ALPINE, TEXAS – UT Tyler volleyball defended their way to a fourth-straight 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-20) sweep in Lone Star Conference play on Saturday morning at Sul Ross State.
The Patriots limited Sul Ross State to a .000 team hitting percentage in the match, blocking the Lobos eight times. Senior
Dakota Rogers-Hurtado led the offense with 11 kills, posting a .647 hitting percentage for the match, and added four blocks.
Rogers-Hurtado has now posted a hitting percentage north of .500 in five straight matches and has recorded just a single hitting error over that span. The McKinney, Texas native put down her 11 kills on Saturday in just 17 swings without an error.
UT Tyler forced Sul Ross State into 25 errors and limited the Lobos to just 25 kills in the match.
Addison Evans (14) and
Emma Vazquez (10) both notched 10 or more digs for a defense that out-dug Sul Ross State by a 47-to-43 margin.
The win is the sixth in a row for UT Tyler and keeps the Patriots in a tie for second place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 13-1 record in league play, their lone loss coming at the hands of front-runner West Texas A&M.
UT Tyler never trailed in the first frame, pulling ahead of what was a 12-10 set in the early stages with an 8-3 run that made it 20-13. The Patriots followed up a 25-15 first set win with an 8-1 lead to start the second frame, culminating in a 25-14 victory to go up 2-0.
Sul Ross State extended their largest lead of the match by a wide margin at the 16-10 mark of the third set, but eight straight unanswered points for the Patriots flipped the advantage back to UT Tyler at 18-16. The Patriots held control from that point forward, solidifying the sweep with a 25-20 third set win.
Kota Hartman and Autum Perry both added nine kills to an offense that hit .250 in the match as a unit. UT Tyler put down 38 kills on 100 swings.
Setter
Saige Rivera totaled 36 assists.
UT Tyler will stay on the road for the final two matches of the regular season next weekend at Lubbock Christian and #14 Angelo State.
