LAREDO, TEXAS – UT Tyler fell by a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) final on Friday night at Texas A&M International.
UT Tyler put forth a slow offensive night in the first of four straight matches on the road, totaling just 32 kills, their lowest output of the Lone Star Conference schedule. The Patriots finished with a team hitting percentage of .126 with 32 kills on 111 swings.
Freshman
Shaye Koski totaled a team high 11 kills in the match. Junior
Addison Evans and sophomore
Brylee Peterson led the defensive effort with eight digs, respectively.
Texas A&M International finished with 38 kills for the match and was especially strong in the late stages of all three sets in route to the sweep of the Patriots.
The two sides alternated six-point unanswered runs in the first frame to carry a 17-16 Dustdevil level into the late stages of the set. Texas A&M International extended the lead to 22-18 before UT Tyler notched four-straight points to even the set up at 22-22.
The Dustdevils closed out their opening set win with three-straight points after UT Tyler tied it up, the final two of which were by way of aces.
UT Tyler clawed their way back into the second set in the late stages once again after falling behind 18-12. The Patriots responded to that deficit with a 7-2 run to make it 20-19.
Texas A&M International extended the lead to 23-20 before the Patriots notched another run of unanswered points to make it 23-23. The Dustdevils once again settled in and closed out the second set with two points to move ahead 2-0 in the match.
Set three was another back-and-forth affair as UT Tyler led 18-17 before a 5-1 Texas A&M International run padded a lead that the Dustdevils wouldn't relinquish from that point forward to close out the 3-0 victory.
Koski added three blocks to her 11 kills to lead the blocking output at the net for UT Tyler while setters
Adeline Ortman and
Jenna White totaled 12 and 10 assists, respectively.
UT Tyler will head to Kingsville, Texas tomorrow afternoon for a 2 p.m. match against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
