TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball team remained a perfect 6-0 through the first round of the Lone Star Conference's double round-robin format for the shortened 201 spring season with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 25-10) victory over #16 Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday night.
 
The Patriot's second straight win in as many nights over the Lions gives the Patriot's a four-match advantage over Texas A&M-Commerce (2-2, 2-2 LSC) for first place in the LSC Central Division. UT Tyler will look to extend the program's longest winning streak as a provisional Division II member in the next half of the round-robin schedule with a pair of matches against DBU, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas Woman's over the course of the next month.
 
UT Tyler kept Texas A&M-Commerce below 20 points in a set four different times throughout the two matches, including a fourth set on Wednesday night in which the Patriots put a final statement stamp on a dominating week with a 25-10 victory.
 
How It Happened: UT Tyler showed exactly why the 2021 squad received votes in the AVCA Division II National Coaches Poll for the first time in program history earlier Wednesday afternoon with a spectacular first set performance. The Patriots posted a season-high attack percentage of .519 as a team in the opening frame, putting down 16 kills on just 27 swings, posting just two attack errors.
 
UT Tyler scored eight of the first nine points of the match to open up an 8-1 advantage and survived a run of four straight points by the Lions a few moments later that narrowed the lead to just 14-10 to handle the Lions for the fourth straight set win of the week with ease. UT Tyler put an exclamation point on a 25-16 first-set victory by scoring the final four points of the set.
 
The second set saw just the opposite start for the two Central Division rivals as Texas A&M-Commerce opened up a 7-2 advantage of their own. UT Tyler looked to get themselves right back into the set thanks to consecutive kills from Christina Escamilla and Kylee Becker to move the score to 11-9, but four straight Texas A&M-Commerce points extended the lead to 15-9.
 
UT Tyler trailed by as many as six at the 19-13 mark before a pair of multi-point runs in the late stages of the match put the Patriots ahead for the first time in the set at the 23-22 mark.
 
Hannah Callison and Mikayla Ware, who led the team with 16 and 15 kills respectively for the match, provided the kills for a three-point run for the Patriots coming out of that 19-13 mark. After five straight alternating points by each team to move the Texas A&M-Commerce advantage to 22-18, UT Tyler provided the set-changing run which featured six straight points for UT Tyler, the last four of which came by way of attack errors by Texas A&M-Commerce. That run flipped the advantage back solely into the hands of the Patriots, leading to a final tally of 25-23 to open a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce continued to put pressure on UT Tyler in the third set, escaping a second-consecutive 3-0 sweep with a 25-21 third set victory. The Lions had their most efficient offensive output of the evening in that third set, hitting .229 as a team, while UT Tyler had their worst statistical offensive set with a team hitting percentage of just .171.
 
That would all change in the fourth set, however, as UT Tyler made quick work of the Lions, opening up a 13-5 advantage to cruise to a 25-10 victory. The Patriots once again flourished in the late stages of the set, recording the last eight points of the match to leave no doubt that the Patriots were the Central Division's top unit through the first three weeks of the 2021 season.
 
By The Numbers: UT Tyler once again statistically dominated the Lions for the second night in a row, posting higher totals in all six major statistical categories… The Patriots were especially dominate on the defensive side of the net, out-digging the Lions by a 63-to-48 total for the match, and out-blocking their opposition by a 10-to-7 final tally… UT Tyler limited the Lions to an attack percentage of just .143 for the night, while hitting .289 for the evening as a squad… UT Tyler had just 18 errors for the night while Texas A&M-Commerce had 23.
 
Patriot Leaders: Ware recorded a double-double for the second night in a row with 15 kills and 17 digs… Callison hit .325 for the match with 16 kills on just 40 swings… Taylor Stoops and Callie Craus combined for 51 assists on the night… Savannah Guzman had 11 digs and didn't record a single reception error… Maiya Peña totaled 11.5 points on the night with five kills and six blocks… Escamilla joined Callison, Ware and Peña as the fourth Patriot to contribute double-digit points… Escamilla hit .643 for the night and didn't record a single attacking error in her 14 attempts.
 
Up Next: UT Tyler will have next week off before heading to Dallas Baptist on Feb. 23-24 for a pair of matches to kick off the second half of the double round-robin format of the Lone Star Conference schedule this season.