SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – UT Tyler volleyball continued its perfect start to the 2026 season Friday night, sweeping Texas Woman's, 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-21), in its opening match of the Lone Star Conference Challenge. With the victory, the Patriots improve to 9-0 on the season and have now won 14 consecutive sets.
UT Tyler controlled the opening set from the start, building an early 5-3 advantage before extending its lead to 9-5. The Patriots continued to apply pressure at the net, using kills from Maya Jones and Sydney Atkinson along with a pair of blocks to push the lead to 12-6.
The Patriots maintained their advantage throughout the remainder of the set, getting kills from Kailey Manes, Melanie Merrill and Makhai Lewis. UT Tyler closed the opening frame on a 6-2 run, with Riley Clinton recording a service ace before Merrill delivered the final kill to give the Patriots a 25-13 victory.
UT Tyler carried that momentum into the second set where the Patriots got their lead behind strong play at the net. Manes recorded a kill while Merrill and Lewis contributed blocks as UT Tyler moved ahead 12-10 to kick off set 2. Lewis then added a service ace before UT Tyler closed the set on a dominant 7-0 run.
Merrill capped the run with a kill, giving the Patriots a 25-14 second-set victory and a 2-0 match lead.
Texas Woman's opened the third set with a 2-0 advantage, but UT Tyler quickly answered behind a pair of service aces from Anna Arceneaux and a kill from Autumn Perry to take a 4-2 lead.
The two teams battled throughout the middle portion of the set, with Texas Woman's eventually pulling even at 11-11.
The Pioneers continued to battle, but the Patriots remained composed down the stretch. Clinton sparked a late run with back-to-back service aces before Mia Cross added an ace to put UT Tyler ahead 24-21. Cross then connected with Clinton for the match-clinching kill, sealing the 25-21 victory and the 3-0 sweep.
Merrill led the Patriots offensively with nine kills, while Manes added seven kills and hit .667. Jones finished with six kills and a .316 hitting percentage, while Lewis contributed four kills and five blocks.
Clinton directed the UT Tyler offense with 15 assists and added a kill, three service aces and six digs. Arceneaux recorded 15 digs and two service aces, while Perry added five kills and three digs. Collins contributed eight assists, while Cross finished with one ace and seven digs.
The Patriots finished the match with 33 kills, nine service aces, 12 blocks, 32 assists and 55 digs.
UT Tyler will close out the LSC Challenge on Saturday, facing host school St. Mary's at 1 p.m. The Patriots enter the matchup with a perfect 9-0 record and a 14-set winning streak.
