Match Info	Opponent Info
No. 7 UT Tyler vs. No. 2 West Texas A&M UTT: 20-9, 12-4 LSC | WT: 27-4, 16-0 LSC Thursday, Nov. 17th | 12 p.m. MST Auraria Event Center | Denver, Colo.		ROSTER	SCHEDULE	STATS

2-For-2   

The UT Tyler volleyball team received an at-large into the 2022 NCAA South Central Regional Tournament to mark consecutive appearances for the program in the NCAA Division II National Volleyball Tournament in each of the first two seasons of eligibility for the program. The Patriots were awarded the no. 7 seed in this year's regional tournament field held back in Denver, Colo. on the campus of MSU Denver for the second straight season. UT Tyler is 40-13 over the course of the last two seasons, and 54-14 dating back to the 2021 shortened spring season. Head coach Lyndsay Mashe and her program have taken full advantage of their program's successful transition to full-fledged Division II status, and will look to pull a second straight upset in the quarterfinals of the South Central Regional Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

 A RETURN TO THE MILE HIGH CITY

UT Tyler volleyball made the most of last year's inaugural appearance in the Division II National Volleyball Tournament, upsetting no. 3 seeded Colorado Mesa by a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23) final tally in the quarterfinals of the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament. Mikayla Ware posted her 13^th double-double of the year in last year's victory over Colorado Mesa with 15 kills and 19 digs while Christina Escamilla hit .529 with nine kills on 17 swings. Evelyn Torres chipped in to a well-rounded offensive attack for UT Tyler with 13 kills on 28 swings for a .321 hitting percentage for the match. UT Tyler had 15 or more kills as a team in each of the three final sets and posted a team hitting percentage of .257 for the match. Hattie Murray notched eight kills on the day in 18 swings while Hannah Callison and Maiya Peña both had seven kills to pitch in to 60 kills for UT Tyler on the afternoon. The Patriots 2021 postseason run came to an end at the hands of no. 7 seeded West Texas A&M the next night in the semifinals by a final score of 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25). The Patriots statistically bettered the Lady Buffs in multiple categories, and featured a dynamic performance from Ware, but were unable to overcome a West Texas A&M squad that notched their seventh win in a row in route to the eventual South Central Regional Title. Ware posted double-doubles in both matches in the South Central Regional for UT Tyler, including a 20-kill, 27-dig effort in the semifinal loss to West Texas A&M. Ware was named to the 2021 South Central Region All-Tournament Team following her performance in last year's event. Ware recorded a double-double in both matches last December, totaling team highs in both kills (35) and digs (46) to lead the Patriots in their first ever appearance in an NCAA National Volleyball Tournament. UT Tyler will now have the ability in 2022 to avenge last year's upset to West Texas A&M in the South Central Regional Tournament, and the Lady Buff's 3-0 sweep of the Patriots last Friday in the semifinals of the 2022 Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship in Canyon, Texas.

WHAT COACH MASHE IS SAYING

On last week's run to the semifinals of the 2022 LSC Volleyball Championship... "It was a gutsy performance last week against Texas A&M-Kingsville. We went up 2-0 and played really-really well in the first two sets before Texas A&M-Kingsville did a phenomenal job of just fighting back. They weren't going to go without a fight, they're a great team, really-well coached and it was our third time to see them. I thought our team did a great job at the end of the fifth set in that match of just doing what we needed to do to get that win. In our match against West Texas A&M I thought we competed well up until a certain point and I think we just need to do a better job this time around of executing on some things. I thought West Texas A&M played an incredible in every single game that they played in and we have had some things we have learned and fixed heading into the regional tournament."

On her team's performance throughout 2022 and making it back to the national tournament... "I'm so proud of our team, there's been alot of bright spots this season and maybe some ups-and-downs throughout it, but we did enough to get to this point. It's anybody's ball game once you get this far. I think our team is very excited and we're glad for a second chance. We have alot of things we're looking at on film and just analyzing how we can be better. When you play a team now a fourth time this season there becomes just that desire to win. They're going to have that as well, we're both fighting to take that next step in the regional tournament and potentially win a regional title and get to Seattle. Mentally our team is ready for another opportunity and I expect our team to show up and be ready and have a different mindset going into the game on Thursday."

On what comfort returning to Denver and a familiar venue for a postseason tournament brings to the team... "It should bring some confidence. Our kids that are currently playing for us on the court have been here and have seen the facility and played here. I think we played a great tournament there last year, it's a great facility so our team should have some confidence playing there again. I expect our seasoned players that were there last year to really step up and show up for us."

THE BRACKET

Thursday, November 17
Match 1: 1 p.m. CT – No. 7 UT-Tyler vs. No. 2 West Texas A&M
Match 2: 3:30 p.m. CT – No. 6 Colorado School of Mines vs. No. 3 Regis
Match 3: 6 p.m. CT – No. 8 CSU Pueblo vs. No. 1 MSU Denver
Match 4: 8:30 p.m. CT – No. 5 Colorado Mesa vs. No. 4 Dallas Baptist
 
Friday, November 18
Match 5: 6 p.m. CT - Match 1 Winner v. Match 2 Winner
Match 6: 8:30 p.m. CT - Match 3 Winner v. Match 4 Winner
 
Saturday, November 19
Match 7: 7 p.m. CT – Championship Match

ALL-TOURNAMENT ACCOLADES

UT Tyler seniors Mikayla Ware and Savannah Guzman were both named to the 2022 Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team following their effort's in the Patriot's two matches last weekend in Canyon, Texas.  Ware led UT Tyler with 31 kills in the two matches, and went for 22 kills and 20 digs in Thursday's quarterfinal win over no. 5 seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville. The 2022 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year averaged 3.88 kills per set over the weekend after posting nine kills in the semifinal match against West Texas A&M, and totaled 34.5 points between the two outings. Guzman complimented Ware's offensive efforts on the defensive side of the net for UT Tyler in the tournament, totaling 34 digs on the weekend, including 25 in Thursday's win over the Javelinas. The 2022 All-Lone Star Conference Second Team selection added nine digs in Friday's semifinals, and chipped in eight assists between the two matches as well.

POSTSEASON HISTORY

Overall the Patriots are 1-1 all-time in the NCAA Division II National Volleyball Tournament, and 10-17 all-time in postseason play as a program. UT Tyler has made three straight appearances in the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament, and two straight appearances in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.

POSTSEASON HONORS FOR THE PATS

Senior Mikayla Ware was named the 2022 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year as UT Tyler volleyball collected nine accolades on the 2022 LSC Volleyball All-Conference Awards list as announced by the LSC conference office. Ware is the first representative from UT Tyler volleyball to earn a Player of the Year designation, and becomes the first two-time All-Lone Star Conference First Team selection in program history as well. Savannah Guzman, Evelyn Torres and Maiya Peña all earned All-LSC Second Team honors, and Dakota Rogers-Hurtado and Adeline Ortman received All-LSC Honorable Mention honors. Ortman and Ware were each named to the LSC Volleyball All-Academic Team as to round out the awards for the Patriots.

CLIMBING UP THE RECORD BOOKS

A host of Patriots have etched their names either near the top or at the top of the all-time record marks in the UT Tyler volleyball record books. Mikayla Ware sits fourth all-time in the UT Tyler record books with 925 career kills, and holds the best kills per set average in the history of the program with an average of 3.92 per set. Her 2022 campaign ranks among the best in the history of the program with a school record 463 kills and counting. Savannah Guzman ranks second all-time in program history with 1,634 career digs, and is one of just three Patriots to have eclipsed the 1,500 career dig mark in the history of the program. Hattie Murray ranks fifth all-time with 213 career blocks, and in the top 10 in program history in both solo blocks (38) and block assists (175). Maiya Peña also ranks as one of the best blockers in the history of the program, ranking seventh all-time with 194 total blocks, and has the second-best career hitting percentage at .334. Hannah Callison's quality play over the last few weeks allowed her to climb within the top-10 all-time in career kills, ranking seventh with 746 for her career.

COACH MASHE

Head coach Lyndsay Mashe is in the midst of her seventh season as the program's all-time winningest coach with 128 wins as head coach of the Patriots. Mashe is 128-49 (.726) as the leader of the Patriots. The 2021 Spring Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year is now 321-171 (.654) as a collegiate head coach after six seasons at UT Tyler and 10 seasons at East Texas Baptist.