SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball program made late set comebacks in both the first and third sets to upset #13 West Texas A&M by a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 27-25) final to finish 3-0 at the LSC Crossover.
The Patriots finished the weekend by defeating each of the top three finishers in last year's Lone Star Conference regular season standings in Lubbock Christian, Angelo State and #13 West Texas A&M. Saturday's match highlighted that superb weekend for the team with their fifth win over a nationally-ranked opponent in the Division II era.
UT Tyler trailed 17-13 in the first set and 19-15 in the third set before finding ways to win in both frames in order to sweep the defending South Central Region Champions and no. 13 nationally-ranked Lady Buffs.
Senior
Mikayla Ware had 15 or more kills for the fourth straight match, finishing the afternoon with a team-high 18 kills. Junior
Evelyn Torres was once again a nice compliment for Ware offensively, hitting .375 for the match with 12 kills on just 24 swings. Sophomore
Addison Evans recorded 15 digs to lead three players with double-digit kill totals alongside senior
Savannah Guzman and freshman
Emma Vazquez.
The Patriots answered the 17-13 deficit late in the first set with five straight points, and then continued the momentum coming out of the 19-19 mark with a 6-1 run to close out the 25-20 victory. The 12-2 run to close out the set was powered by three kills from Torres and a pair of kills for Ware.
Both teams had outstanding offensive sets in the second, as West Texas A&M totaled 17 kills and UT Tyler 18 kills. That offensive battle resulted in a tightly-contested frame as UT Tyler opened a four-point lead at the 14-10 mark before West Texas A&M eventually tied the set up at 18-18.
The Patriots stayed steady despite the tight action, never relinquishing the lead and eventually closed out the set with a 3-1 run to win 25-23.
The feat of the match came in the late stages of the third set as West Texas A&M was a point away from forcing a fourth set with a 24-19 lead. UT Tyler responded with five straight points to tie it up and force extra points, and then again avoided the set point with three straight points after a 25-24 Lady Buff lead to win 27-25.
UT Tyler posted a team hitting percentage of .237 in the match, out-killing West Texas A&M by a narrow 43-to-41 margin in the sweep. The Lady Buffs committed 21 attacking errors while the Patriots committed just 16, including only four and two in the first two sets.
The Patriots will now ride a five-match winning streak into the start of Lone Star Conference play next weekend, and made a statement with the three wins over the weekend in a stacked Lone Star Conference Crossover. The two 3-0 sweeps over the other two LSC opponents in Angelo State and West Texas that made the NCAA Division II National Tournament last season will be especially eye-opening across both the conference and national landscape.
The Patriots will stay on the road for that first weekend of LSC play, making trips to Cameron on Friday night and then Canyon, Texas on Saturday afternoon where they will play West Texas A&M once again, this time in league play.
