SHAWNEE, OKLA. – The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball program put together a pair of 3-1 victories on Saturday over Newman and Texas A&M-Kingsville to finish the weekend with a 3-1 record at the OBU Fall Tournament.
 
The Patriots offense flashed their best day of volleyball between the two matches, especially against their first Lone Star Conference opponent of the year in the final 3-1 (26-28, 30-28, 25-23, 25-20) win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. UT Tyler posted 71 kills in that match, their most thus far in 2022, and had four individuals posted double-digit kill totals in the match.
 
Senior Mikayla Ware was once again spectacular for the Patriots throughout the day, leading UT Tyler in kills in both matches while finishing one-kill shy of the career high mark that she posted yesterday with 24 in the win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. Ware finished with 12 kills in the victory over Newman, and had a double-double effort in both Patriot victories.
 
The Patriots dominated Newman in match one of the afternoon aside from a slow second set, posting 15 or more kills in each of their three set victories while recording a .201 hitting percentage as a team. UT Tyler answered an ugly 25-11 second set loss with a 25-12 third set victory, to jump ahead in the match 2-1 and never looked back.
 
Seniors Hannah Callison and Maiya Peña provided solid support for Ware on the offensive side with 10 kills each, while classmate Savannah Guzman registered 16 digs to lead the defensive effort. UT Tyler out-killed Newman by a 63-to-57 margin, helped in large part by quality setter play from sophomores Adeline Ortman and Jenna White.
 
That continued into the second match of the day in the win over Texas A&M-Kingsville, the first LSC foe of the year for the Patriots albeit it in a match marked as non-conference competition. The UT Tyler offense notorious for balance and efficiency, finally flexed it's muscles with 15 or more kills in all four sets, and a .249 hitting percentage.
 
The Patriots out-killed the Javelinas by a 71-to-56 margin in the match on the heels of 24 kills from Ware, and three other Patriots in junior Evelyn Torres (17), Callison (13) and Peña (10) in double-digit kill totals. Ortman was outstanding manufacturing that balanced offense with a career-high 51 assists in the match.
 
Both UT Tyler and Texas A&M-Kingsville split extra-point first sets as the Javelinas took set one by a 28-26 final and then UT Tyler the second set by 30-28 before the Patriot offense took over in the third and fourth sets. UT Tyler posted hitting percentages of .424 and .311 in those victories to complete the weekend with a 3-1 record.
 
UT Tyler will stay on the road for the third consecutive weekend on Sept. 8-10 in San Angelo, Texas where they are scheduled to take on three LSC foes in non-conference competition.