TYLER, TEXAS - #23 UT Tyler hits the road for Lone Star Conference road matches this weekend against St. Mary's and St. Edward's on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

Friday's meeting against St. Mary's and Saturday's match against St. Edward's will be the first two road LSC contests for the Patriots after beginning the 2021 Lone Star Conference schedule last weekend at home with a pair of wins against West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico. UT Tyler is 6-0 so far in 2021, and stands as one of nine remaining undefeated teams across all of Division II volleyball.
 
Friday's match is slated for a 6 p.m. start in San Antonio and Saturday's match a 1 p.m. start in Austin.
 
A LOOK BACK
 
UT Tyler extended their regular season winning streak to 18 straight games during the opening weekend of volleyball across the Lone Star Conference, taking down West Texas A&M by a 3-1 final on Friday night and Eastern New Mexico by way of a 3-0 sweep on Saturday afternoon. The Patriots have now positioned themselves to enter the UT Tyler volleyball record books, as a win on Friday night would mark the team's 19^th straight regular season win, the longest such streak in program history.
 
The highlight of the opening weekend for UT Tyler undoubtedly came in Friday's win over a West Texas A&M side that began the season 5-1, and received votes in each of the three AVCA Division II National Top 25 polls thus far in 2021. The Patriots won tightly contested first and second sets by 27-25 and 25-23 final tallies, and then survived a big third set by the Lady Buffs to respond with arguably one of their best overall sets of the season in a 25-15 fourth set win.
 
Three Patriots in Mikayla Ware, Evelyn Torres and Callie Craus notched double-doubles in the match, while Ware and Torres both eclipsed the 10-kill mark with 19 and 10 respectively.
 
Saturday afternoon was all UT Tyler against Eastern New Mexico as the Patriots notched 48 kills in just three sets and posted a team hitting percentage of .236 for the day. Torres posted 15 kills in the effort to make it six straight matches in which she has notched 10 or more kills, and junior Christina Escamilla hit .632 for the match with 13 kills in just 19 swings.
 
UT Tyler relinquished the lead just twice through the first two sets in 25-22 and 25-16 victories, and then used seven kills from Torres in the third set alone to overcome a resilient Eastern New Mexico squad for a 25-21 win.
 
THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS
 
The Patriots have officially solidified that the 14-1 record in the 2021 spring season was no fluke, despite the pod formatting in the scheduling that limited them to just three different regular season foes. UT Tyler's win on Friday against West Texas A&M made it two straight dominating victories over a traditional LSC power, as the Patriots knocked the Lady Buffs out of the 2021 Spring LSC Volleyball Championships with a 3-0 victory last March.
 
Saturday's win established UT Tyler as one of just four teams to go 2-0 over the course of the opening weekend of conference play alongside Texas A&M-Kingsville, Angelo State and Lubbock Christian. UT Tyler and Texas A&M-Kingsville are now just two of nine teams nationally to remain unblemished in 2021.
 
The 6-0 start for UT Tyler has also been undoubtedly recognized on the national scale, as the team ranks amongst Division II's best in multiple statistical categories. The Patriots lead all of Division II with an average of 15.81 kills per set and in assists per set with an average of 15.33 per set.
 
Escamilla has been as good as they come all year for head coach Lyndsay Mashe, and now ranks first in all of Division II volleyball with a hitting percentage right at .500 for the year. She has 85 kills in just 152 swings through six matches, and has two games in which she has notched 20 or more kills in wins against New Mexico Highlands and Central Oklahoma back on Sept. 4.
 
MASHE IN THE RECORD BOOKS
 
Wins this weekend can establish this run as the best in UT Tyler history with potentially 19 straight regular season wins dating back to last season, but could also establish head coach Lyndsay Mashe as the all-time winningest coach in UT Tyler history. Mashe currently has 94 wins as head coach of UT Tyler, tied with Suzanne Henson for most all-time in the program's 19-year history.
 
Mashe is 94-36 in her five seasons at the helm of the program after assuming the role in 2016, and is 288-157 in her 16-year career as a head coach.
 
PATRIOTS UP TWO SPOTS
 
The UT Tyler volleyball team moved up two spots in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll to no. 23, as announced by the organization on Monday. UT Tyler and Angelo State remain the lone two Lone Star Conference teams to receive a national ranking, as Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M remained in the receiving votes category for the second week in a row.
 
Angelo State remained at no. 2 in the poll, while Washburn moved into the no. 1 spot in the fourth edition of the poll with 1,077 total points.
 
MURRAY BACK IN THE MIX
 
Senior Hattie Murray returned to the UT Tyler rotation in the Lone Star Conference openers last weekend after missing the first four matches of 2021 at the Southeastern Classic. The 2021 Spring All-Lone Star Conference selection picked up right where she left off, making an immediate impact with 11 kills and five total blocks for the weekend.
 
Her return immediately made a positive impact for fellow middle Maiya Peña and for outside hitters Torres, Ware and Escamilla as well, and her continued senior leadership will be vital as the Patriots look to remain unbeaten in 2021.
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
 
St. Mary's owns a 7-2 record so far in 2021, and split the opening weekend of Lone Star Conference play with a loss against DBU on Friday night and a 3-0 sweep of Texas Woman's on Saturday. The Rattlers also own a win over Lone Star Conference foe Lubbock Christian in a match designated for non-conference play back on Sept. 3.
 
Freshman Alicia Virthe leads the Rattlers offensively with a .285 hitting percentage on the year, best amongst the Lone Star Conference's true freshman in 2021. St. Mary's is a perfect 2-0 in Lone Star Conference home openers dating back to 2019.
 
Friday's meeting will be the first ever meeting between the two programs as they did not meet in UT Tyler's inaugural year competing in a Lone Star Conference schedule.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
 
St. Edward's will also provide a stout test for UT Tyler in Saturday's match, as they will enter the weekend with a 6-3 overall record ahead of Friday night's meeting with Texas A&M-Commerce. The Hilltoppers lost their LSC opener against Texas Woman's last Friday by a 3-1 final, and then swept DBU on Saturday.
 
The Hilltoppers rely heavily on setter Emily Tran, who leads the Lone Star Conference with an average of 10.94 assists per set, and also ranks second on the team with 94 digs on the year. The go-to offensive assests for Tran will be Caroline Swan and Lourdes Gomez, who lead the way for Hilltoppers with 98 and 97 kills respectively.
 
Saturday's meeting will also be the first meeting between the two programs.