TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler completed their opening weekend of play inside the Herrington Patriot Center with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-19) victory over Lubbock Christian.
 
The Patriots pulled away late in the first and second sets and used their second highest team hitting percentage of the season with a .283 in the match to complete the weekend with a second consecutive 3-0 sweep. Three different Patriots notched double-digit kills totals, including seniors Hannah Callison and Maiya Peña, who both posted attack percentages north of .500 for the match.

Callison put down kills in 10 of her 14 swings for a .643 percentage for the match, while Peña totaled her 11 kills on just 20 swings for a .500 percentage. Senior Mikayla Ware led the way with 14 kills, posting a .324 hitting percentage on an afternoon in which the Patriots put down 45 kills in just 106 swings.
 
The win extends the UT Tyler volleyball's regular-season home winning streak to 18 straight matches dating back to the end of the 2019 season.
 
That .283 hitting percentage is the best mark for the squad since the season opener against Colorado Christian back on Aug. 26^th, and allowed the Patriots to handily pull away in each of the first two sets.
 
Lubbock Christian held their last lead at the 14-13 mark of the opening set, but kept pace with the Patriots despite four straight UT Tyler points leading up to the 18-17 mark. The offensive pressure finally took it's toll on the Lady Chaps, as Peña put down three kills in order to lead the Patriots to a 7-1 run to close out the 25-18 victory.
 
UT Tyler closed out set two with a similar onslaught of points, an 8-1 run that broke open a 17-14 advantage for the 25-16 victory. The Patriots posted kill totals of 17 and 15 in the first two frames, and hit .333 as a team in both sets.
 
Set three saw the Patriots jump out to a 12-6 lead and then hold at least a three-point advantage throughout the remainder of the set. Lubbock Christian cut an eight-point deficit at the 21-13 mark in half with four straight points, but were once again closed out by UT Tyler by a 25-19 set three final.
 
Senior Savannah Guzman played well defensively once again for the Patriots, totaling 12 digs for the night. Sophomore Adeline Ortman dished out 29 assists to a Patriot offense that won the kill battle by a 45-to-26 margin for the match.
 
The Patriots also displayed a strong serve throughout the match, and notched a season-best 10 aces in the effort.
 
After returning home for the first time in over a month, UT Tyler volleyball will now make what will essentially be a week-long road trip with matches on Wednesday night against DBU at 6 p.m., and then a Saturday match in Silver City, N.M. against Western New Mexico.