p.m. (MST) start. The winner of that match will be crowned as the champions of the South Central Region and advance to the 2021 NCAA Division II Volleyball National Tournament quarterfinals on Dec. 9^th in Tampa, Fla.
 
UT Tyler's win over Colorado Mesa earned the Patriots their 20^th win on the year with a record of 20-3. The 2021 season is the sixth time in the program's history that the Patriots have eclipsed the 20-win mark in a single season.
 
1-0 IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT 
UT Tyler was impressive in their NCAA Division II National Tournament debut on Thursday afternoon, using 25-23 third and fourth set wins and a high-energy opening set win to down no. 3 seed Colorado Mesa by a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23) final. The win moved UT Tyler to 1-0 in NCAA National Tournament play in the program's inaugural appearance in the event in the school's first year eligible for consideration for the 64-team field.
 
The Patriots now stand as one of 32 teams remaining in the tournament, thanks in large part to a pair of impressive outings from standouts Christina Escamilla and Mikayla Ware. Both Patriots backed up their respective AVCA All-South Central Region and Lone Star Conference First Team selections with a double-double from Ware and a .529 hitting percentage from Escamilla.
 
Ware tallied 15 kills and 19 digs to lead UT Tyler in both categories, while Escamilla put down nine kills on 17 swings with zero errors to pace a Patriot offense that hit .257 with 60 kills as team.
 
Escamilla provided what was emphatically the turning point of the match late in the crucial third frame, as UT Tyler mounted a comeback after trailing 21-17 in the set. The Arlington, Texas native chipped in two crucial blocks coming out of that 21-17 lead for the Mavericks, and effectively put a halt to a Colorado Mesa attack that was just finding it's stride after answering the 25-22 first set UT Tyler win with a 25-21 win in set number two.
 
Those two blocks by Escamilla forced a Colorado Mesa timeout with the score at 21-20 before Hattie Murray evened the frame up coming out of the break with a kill to negate what was a once four-point advantage for the Mavericks. UT Tyler founds themselves down yet again after that run at the 23-21 mark, but benefited from a pair of attacking errors by the Mavericks, the second of which was forced by Escamilla's third block late in the frame.
 
An ace from Ware and a kill from Torres put UT Tyler back ahead in the match by a 2-1 score thanks to the 25-23 third set victory, and paved the way for a dominant performance for the Patriots in the fourth and final frame. There would be no Maverick advantage to overcome in that fourth set as the Patriots strung together a run of six points coming out of the 10-10 mark to lead 16-10.
 
Colorado Mesa made it interesting down the stretch, fighting their way back to tie the set up at 22-22, but once again fell victim to quality late-frame play from the Patriots. Ware got that late play started with a kill coming out of a timeout from head coach Lyndsay Mashe after the Mavericks made it a 22-22 game, and then finished off the match with a kill to make it a second straight 25-23 win for the Patriots.
 
HELLO OLD FRIEND
 
UT Tyler's Thursday win puts them in position to meet a very familiar foe in a West Texas A&M team that put together their own upset in a 3-2 (20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 22-25, 15-13) quarterfinal win over Colorado School of Mines. The Patriots and Lady Buffs have met twice in the 2021 calendar year, the first of which matches took place in the 2021 Spring LSC Volleyball Championships quarterfinal match on Mar. 24^th in which UT Tyler defended their home court inside the Herrington Patriot Center with a 3-0 sweep.
 
The two teams met again this season on Sept. 17^th, a decision that once again went to the Patriots in 3-1 fashion in the LSC opener for both sides. UT Tyler edged out 27-25 and 25-23 first and second set victories and then responded to a 25-16 West Texas A&M win in the third set with their own 25-15 win in the fourth set to close out the match.
 
Ware posted one of her 13 double-doubles in that match, putting down 10 kills in the first set alone on her way to 19 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore Evelyn Torres was also effective for the Patriots in that match, posting a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 12 digs.
 
West Texas A&M went on to finish a game behind UT Tyler and in third place in the LSC standings with a 14-3 mark in conference play, and then swept two out of their three matches in the LSC Postseason Tournament to earn the automatic bid into the South Central Regional Tournament from the Lone Star Conference.
 
The Lady Buffs are riding a six-match winning streak heading into Friday's meeting with the Patriots, sweeping four of those matches by 3-0 final scores.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE AND ALL-REGION ACCOLADES
 
The UT Tyler volleyball program was recognized with eight all-conference awards as announced at the Lone Star Conference. 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.
 
Ware and Escamilla also added an AVCA All-South Central Region First Team selection to their All-LSC First Team accolades. The two Patriot standouts were two of 14 recipients on the First Team list as voted upon by AVCA members from the RMAC and LSC.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
The Patriots enter the South Central Regional Tournament ranked no. 22 in the AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. UT Tyler climbed as high as no. 13 in the national polls back on Nov. 8 and as high as no. 5 in the South Central regional rankings in the first two editions of the rankings.
 
The Patriots have appeared in all 13 editions of the AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll this season.
 
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 108-39 (.733) in her six seasons as head coach of the Patriots, and has compiled a 34-4 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 302-161 (.652) 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 before accepting the head coaching position at UT Tyler.
 
SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
 
West Texas A&M's impact players showed up in fine fashion just like the Patriot's stars in their quarterfinal upset over Colorado School of Mines as All-South Central Region selections Torrey Miller had 23 kills and Chandler Vogel had 28 digs. Vogel was named the LSC Libero of the Year for the fourth straight year and was joined by Miller on the All-LSC First Team list.
 
Kayla Elliot and Camy Jones were each selected to the All-LSC Second Team while Sadie Snay was picked as an All-LSC Honorable Mention recipient.
 
West Texas A&M enters the match with a 24-4 overall record and limits opponents to just a 0.99 hitting percentage into the NCAA National Tournament, fourth best in Division II volleyball. The Lady Buffs are in the midst of making their 28^th NCAA Tournament appearance and claimed their 16^th LSC Postseason Tournament crown at season's end.
 
Head coach Kendra Potts has guided West Texas A&M to a 56-15 record in her third year guiding the program, and has made back-to-back NCAA National Tournament appearances after guiding the Lady Buffs to the postseason in 2019 as well.