TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball program has announced their 2023 schedule.
 
The Patriots have made back-to-back NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances in each of the first two seasons of postseason eligibility at the Division II level. UT Tyler went 20-10 overall in 2022 and put together a 12-4 mark in Lone Star Conference play.
 
Head coach Lyndsay Mashe will look to guide the program to a third trip to the national tournament following a 2023 regular season schedule consisting of 27 matches, 16 of which will take place in Lone Star Conference play. The Patriots will take part in the UT Tyler Tournament and the Colorado Premier Tournament, as well as one of four Lone Star Conference Crossover Tournaments to comprise their 11 non-conference matches in 2023.
 
The top eight teams in the regular season Lone Star Conference standings will qualify for the 2023 LSC Volleyball Championship at season's end, hosted by the no. 1 overall seed from Nov. 16-18.
 
"Our schedule will be very challenging the first three weekends of the season," Coach Mashe said. "We will find out a lot about our team during that time. We are hosting a solid tournament in Tyler the first weekend and then off to Colorado for the Colorado Premier. Both of these tournaments we will be playing teams that are consistently in the top 25 nationally, at the top of their regions and NCAA Tournament caliber teams."
 
The Patriots will begin 2023 in the friendly confines of the Herrington Patriot Center at the UT Tyler Tournament in four matches against the University of Montevallo, Southern Nazarene, Fort Lewis and Union. Week two of the season will pit UT Tyler in one of Division II's best tournaments at the Colorado Premier Tournament in Golden, Colo.
 
That event will draw Wayne State and Regis for UT Tyler on Sep. 8 for day one of the tournament followed by two more matches on Saturday. Regis qualified for the 2022 South Central Regional Tournament out of the RMAC, giving Mashe and the Patriots a firm look at how they will stand through two weeks of the season against one of the region's top programs.
 
UT Tyler will then make a trip to Canyon, Texas on Sep. 14-16 for an LSC Crossover event that will feature the top four finishers in the LSC Regular Season Standings from 2022 in the Patriots, West Texas A&M, DBU and Texas A&M International. Each team will meet once over the course of the weekend in non-conference action.
 
The Lone Star Conference schedule will begin on Sep. 22-23 in Tyler, as the Patriots will welcome Cameron and West Texas A&M to the Herrington Patriot Center. West Texas A&M will make a return to Tyler as the defending NCAA Division II National Champions to highlight what will be a battle between two of the best in the LSC on opening weekend.
 
"The goal is to win the conference, but also put ourselves in a position for another NCAA National Tournament appearance," coach Mashe said. "We will need to get off to a strong start to help achieve our goals for the season."
 
The Patriots will alternate away and home weekends over the next two weeks of conference play at Eastern New Mexico and Lubbock Christian on Sep. 29-30, and then back at home in East Texas on Oct. 4 and Oct. 7 against DBU and Western New Mexico. That Wednesday night meeting against DBU will be one of three midweek meetings for UT Tyler on their home court throughout league play.
 
UT Tyler will then navigate a pair of road weekends in mid-October against Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 13-14, and at Texas Woman's and Midwestern State on Oct. 20-21. That road stretch will set up home weekends for two out of the final three weekends of the regular season for the Patriots, beginning with Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 showdowns against Oklahoma Christian and UAFS.
 
The final road tests of the regular season will take place at St. Mary's and St. Edward's on Nov. 3-4. The 2023 regular season will conclude with Senior Weekend on Nov. 10-11 against UT Permian Basin and Angelo State, with the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship to follow the next week.
 
"Obviously the first stretch of the season is really important, but every match in this conference is important," coach Mashe said. "This conference in one of the best in all of Division II volleyball and everyone is getting better. Our team worked very hard in the spring and we have some great additions joining the program in the fall.  I cannot wait to get started with this group!"
 
For the complete 2023 schedule please visit HERE.