TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler started fast and then put an exclamation mark on a 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19) win over (RV) Angelo State with an emphatic fourth set victory.
The win on Saturday closes out the regular season for the Patriots with victories in seven of their last eight outings and honored graduate student Maiya Peña in her final game inside the Herrington Patriot Center as part of Senior Day Saturday for the program. Peña was outstanding, hitting .500 on the afternoon with 12 kills in 20 swings, and added four blocks to the effort.
UT Tyler collected a key win to their NCAA Division II National Tournament resume on Saturday, knocking off an Angelo State squad ranked no. 5 in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings. The Patriots will await the results of Saturday's matches across the Lone Star Conference to determine their seeding and match-up in next weekend's Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament.
Peña spear-headed what was largely a dominant effort for UT Tyler on Saturday afternoon and joined both
Sophie Connor (16) and
Brylee Peterson (12) with double-digit kill efforts. Peña, Connor and Peterson were all efficient on the offensive side of the net as Connor hit .244 with 16 kills on 45 swings and Peterson .423 with 12 kills on 26 swings.
That Patriot offense began the day on a tear in the opening set, putting down 15 kills on their first 34 swings for a .382 hitting percentage and a 25-15 first set win. UT Tyler pulled away with six unanswered points midway through the set to open a 15-7 advantage and finished off the set with four straight points to solidify the 10-point victory.
A fast start in set two provided Angelo State with their lone set win of the afternoon. The Patriots cut a once 19-13 deficit to just two points at the 21-19 mark, but couldn't piece together a late run to march all the way back and fell by a 25-23 margin.
UT Tyler did just that, however, in what was a monumental third set, scoring the final three points of the set to take the 25-21 decision. Connor put down five kills in the back-and-forth frame, two of which came over the course of those final two points.
The Patriots then started out the fourth and final set on a 7-2 run and led by as many eight to cap off the victory with an exclamation point. The Patriot defense conceded just six kills in the frame as Angelo State hit just .032, while the Peterson, Peña and Connor trio all notched a trio of kills to lead the offensive attack.
UT Tyler limited Angelo State to less than 10 kills in both the first and fourth sets and a .113 hitting percentage of the day. The Rambelles committed 25 attacking errors for the match and were blocked 11 times by the UT Tyler defense.
Junior
Dakota Rogers-Hurtado teamed up with fellow middle Maiya Peña to add seven total blocks to that effort.
The defensive back row for the Patriots was effective once again for UT Tyler as junior
Makayla Villarreal led the way with 16 digs and
Addison Evans and
Bella Briceno each with 14 digs.
Setter
Adeline Ortman totaled 41 assists and seven digs.
UT Tyler hit .235 on the afternoon with 53 kills on 149 swings.
Game information for the 2023 LSC Volleyball Championship will be available via uttylerpatriots.com later this afternoon.
