TYLER, TEXAS - #12 UT Tyler notched their second-straight 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) sweep to advance to the 2021 Spring Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship final match tomorrow night for a chance at the school's first Lone Star Conference Championship.
 
The second-straight sweep of the tournament for UT Tyler didn't come as easy as the 3-0 win in the quarterfinals against #23 West Texas A&M for the Patriots, but got the job done over UAFS in the second of two semifinal matches on Tuesday night inside the Herrington Patriot Center. UT Tyler will face #9 Angelo State after their 3-2 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville tomorrow night at 6 p.m. in the final match for the right to be deemed the 2021 Spring Lone Star Conference Volleyball Champions.
 
The Patriots got the better of UAFS for their fourth straight 3-0 victory in a tightly contested match throughout all three sets. The Patriots narrowly out-killed the Lions 37-to-36, but committed three less attacking errors than the opposition to convert three set victories in front of a high-energy crowd inside the Herrington Patriot Center.
 
Kylee Becker led the Patriots with 10.5 points on the night with nine kills, an ace and a block assist, while Savannah Guzman led the defensive effort the Patriots for the second match in a row with 15 digs alongside Mikayla Ware, who also recorded 15 digs.
 
UT Tyler benefited from five errors by UAFS in the final seven points to secure a 25-23 first set victory. The Patriots rattled off a pair of three-point runs coming out of a 15-13 deficit to jump ahead 19-18 in the closing stages of that first set.
 
UAFS flipped the advantage to 20-19 with a pair of points before a string of three errors for the Lions pushed the Patriots ahead 23-21. UAFS was able to record the next two points to tie the set up before the final two of the five errors for the Lions gave UT Tyler the 25-23 set win.
 
The Lions continued to press the undefeated Patriots to open the second set, jumping out to an 8-4 lead before UT Tyler was finally able to square the set up at 10-10 a few points later. UT Tyler pieced together their biggest run of the set with a 7-2 run coming out of the 17-17 mark to build a 24-19 lead.
 
A service error by the Lions on the set point gave UT Tyler the 25-21 second set win.
 
UAFS opened up their second-straight early set advantage with a 5-0 run to kick off the third and final set, but UT Tyler once again rose to the challenge and rattled off five straight points of their own to negate the hot start for UAFS. The final set never reached a scoring differential greater than three points after the early 5-0 advantage for the Lions, as UT Tyler was able to punch their ticket to the final match with a 25-22 third set win.
 
UT Tyler hit .133 for the match, but totaled 14 blocks and stayed sound defensively behind the efforts of Guzman and Ware to put the program in position to secure it's first conference championship in program history with a win in tomorrow night's championship match.
 
A win tomorrow night would also give UT Tyler it's first Lone Star Conference Championship as a provisional Division II institution before hopefully gaining full status beginning in the 2021-22 athletic season.
 
The quest for that championship will get started tomorrow night inside the Herrington Patriot Center at 6 p.m. against an Angelo State program that will be seeking it's tenth Lone Star Conference Tournament title in the storied history of the program.