TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler volleyball picked up a crucial LSC win on Saturday afternoon after a 3-2 win over Midwestern State in a thriller.
 
The Patriots came away with a reverse sweep on Saturday behind a monster game from Autumn Perry as she delivered 24 kills and 17 digs to spur the comeback win.
 
A 5-0 run early in set one gave the Patriots a 6-3 lead as Kailey Manes, Audrey Brandon, and Lesley Sanchez each delivered kills. The Mustangs would battle back, going on a 6-1 run that eventually stretched into a 10-2 run to take an 18-10 lead. The Patriots battled late as Perry put down four kills, but the Mustangs took a 25-19 set.
 
The Mustangs went on their own 5-0 run early in set two, taking the lead at 6-4. The Patriots responded with kills by Perry, and Kaitlyn Davis, and Brandon added her own kill and a solo block to give the Patriots the lead right back. Later in the set, the Patriots went on a 7-2 run to take a 19-14 lead behind the efforts of Brandon, Perry, Manes, and Davis, but an 11-3 run from the Mustangs allowed them to complete their own gritty comeback and go up 2-0.
 
The third set featured a third 5-0 run early in the set, this time from the Patriots as Perry, Alyson Robbins, and Brandon combined for four kills as they took an 8-3 lead. The Mustangs later cut the lead down to one with a 5-1 run to make it 14-13, but a crucial 8-3 run from the Patriots kept them rolling as five different players recorded a kill in the stretch. The Mustangs had one more 5-0 run in them to cut the lead back down to one, but two kills from Perry put the set away for good.
 
The two teams continued to trade blows early in the fourth, with the Mustangs coming away with an 8-6 lead. The Patriots dug deep and rode a strong service effort from Anna Arceneaux to the tune of an 8-0 run as Caskey, Manes, Robbins, and Perry picked up kills, Arceneaux added an ace, and Manes and Robbins combined on two blocks.
 
That run would evolve into a 15-1 run that turned the set into a landslide as the Patriots connected on three straight blocks while Saige Rivera picked up two aces and both Robbins and Caskey added kills. That run would allow them to cruise to a 25-15 win as Perry capped off the set with two more kills.
 
In the fifth and final set, the Patriots got rolling early yet again as they ripped off a 6-1 run to lead 8-4 as Manes, Perry, Sanchez, and Robbins all tallied kills. Another 5-0 run for the Patriots saw Caskey and Robbins pick up more kills, setting the Patriots up to close out the set at 15-13 as Brandon earned one final kill and the Mustangs committed an error at match point to close out the contest.
 
The Patriots would hit .347 and .282 in the third and fourth sets and hold the Mustangs to .255, .027, and .000 over the final three sets to contribute to the big win.
 
Perry led all players with 24 kills and was joined in double figures by Kailey Manes and Alyson Robbins as they totaled 11 and 10. Saige Rivera and Riley Clinton combined for 62 of the team's 73 assists, while five players recorded double digit digs, led by Anna Arceneaux with 37.
 
UT Tyler will hit the road next week and head west as they take on #13 West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico. They face the Lady Buffs on Friday, October 24^th at 6 p.m. and the Greyhounds on Saturday, October 25^th at 12 p.m. CT.