TYLER, TEXAS – #20 UT Tyler moved to 2-0 on the season with their second straight 3-0 (25-16, 32-30, 25-19) win of the Southeastern Classic on Friday afternoon against Emporia State in Durant, Okla.
 
The Patriots used a furious comeback in a second set that ended with a 32-30 final score to rally to the sweep and their 14^th straight regular season win dating back to the 2021 spring season. Four Patriots notched double-digit kills for UT Tyler on Friday afternoon as the Patriot offense continued to operate at an efficient rate.
 
Maiya Peña and Christina Escamilla both totaled 14 kills in the win, as Peña hit .500 on the afternoon and Escamilla .462. Peña scored kills on 14 of her 22 swings, while Escamilla converted 14 of her 26 attacks into kills.
 
The 3-0 victory on Friday afternoon over the Hornets marks the fourth straight regular season 3-0 sweep of an opponent dating back to the final two regular season matches for the Patriots in the 2021 spring schedule. The Patriot offense has posted an absurd team hitting percentage of .292, .385, .344 and .259 in those four matches.
 
Friday's win was unique amongst the four-game run for the Patriots as the defensive effectiveness for head coach Lyndsay Mashe's squad nearly reached record pace with 82 team digs, matching the most in a three-set match during the team's Division II era. The 82 digs as a unit mirrors the 82 digs posted by the Patriots in the 3-0 sweep of West Texas A&M in the Quarterfinals of the 2021 Spring LSC Volleyball Championships back on Mar. 24, 2021.
 
UT Tyler found themselves down by a substantial margin in a set for the first time in 2021 in that marathon of a second set on Friday afternoon, but negated a 21-14 Emporia State advantage to jump ahead 2-0 in the match. The Patriots took set one thanks to a seven-point run coming out of a 15-15 tie in the opening frame, and finished the set off with three straight points to secure the 25-16 win.
 
Emporia State showed some resolve in the second set and jumped out to a quick 9-6 lead following the decisive first set win for UT Tyler. The Patriot offense that ended the first set with kills in nine of the 10 final points of the frame struggled to find that same prowess in the second.
 
That led to the 21-14 Emporia State advantage before the Patriots stormed back with a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to just 22-21. From that point forward, UT Tyler survived set point on four different occasions, and finally flipped the advantage back into their own hands after avoiding the set ending point at the 29-28 mark with two straight points of their own.
 
Those points flipped the score to 30-29 in favor of the Patriots, and after a tying point for the Hornets to draw the set even at 30-30, UT Tyler was finally able to string together a pair of points for the 32-30 win. Emporia State couldn't capitalize on the lead in the second set or on a quick 4-0 lead in the third set, as the Patriot offense flexed it's muscles with runs of seven and eight straight points to build a 19-9 lead in what would be the third and final set.
 
Sophomore Evelyn Torres posted 10 kills for the second match in as many days in Friday's win to join Peña and Escamilla as three of the four Patriots in double-digit kill totals. Senior Hannah Callison was the fourth member of that group, hitting .500 for the match with 10 kills on just 16 attacks.
 
Senior Mikayla Ware and senior Savannah Guzman both eclipsed the 20-dig mark, as Ware led the way with 26 and Guzman with 23. Ware combined her 26 digs with eight kills.
 
The setter duo of Callie Craus and Taylor Stoops once again operated seamlessly, as Stoops finished with 25 digs and Craus with 24.
 
UT Tyler will look to remain perfect on the season and in the Southeastern Classic with a pair of matches tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m. against New Mexico Highlands. The afternoon match against Central Oklahoma at 1 p.m. will be vital for the Patriots, as the Bronchos will pose as the first team who received votes in the 2021 AVCA Division II National Coaches Preseason Poll to square off with UT Tyler.