TYLER, TEXAS – (RV) UT Tyler finished day one of the 2023 Patriot Classic with a 2-0 record after a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20) win over Montevallo and a 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-12) victory over Southern Nazarene.
Freshman
Shaye Koski provided an eye-opening debut in a Patriot uniform with 32 kills between the two matches, pacing UT Tyler in both matches with 12 kills in the win over Montevallo and 20 kills in the second match against Southern Nazarene. Koski registered her first career double-double in the five-set win over Southern Nazarene, posting 15 digs to compliment her 20-kill outing.
The Parkville, Mo. native got started early on Friday afternoon with the first six kills of the 2023 season for the Patriots in set one against Montevallo. She would go on to register seven of the 12 UT Tyler kills in that opening set, leading to a 25-15 victory for the Patriots.
The UT Tyler offense as a whole was efficient in the first two set victories for the day, posting a .298 hitting percentage in the 25-15 and 25-16 victories, putting down 20 kills on 47 attacks with just six hitting errors. The Patriots built 10-point leads in both sets to squarely control the early stages of the match.
A nine-point run coming out of the 9-9 mark of the third set cleared the path for a 3-0 sweep in the 2023 debut for UT Tyler. A strong defensive output controlled a late rally for Montevallo, limiting the Falcons to a .000 hitting percentage in the third and final set of the match.
Koski went for 12 kills in the win, while sophomore
Jeorgia Jones converted on seven of her 12 attacks to provide strong support to the offensive work for UT Tyler. The Patriots finished the match with a .146 hitting percentage with 32 kills for the match.
Junior
Addison Evans notched 11 digs in her debut from the libero position, while
Adeline Ortman and
Jenna White ran the Patriot offense with 15 and 10 assists, respectively.
The Patriots answered an early test in the second match of the day in a five-set win over Southern Nazarene. Koski's 20-kill, 15-dig effort helped overcome an uncharacteristic 16 service errors for the Patriots in the match.
Evans also played a key role in the victory, as her 23-dig effort helped solidify an outstanding defensive display for the Patriots against a talented Crimson Storm offense. Offensively the Patriots began the match with a .395 hitting percentage in the first set, and then a .478 mark in the fifth set to help post a .221 team output for the match.
The Koski, Jones and
Brylee Peterson trio helped rack up 68 kills for the Patriots, providing a 68-to-49 advantage in the kill total over Southern Nazarene.
19 of the points for UT Tyler in set one came via kills as Koski and sophomore
Jackie Velzis each registered six kills in the opening frame alone. That onslaught of points helped pad an 18-9 lead to secure an eventual 25-19 opening set victory.
Southern Nazarene answered with a strong second set of volleyball, closing out the frame with an 8-to-2 run to claim a 25-20 victory. That momentum carried over into the third set for the Crimson Storm, as they jumped out to a 14-9 head start thanks to eight Patriot errors in the early goings of the frame.
UT Tyler settled into set three with a run of nine unanswered points to regain the lead at 18-14. Southern Nazarene cut the advantage to just one point on five different occasions throughout the late stages of the set, but ultimately fell by a 25-23 final tally to put UT Tyler ahead 2-1 in the match.
Set four was all Southern Nazarene, resulting in a 25-19 Crimson Storm win and a deciding fifth set.
Southern Nazarene opened the final set of day one of the 2023 Patriot Classic with an 8-4 lead, before the well-round UT Tyler offense finally found it's form. Peterson led the charge for UT Tyler with four kills in what would end up being a 7-1 Patriot run through the middle stages of the frame.
That run put the Patriots ahead 12-10 before Koski capped off her debut with kills in two of the final three points of the night for UT Tyler to close out the 15-12 win. Koski notched five kills in the final frame to pair with Peterson's four in what was a dominant output for the offense with 13 kills and a .478 team hitting percentage.
Ortman and White once against served as catalysts for the Patriot hitters, totaling 31 and 30 assists, respectively.
Jones was efficient once again in the nightcap, posting a .367 hitting percentage with 14 kills on 30 swings. Junior
Dakota Rogers-Hurtado added eight kills on just 17 swings for a .412 hitting percentage while Evans was the defensive cog once again with 23 digs in the match.
UT Tyler will take a 2-0 record into tomorrow's second and final day of the 2023 Patriot Classic and will meet Fort Lewis and Union at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
