TYLER, TEXAS - #20 UT Tyler will open up the 2021 season this weekend with the first of two non-conference tournaments scheduled for the Patriots with the Southeastern Classic on Sept. 2-4.
 
This weekend's tournament will give the Patriots four matches against opponents from three different Division II conferences over the span of three days and will serve as a good measuring stick of where UT Tyler is at as a team.
 
UT Tyler will open up play in Durant, Okla. this weekend against Southern Nazarene at 7 p.m. on Thursday night and will then take on Emporia State on Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. and New Mexico Highlands and Central Oklahoma on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
 
WITH SUCCESS COMES EXPECTATIONS
 
UT Tyler will not be able to sneak up on anybody this fall, as the Patriots get their 2021 fall campaign started on Thursday night following a 14-1 record during their spring schedule earlier this year. Head coach Lyndsay Mashe's squad announced themselves as top contenders in the Lone Star Conference immediately during that spring schedule after the cancellation of the fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The Patriots swept through the shortened 12-game regular season this spring, and made the most of their opportunity at the 2021 LSC Volleyball Championships. UT Tyler was able to compete in the tournament despite the final year of their mandatory transition period into full-fledged Division II status, and advanced all the way to the final match against eventual champion Angelo State.
 
UT Tyler fell by a 3-2 final against the Rambelles in that championship match as the host squad throughout the entirety of the tournament, but will enter the 2021 fall schedule as fully approved Division II members with the possibility of a postseason berth. If last spring's success is any indication of the potential for this fall's team, a deep run into the LSC Volleyball Championships Tournament and a qualification into the NCAA Division II National Tournament is not out of the realm of possibilities.
 
The nation also took notice of the Patriot's success in the 2021 spring schedule, as UT Tyler was ranked at the no. 20 spot in the 2021 AVCA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll back on Aug. 23. The Patriots were also picked second in the 2021 LSC Volleyball Preseason Poll, just behind Angelo State, who will enter 2021 as the no. 1 ranked team in all of Division II according to the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll.
 
ALL THE PIECES BACK
 
The no. 20 preseason national ranking and the recognition as the league's preseason no. 2 were both rightfully deserved for the Patriots, but with all 10 major contributors returning for coach Mashe this fall, the sky is truly the limit for the 2021 version of the Patriots. UT Tyler led the LSC in all three major offensive categories, including hitting percentage (.236), kills per set (13.84) and assists per set (13.07), and will return nearly every piece to those eye-opening offensive figures from the 15 games last spring.
 
LSC Newcomer of the Year Mikayla Ware is set to return in 2021, alongside All-Lone Star Conference selections Christina Escamilla, Savannah Guzman, Hattie Murray and Taylor Stoops. Ware led the team with 135 kills last spring, and also ranked second on the team with 173 digs throughout the course of the season.
 
Escamilla led the Lone Star Conference with a .375 attack percentage, totaling 164 kills on just 339 swings, and committed just 37 attack errors in those attempts. Guzman was a defensive ace for the Patriots all year, and was vital in keeping the juggernaut Patriot offense flowing, ranking 11^th in the LSC with an average of 4.30 digs per set.
 
Murray was as consistent of a middle blocker as any throughout the 2021 season, ranking third in the LSC with an average of 1.10 blocks per set.
 
Stoops alongside fellow setter Callie Craus proved to be two of the LSC's best setters throughout the spring. Both individuals put up quality numbers as Stoops finished with 299 assists and Craus with 274, and also chipped in defensively all season with solid efforts as well.
 
THE MIND OF MASHE
 
Head coach Lyndsay Mashe enters year number six as the head coach at UT Tyler, and continues to prove herself as a top volleyball mind in the region at any level. She has already compiled a 282-157 career record after spending 10 seasons as the head coach at East Texas Baptist, and is 88-43 in her five seasons at UT Tyler.
 
The 2021 spring schedule was arguably one of the best for Mashe in her 15-year career, guiding UT Tyler to an undefeated regular season record, the no. 1 overall seed in one of Division II's best volleyball conference tournaments, and two wins over perennial powers in the league in route to the championship match, all while working through the mandatory three-year NCAA Division II transitional period. She was named the 2021 Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year for her guidance of the Patriots this spring, and will return in the fall looking to guide the program to it's first NCAA Division II National Tournament bid.
 
A GOOD FIRST LOOK
 
All four of the opening opponents for the Patriots this weekend will provide UT Tyler with a good look at how they stack up against a variety of styles and skill levels.
 
Thursday's opening opponent Southern Nazarene won 20 or more games as recently as 2019, and have long stood as contenders within the Great American Conference. The Crimson Storm have been under the direction of head coach Kevin Ingram for the last 20 seasons, and will be looking to rebound after a 3-9 record in the 2021 spring schedule.
 
Emporia State has had a tradition of quality volleyball throughout their program history, but have been the victims of a vaunted MIAA conference that features top Division II programs year in and year out. The Hornets went 2-14 during the 2021 spring campaign.
 
New Mexico Highlands was unable to compete during the 2021 spring season due to the state of New Mexico health guidelines surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, but went 1-25 in their last season in which they were able to compete in 2019.
 
The perennial match up for the Patriots this weekend will be Saturday afternoon's meeting with Central Oklahoma, who enters the 2021 season in the receiving votes category of the national polls. The Brochos qualified for the Division II National Tournament in both the 2015 and 2017 seasons, and posted a record of 18-13 in their last official season of competition in 2019.
 
Central Oklahoma has an all-time program record of 725-397, and will certainly contend within the Division II Top 25 throughout the 2021 season.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
 
Following this weekend's Southeastern Classic, UT Tyler will return home to host the 2021 Dakota's Patriot Classic on Sept. 9-11. The tournament has attracted some of the best Division II squads in the country, as the Patriots will take on a pair of top 25 ranked opponents in no. 19 Harding and no. 9 Oklahoma Baptist, as well as a Ferris State squad that received votes in the national poll on Thursday night.