TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler won an opening set in which they trailed by five points twice and then dominated the second and third frames to win 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-8) over Texas Woman's on Wednesday night.

The Patriots found themselves down 16-11 and 20-15 before closing out a 25-22 opening set victory on a 10-2 run. UT Tyler took sole control of the match from that point forward, opening 6-1 and 6-0 advantages in the second and third sets to cruise to a three-set sweep.

The sweep opens a 3-0 start to Lone Star Conference play for the Patriots and provided revenge for UT Tyler over a Texas Woman's team that earned a 3-2 win in the first meeting earlier this season between the two programs. UT Tyler showed a completely different output on Wednesday night on their home floor, dominating the Pioneers in essentially every statistical category.

Junior Kota Hartman posted 12 kills and hit .242 on the night to extend her streak of matches with double-digit kill totals to 10 straight. Her counterpart Autumn Perry went for nine kills and the two middle blockers for UT Tyler were ultra-efficient as Dakota Rogers-Hurtado posted eight kills and a .538 hitting percentage and Makhai Lewis eight kills and a .412 hitting percentage.

The Patriots hit .297 as a unit, putting down 45 kills on 111 swings. UT Tyler cleaned up their offensive work throughout the match, posting just four hitting errors combined in the second and third sets after eight in the opening frame.

That clean-up on the offensive side of the net in the later stages of the opening set allowed a great defensive presence for the Patriots to shine and help completely turn the tide in the match. Bella Briceno and Addison Evans combined for 11 digs in the first frame, locking down the Pioneers after they opened their 16-11 advantage.

The defensive work cut a 20-15 lead for Texas Woman's down to 20-18 with three consecutive errors by the Pioneers and allowed UT Tyler to close the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-22.

Texas Woman's hit .190 in the opening frame with 13 kills, but went for just 10 kills and then four kills in the second and third sets to finish with a .054 team hitting percentage on the night.

Evans led UT Tyler with 18 digs to captain a hard-working crew of defensive specialists, while Briceno added 11 digs.

The UT Tyler offense got going in the second set, adding onto the aforementioned fast start with a 12-5 lead and then a 21-12 advantage in route to a 25-16 second-set win. The Patriots put down kills in nearly half their swings in that frame, hitting .452 with 15 kills in just 31 swings.

UT Tyler rolled to a 15-3 lead and an eventual 25-8 final frame win to cap off the impressive midweek victory in the third and final set. The offense continued to work with efficiency, totaling 13 kills on just 26 swings.

UT Tyler out-killed Texas Woman's by a 45-to-27 margin, out-dug the Pioneers 55-to-40, and rattled off four blocks to just one.

Setter Saige Rivera was outstanding all evening for the Patriots, going for 41 assists on the night to manufacture the offense.

UT Tyler will stay at home in what will be a critical match against no. 23 Dallas Baptist on Saturday afternoon. UT Tyler will seek a 4-0 start to Lone Star Conference play in that 2 p.m. meeting, and will have revenge on their mind once again against another squad that bettered them earlier this fall.