GAMES 11 & 12

DATES: Mar. 9 | Mar. 10
TIME: 6 p.m. 
OPPONENT: Texas Woman's 
LOCATION: Tyler, Texas | Herrington Patriot Center   
PATRIOT'S RECORD: 10-0 (10-0 LSC)
PIONEER'S RECORD: 3-5 (3-5 LSC)
LIVE STATS LINK: https://uttylerpatriots.com/sidearmstats/wvball
LIVE VIDEO LINK: https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/utt/

TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball team will look to finish their 2021 shortened spring schedule with a perfect record in divisional play with two matches against Texas Woman's University inside the Herrington Patriot Center on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
 
Both matches are set to get started at 6 p.m. as #18 UT Tyler (10-0, 10-0 LSC) will get their final two matches of preparation in before hosting the opening round and quarterfinal matches of the 2021 Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship on Mar. 23-24. UT Tyler and Texas Woman's (3-5, 3-5 LSC) met back on Feb. 2-3 in the first round of round robin play in Denton, Texas with the Patriots defeating the Pioneers by 3-0 (28-26, 25-15, 25-9) and 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-11) final scores.
 
The Patriots have won 30 of the 36 sets that they have played in divisional play during the abbreviated 2021 spring LSC volleyball schedule entering this week's matches.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
UT Tyler moved to a perfect 10-0 on the year and moved up to no. 18 in the latest AVCA Division II National Coaches Poll with 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-22) and 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 26-28, 25-22) wins over Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce, Texas. The Patriots secured the Divisional Championship with Tuesday night's win.
 
The sweep of Texas A&M-Commerce established UT Tyler and Angelo State as the first two teams from the Lone Star Conference to reach 10 wins. The Patriots rank second in the Lone Star Conference in team hitting percentage (.246) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.094) on the year.
 
OFFENSIVE PROWESS
 
That league best .246 hitting percentage has been established by a well-balanced and consistent offensive attack for UT Tyler throughout the 2021 campaign. Christina Escamilla and Maiya Peña
 both rank in the top five of the Lone Star Conference in hitting percentage while Mikayla Ware, Kylee Becker and Hannah Callison have all averaged 2.73 kills or better per set on the year.
 
Escamilla has posted a league-high .402 hitting percentage on the year with 85 kills on 169 swings and just 17 errors. Peña has been equally efficient, hitting .324 with 52 kills on 111 swings with only 16 attacking errors.
 
Ware (3.19), Becker (2.83) and Callison (2.73) all rank within the top 16 of the Lone Star Conference in kills per set and have found ways to keep opposing defenses off balance and guessing with a rotation of high-level offensive play.
 
THE MANUFACTURES HAVE BEEN AT WORK
 
Taylor Stoops and Callie Craus have been at the heart of that offensive success from the setter position in one the Lone Star Conferences best top-to-bottom offenses all season. Stoops ranks ninth in the LSC with an average of 5.81 assists per set while Craus has averaged 5.33 assists per set, 11^th best in the league.
 
Both Patriots have been able to hold their own defensively as well, as Stoops has totaled 84 digs and Craus has totaled 64 for the year.
 
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
The Patriot defense has been just as impressive in the last few matches of the regular season as UT Tyler has limited their opposition to no better than a .128 attack percentage in a single match throughout the four games of the second half of the double round robin conference schedule format. UT Tyler matched their season high blocking total with 11 blocks in the most recent match against Texas A&M-Commerce to help boost those defensive numbers.
 
Ware (149 digs) and libero Savannah Guzman (136 digs) have led the way on the back row for the Patriots all season long. Guzman ranks ninth in the LSC with an average of 4.14 digs per set and Ware enters this week's matches 14^th in the LSC with 3.78 digs per set.
 
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
 
TWU lost both matches last week against Dallas Baptist by 3-1 and 3-2 final tallies. Those losses snapped a three-game winning streak for the Pioneers entering those matches with a pair of wins against Texas A&M-Commerce on Feb. 23-24 and a 3-1 victory over DBU back on Feb. 10.
 
Kaia Saylor has led the Pioneers with 119 kills on the year and ranks fourth in the LSC with an average of 3.50 kills per set. Texas Woman's ranks sixth on the year in the Lone Star Conference with a team hitting percentage of .172.