Box Score DENVER, COLO. – No. 3 seeded UT Tyler used a pair of close third and fourth sets wins to upset no. 3 seed Colorado Mesa by a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23) final tally in the quarterfinals of the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Patriot's 25-23 third and fourth set wins came in polar opposite fashions, but were more than enough to compliment an energized opening set inside the Auraria Event Center to advance in the NCAA Division II Volleyball National Tournament in the program's first-ever appearance. The Patriots will meet the winner of the no. 2 seed Colorado School of Mines and no. 7 seed West Texas A&M match in the first of two semifinal matches scheduled for tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. (MST).
 
2021 All-South Central Region First Team selections Mikayla Ware and Christina Escamilla showed exactly why they were selected as two of the region's best on Thursday afternoon, combining to score 31.0 points for the Patriots throughout the match.
 
Ware posted her 13^th double-double on the year with 15 kills and 19 digs while Escamilla hit .529 with nine kills on 17 swings. Sophomore Evelyn Torres chipped in to a well-rounded offensive attack for UT Tyler with 13 kills on 28 swings for a .321 hitting percentage for the match.
 
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.
 
UT Tyler had 15 or more kills as a team in each of the three final sets and posted a team hitting percentage of .257 for the match. Murray notched eight kills on the day in 18 swings while Hannah Callison and Maiya Peña both had seven kills to pitch in to 60 kills for UT Tyler on the afternoon.
 
Honorable Mention All-Lone Star Conference selection Callie Craus had 30 assists to help manufacture the UT Tyler offense while freshman Adeline Ortman stepped into the second setter role in the 6-2 offense for the Patriots with 25 assists.
 
The start for Ortman was the first of the season, and proved to be a big one as Craus and Ortman were able to keep the Patriot offense moving throughout the match.
 
UT Tyler's semifinal match will get underway tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. (MST) back inside the Auraria Event Center. The winner of the two semifinal matches will meet in Saturday night's championship match scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. (MST) start.