TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler matched their season high with 12 blocks and did enough offensively late to take down Oklahoma Christian by a 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-19) final on Wednesday night.
 
Senior Maiya Peña and junior Dakota Rogers-Hurtado totaled five blocks each and aided a defensive effort from UT Tyler that forced Oklahoma Christian into 32 hitting errors on the night. The Eagles hit just .082 in the match against a great block and five different Patriots in double-digit dig totals.
 
Freshman Shaye Koski led the Patriots with 12 kills, while Peña totaled 10 to finish the match with 18 points after the five blocks and four service aces. Libero Addison Evans led the five Patriots in double-digit dig totals with 22 on the night.
 
The Patriot offense put in their best work late in the match, registering kill totals of 12 and 16 in the third and fourth sets. UT Tyler hit .145 as a team with 46 kills on 172 swings.
 
Oklahoma Christian began the match with 16 kills in the opening set in route to a 25-20 victory. The score differential never reached higher than two points until a 6-0 run for the Eagles to close out the set.
 
The Patriot defense settled in from that point forward in the ensuing three-straight set victories for UT Tyler. Peña provided a momentum shift with a pair of aces sandwiched around a pair of Koski kjils to open a 12-6 lead in set two.
 
The Patriots used that momentum a few points later to extend their advantage out to 17-9 on four straight hitting errors by Oklahoma Christian, the final of which was caused by a blocked from Rogers-Hurtado and sophomore Brylee Peterson. Rogers-Hurtado, who saw her first action back from injury since Sept. 16^th, went for four kills and five blocks, and provided a noticeable impact at the net for UT Tyler throughout the match.
 
UT Tyler closed out the second set with five unanswered points to secure the 25-16 win and even the match at 1-1. The Patriots once again flipped the score midway through the third set with a 6-0 run to pad a 12-8 advantage, but quickly squandered the lead when Oklahoma Christian answered right back with five points of their own to jump ahead 13-12.
 
A 7-1 run coming out of the 15-15 mark seemingly ignited a slow Patriot offense up to that point and paved the way for a 25-18 victory. UT Tyler used that momentum to charge to their best offensive set of the night in the fourth frame, totaling 16 kills on 47 swings for a .213 hitting percentage.
 
That offense was much-needed as the point total sat at 15-15 midway through the fourth before Peña put down a pair of kills and then watched as freshman Bella Briceno put across an ace to extend a 22-17 lead for the Patriots. Rogers-Hurtado fittingly capped off her return to the floor with a kill to close out the set at 25-19, and the match.
 
Setter Adeline Ortman reached double-double numbers for a third straight match with 40 assists and 10 digs. Junior Makayla Villareal (16), Briceno (13) and sophomore Emma Vazquez (10) joined Evans and Ortman as the five Patriots with 10-plus digs on the night.
 
The victory on Wednesday night extends the UT Tyler win streak to three- straight and precludes what will be a much-needed off weekend this weekend for the team. UT Tyler moves to 13-9 on the year and 7-4 on the year.
 
The Patriots will return to action next Wednesday on their home floor against UAFS.