DENVER, COLO. – (RV) UT Tyler suffered a pair of 3-0 losses to #3 Wayne State and #19 Regis on day one of the Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday afternoon.
 
The Patriots couldn't find an answer to a Wayne State offense in the first match of the day that committed just four attacking errors in 101 swings and then failed to find their rhythm offensively in the evening match against #19 Regis. UT Tyler will await the results across the board in Division II's best volleyball tournament to see who they will meet in tomorrow's matches.
 
Junior Sophie Connor notched a season-high 12 kills in the Wayne State match and Addison Evans totaled 16 digs to highlight the Patriot output in the 3-0 (23-25, 17-25, 20-25) defeat. UT Tyler out-killed the no. 3 nationally-ranked Wildcats by a 46-to-38 margin, but couldn't overcome 21 attacking errors in comparison to just four from Wayne State.
 
Connor needed just 19 swings to total her 12 kills in the match, recording a hitting percentage of .421. Sophomore Jackie Velzis was also incredibly efficient for the Patriots, converting seven of her 16 swings for kills.
 
Wayne State hit .337 as a team, recording two hitting errors in the first and third sets, and none in the second set to make UT Tyler earn every bit of their point totals in the match. The Wildcats blocked UT Tyler eight times as well.
 
Freshman Shaye Koski totaled 11 kills to highlight an otherwise slow match offensively for UT Tyler in the 3-0 (16-25, 18-25, 16-25) decision to #19 Regis. The Patriots hit just .108 in the match, totaling a season-low 30 kills.
 
Velzis provided another efficient outing in the Regis match as well, connecting on seven of her 15 swings for kills. Koski posted a .259 hitting percentage, totaling 11 kills on 27 swings.
 
Setters Adeline Ortman and Jenna White notched 12 and 10 assists, respectively.
 
Game times and opponents will be announced via uttylerpatriots.com for tomorrow's two matches.