TYLER, TEXAS – (RV) UT Tyler volleyball will begin the season 1-3 after the first weekend of play after falling to Ouachita Baptist and then taking down Mississippi College on Saturday.
 
OUACHITA BAPTIST
 
The Tigers would rally back after dropping the opening set, taking the next three to earn the 3-1 win in scores of 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-23.
 
In that first set, the Patriots would hit .279 as a team while totaling 15 kills as they jumped on the Tigers early. The two teams played to a 6-6 draw to open the set, but a run of 6-3 gave them a three point separation as Autumn Perry kicked off a monster day with a pair of kills and a block.
 
The deciding run came at the 18-16 mark, as the Patriots rattled off five straight on the back of two Makhai Lewis aces, a kill from Maya Jones, and an attack error to eventually lead to a 25-19 first set.
 
The two teams would play to a near stalemate to open up the second frame, playing to nine different ties over the first 22 points. At 11-11 the Tigers went on a 3-0 run, but the Patriots had their own answer with a 5-0 run to take the lead back. In that stretch, Jackie Velzis and Kota Hartman added kills, while Lewis added a block and Anna Arceneaux added in an ace.
 
The Tigers however had a run of their own built up, scoring eight of the next 10 points and 11 of the next 15 to put away the set and even up the match.
 
The third set saw the Patriots stay streaky on offense again, going on a 6-0 run while Lewis remained at serve thanks to three kills from Perry and three different errors from the Tigers. That run made it 13-9 Patriots, but the Tigers would take advantage of the Patriots offense going cold as their offense totaled 12 kills over their last 16 points of the set to move up to a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set saw the Patriots and Tigers again battle close, but the Patriots offense strung together a 4-0 run to take a three point lead at 16-13 lead thanks to kills from Kailey Manes and Maya Jones in the run. The Tigers answered with a 6-2 run of their own, but the Patriots would take six of the next eight as Perry grabbed three more kills while Emma Vazquez added an ace and Hartman picked up another kill.
 
That run led to a 23-21 lead for the Patriots, but one final run from the Tigers saw them pick up four straight points and take the win.
 
In the defeat, Autumn Perry and Kailey Manes totaled 17 and 12 kills, with Perry slugging .457 on 35 swings and Manes hitting .269 on 26 swings. Saige Rivera and Kate Christiansen added in 28 and 23 assists, while Vazquez, Hartman, and Arceneaux totaled 22, 17, and 16 digs.
 
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE
 
The Patriots would put together their best offensive showing of the weekend against the Choctaws, hitting .255 for the contest while hitting .394 in the first set and .429 in the deciding fourth set on their way to a 3-1 win in scores of 25-16, 25-27, 28-26, 25-23.
 
That offensive effort was spurred by four different players recording double digit kills, with Autumn Perry having 17, Kaitlyn Davis adding 13, Velzis adding 12, and Jones having 11.
 
That offense got off to a roaring start, sparking a 4-0 run that led to a 14-3 run to open up the match. In that run, the Patriots had 11 kills from six different players as they got it rolling early. That lead would swell out to 18-10 and eventually lead to a 25-16 first set as Perry, Davis, and Velzis helped close out the set with kills as part of a 6-1 run.
 
The second set saw another hot start at 5-1, taking advantage of three errors from the Choctaws to open things up. That run expanded to 10-6, but the Choctaws would battle back to ultimately even up the match at 11-11. Later in the set, the Choctaws ripped off a 5-0 run, taking advantage of three errors from the Patriots. They would later go on a 4-1 run, leading to a 23-20 advantage, but the Patriots scored four straight to take the lead yet again. Ultimately, Mississippi College strung together just enough, taking the set 27-25.
 
In the third set, the two teams would both hit under .100, but the contest was as closely knit as it was all night. They played to seven ties and eight lead changes in the frame, with neither team leading by more than five. The Choctaws took the early advantage at 7-2 and 9-4, but four straight points from the Patriots that saw three errors brought them back within one. A 5-2 run later in the set included kills from Davis and Manes to give them a 15-14 lead.
 
From there, the two teams would settle into a battle of runs with each team trading blows. The deciding run in the set came late, with the Patriots taking seven of nine points on their way to a 24-21 lead and eventually a 25-23 win. In that late run, Jones and Davis each added kills while also taking advantage of four total errors from the Choctaws.
 
The two programs squared away yet again in the fourth, staying neck and neck up to a 12-11 lead from the Choctaws. The Patriots rattled off three straight points, and eventually five of six thanks to three kills from Perry and another from Davis.
 
Another key run came just after as the Patriots ran their lead up to 20-15, capped off by a brilliant set attack from Christiansen. However, the Choctaws didn't go down quietly, going on a 5-0 run to even the match up and eventually take the lead at 23-22.
 
Down the stretch the Patriots leaned on the hot hands, getting kills from Manes, Perry, Jones, and Davis and a clutch block from Audrey Brandon to eventually take the win as Davis scored the winning point.
 
In addition to her 11 kills, Jones would add in four solo blocks on the night. Rivera and Christiansen added 22 and 19 assists each, and Arceneaux capped off another strong defensive effort with 18 digs.
 
(RV) UT Tyler will be back to work next week as they take on the TWU Volleyfest where they will play four matches in two days on September 12 and 13^th.