TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler hit .353 as a team to roll past UT Permian Basin by a 3-0 (25-10, 26-24, 25-19) final tally on Friday night inside the Herrington Patriot Center.
Junior
Kota Hartman led the effort with 17 kills, hitting .350 on the night, while senior
Dakota Rogers-Hurtado put away eight kills on just 11 swings without a hitting error. The Patriots as a whole committed just 10 errors on the evening, matching their lowest total on the season, and limited UT Permian Basin to just a .116 hitting percentage on the defensive side of the net.
Junior
Jackie Velzis was also ultra-efficient, registering nine kills on just 19 swings without an error as well.
The Patriots started Senior Weekend and their final weekend of play at home on the right foot with a 25-10 first set victory. UT Tyler led 11-3 in the early goings of the set and then rattled off nine unanswered points coming out of the 14-8 mark to extend the lead to 23-8.
UT Tyler put down 12 kills on just 27 swings, while forcing UT Permian Basin into 10 errors and just eight kills in the dominant opening frame of action.
The middle frame was easily the toughest battle of the night in the match, as UT Permian Basin led by six on two different occasions at the 19-13 and 20-14 marks. UT Tyler started to chip away at the Falcon lead with a 5-1 run that brought the deficit back to just 22-21 and then finally tied the frame back up for the first time since the early goings with two points to make it 23-23.
UT Permian Basin set themselves up with set point at the 24-23 mark, but a kill and a block from Rogers-Hurtado followed by a kill from Velzis strung together the three points UT Tyler needed to take the 26-24 win.
The Falcons hung around for the majority of the third frame, but another strong close for the Patriots with a 6-1 run put the finishing touches on the match. UT Tyler needed that run as UT Permian Basin didn't allow the point differential to grow larger than two for the entirety of the set up until that point.
The Patriots turned a 19-18 frame into the 25-19 third set win behind that 6-1 run.
UT Tyler totaled 46 kills on the night on 102 swings. UT Permian Basin put down 35 kills on 112 swings.
Junior
Saige Rivera notched 41 assists and six kills. Libero
Addison Evans led the way with 13 digs while sophomore
Bella Briceno added 10 digs to the effort.
Rogers-Hurtado added three blocks to her eight kills, providing an impact across the board in the first of her two final matches inside the Herrington Patriot Center on Senior Weekend. Rogers-Hurtado will be one of five Patriot seniors recognized prior to first serve of tomorrow's match.
That match against Western New Mexico is set for a 2 p.m. first serve.