University of Texas at Tyler Athletics

East Texas native Lyndsay Mashe enters her tenth year as the head coach of UT Tyler women’s volleyball in 2025 and has been at the helm for NCAA Division II National Tournament Appearances in the program's first four seasons of NCAA Division II postseason eligibility.

The Patriots have earned at-large bids into the South Central Regional Tournament following 20-plus win seasons in both 2021 and 2022, a 17-12 record in 2023, and an 18-9 record in 2024. UT Tyler volleyball amassed a 75-35 record in their first four seasons of Division II eligibility and have made the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament all four seasons.

UT Tyler has accumulated a total of 28 distinctions on the All-Lone Star Conference Awards list under the direction of Mashe in the first six years competing in the league, including a quartet of Player of the Year Awards for Mikayla Ware (Player of the Year - 2022, Newcomer of the Year - Spring 2021), Shaye Koski (Freshman of the Year - 2023), and Kota Hartman (Newcomer of the Year - 2024). Mashe herself was named the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year in Spring 2021 after leading the program to a 14-1 overall record and a 12-0 record in LSC play.

Ware and Christina Escamilla became UT Tyler volleyball's first All-American selections as AVCA Honoroble Mention All-Americans in 2021 under the guidance of Mashe. Ware then repeated her AVCA Honorable Mention All-American status in 2022 after finishing her Patriot career ranked fourth all-time in the UT Tyler volleyball record books with 937 kills and breaking the program record for kills in a season with 475.

Mashe has totaled a 163-71 (.697) overall record during nine seasons at the helm of the program, and is entering her 20^th season overall as a head coach at the NCAA level in 2025 after serving as head coach of nearby East Texas Baptist University for 10 seasons. Mashe became UT Tyler's all-time leader in wins with her 95th win as head coach of the Patriots on Sept. 24th, 2021 against St. Mary's during that campaign, and recorded her 300th career win as head coach at the collegiate level with a 3-1 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 6th, 2021.

She finished her tenure as head coach at ETBU as the all-time winningest coach in program history as well, totaling an overall record of 194-112 (.634), prior to assuming her current role at UT Tyler.

In 2024, UT Tyler made their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division II National Tournament, one for each season of Division II postseason eligibility. That season was marked by a bumpy start that saw them go 3-5 over the first three weeks of non-conference play. Mashe got the team going in the right direction, going 14-2 in LSC play and finishing in third place in the regular season race. 

That run earned them the number three seed in the LSC Tournament, where they dropped number six seed St. Mary's in the opening round before falling in a five set thriller with number two seed Angelo State in the semifinals. That run was good enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, where the Patriots earned the number seven seed and faced off with number two seed West Texas A&M. There they would see their season come to an end, but not without another postseason appearance.

The Patriots were led by LSC Newcomer of the Year Kota Hartman, who earned the third straight LSC superlative award for the program. Hartman was an All-LSC First Team selection, joined by teammate Dakota Rogers-Hurtado. Saige Rivera (2nd), Makhai Lewis (HM), and Autumn Perry (HM), rounded out the All-LSC selections. 

The Patriots third-straight appearance in the NCAA Division II National Tournament marked a largely new era of Patriot volleyball, as a young UT Tyler squad closed out the 2023 season winners of seven of their last eight matches. Koski, who was named the AVCA South Central Region Freshman of the Year and Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year, helped lead UT Tyler to a 17-12 overall record and an 11-5 mark in Lone Star Conference play.

The 2023 team earned the no. 8 seed in the South Central Regional tournament before falling to eventual national-runner up West Texas A&M. Koski, Adeline Ortman and Maiya Peña all received All-Lone Star Conference recognition at season's end 

UT Tyler went 20-10 in 2022 and earned the no. 7 seed into the South Central Regional Tournament after navigating one of the region's toughest regular season campaigns. The Patriots finished fourth in the Lone Star Conference with a record of 12-4 in league play, and advanced to the 2022 LSC Volleyball Championship semifinals following a 3-2 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville in the quarterfinals. 

The 2022 season marked the end of one of UT Tyler volleyball's most accomplished seniors classes that played vital roles in the consecutive national tournament appearances in the first two years of eligibility. Mikayla Ware finished her Patriot career ranked fourth all-time in the UT Tyler volleyball record books with 937 kills and broke the program record for kills in a season with 475 on the year in 2022. Savannah Guzman completed her career alongside Ware as well ranked second all-time in program history with 1,644 career digs, and is one of just three Patriots to have eclipsed the 1,500 career dig mark in the history of the program.

Ware was named the 2022 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year as UT Tyler volleyball collected nine accolades on the 2022 LSC Volleyball All-Conference Awards list and became the first representative from UT Tyler volleyball to earn a Player of the Year designation. Savannah Guzman, Evelyn Torres and Maiya Peña all earned All-LSC Second Team honors, and Dakota Rogers-Hurtado and Adeline Ortman received All-LSC Honorable Mention honors. Ortman and Ware were each named to the LSC Volleyball All-Academic Team as to round out the awards for the Patriots.
 
The 2021 season was a monumental campaign for the program in a multitude of ways as UT Tyler was selected as an at-large bid into the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament, earning the no. 6 seed, and upset no. 3 seeded Colorado Mesa in the quarterfinals of the tournament to advance in the program's inaugural appearance in an NCAA National Tournament. The Patriots appeared in all 13 additions of the AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Top 25 poll throughout the regular season, rising to as high as no. 13, and rose to as high as no. 5 in the first two editions of the South Central Regional Rankings.

Mikayla Ware and Christina Escamilla became the first two All-Americans in the history of the program after earning AVCA All-South Central Region and All-Lone Star Conference First Team honors at season's end, while Ware put together a complete effort at the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament, earning All-Tournament honors after recording double-doubles in both matches. Eight different Patriots including the duo of Ware and Escamilla found their names on the 2021 All-Conference list, including Savannah Guzman (Second Team), Callie Craus (Honorable Mention), Hannah Callison (Honorable Mention) and Maiya Peña (Honorable Mention). Escamilla and Craus also earned LSC All-Academic Team honors as well.
 
Mashe was named the 2021 Spring Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Patriots to an undefeated 12-0 regular season record and an appearance in the 2021 Spring Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament following a shortened spring schedule for UT Tyler. 

The cancellation of the 2020 fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed UT Tyler to compete in the 2021 Spring LSC Postseason Tournament despite finishing up the school’s transition period into full-fledged Division II status.
 
UT Tyler earned the right to host that LSC postseason tournament inside the Herrington Patriot Center following an undefeated regular season that saw the Patriots earn their first AVCA Division II National Ranking, finishing the 2021 spring season ranked no. 11 in the country. Mashe and the Patriots claimed their Divisional Championship for the regular season, earning the no. 1 overall seed in the tournament, and advanced all the way to the championship match before falling to eventual no. 1 nationally-ranked Angelo State by a 3-2 final. Five Patriots (Mikayla Ware, Christian Escamilla, Savannah Guzman, Hattie Murray and Taylor Stoops) were named to the 2021 Spring All-Lone Star Conference Team while Ware was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year.
 
The 2021 spring season sent a message to the Lone Star Conference that Mashe and the Patriots were immediate contenders at the Division II level after working through the NCAA Division II transition period from 2018-2021. Mashe guided the Patriots to a 10-16 overall record in the program’s first season competing against a Division II schedule in the Lone Star Conference in 2019.
 
Kylee Becker earned the program’s first All-Lone Star Conference Award, earning Honorable Mention All-LSC honors at the conclusion of that 2019 campaign.

2018 was a banner year for the Patriots in their final season competing in a Division III schedule before beginning the three-year transition into the Division II level. Mashe guided the Patriots to a 24-2 record, matching the program record for wins in a season, and no. 19 final AVCA Division III National Ranking. Kaitlyn Budisalovich was named to the All-ASC team and highlighted eigth selections to the All-ASC East Division Team.

The first two seasons of the Mashe era at UT Tyler served also served as the final two seasons of the Division III era for the Patriots, as she guided the squad to a pair of second place finishes in the ASC East in 2016 and 2017, qualifying for the ASC Tournament in both campaigns. The Patriots went a combined 40-17 in the final two seasons competing at the Division III level, and had a total of 19 All-ASC selections in the final two seasons competing in the league.

Mashe brings exceptional volleyball acumen and leadership to UT Tyler after accumulating a 194-120 overall record and to 118 wins in the American Southwest Conference throughout her career. A Longview native, Mashe played high school volleyball at Longview Pine Tree and then two seasons at Panola College before becoming an All-ASC performer as a junior and senior from the setter and defensive specialist positions at ETBU. She spent one year at Atlanta High School as its head coach before taking over in Marshall in 2006 where she would become the all-time wins leader in program history. Mashe is the fifth head coach in UT Tyler program history. 

She amassed a 47-14 conference record in her last four seasons at East Texas Baptist University. Her team established a program record by winning 32 matches in the 2013 season and she has recorded five 20-win seasons during her career. Mashe has helped guide the playing careers of three AVCA All-America selections (Kolby Sharp, Mallory Sanders and Adaeze Elonu) and has a pair of ASC East Division championships and postseason appearances in nine of 10 seasons. The 32 victories in 2013 is the single-season record in the history of any current ASC volleyball program.

Mashe started her collegiate head coaching career in 2006 by leading the Tigers to a 15-2 conference record and securing the divisional championship. Her team would also win the ASC East Division in 2008 with a 14-3 conference record. That first year came after she coached Atlanta HS to a 24-10 record and to the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.

As a student-athlete, Mashe was a two-time all-conference setter at Panola College before transferring to ETBU where she played in 2003 as a libero/defensive specialist and in 2004 as a setter for the program she would eventually lead as its head coach. Mashe ranks fifth in ETBU history with 1,524 career assists in her two seasons with the Tigers where she also had 82 aces and was an ASC All-Academic selection as a senior.

A staple in the East Texas volleyball scene since her high school playing days, Mashe was an All-State performer for the Pine Tree Lady Pirates.

Mashe graduated from ETBU in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Education. She is married to Kris Mashe and they have one son, Brady, and one daughter, Peyton.