TYLER, Texas (October 2, 2026) – The UT Permian Basin volleyball team led 11-6 in the first set and 10-6 in the second set, but could not get on the board in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-13) win for UT Tyler on Friday night at the Louise Herrington Patriot Center. It was a story of pressure up the middle that helped UT Tyler get out of trouble in the first two sets, and then service pressure (4 aces) pushed the Patriots over the top in the final set.
After two early kills by
Kaitlyn Salgado in the first four points of the match helped UTPB get off to a good start, three straight kills by
Precious Johnson,
Makenna Grimes and
Addison Parks were followed by a solo block by Parks to keep the good start going with a four-point lead (7-3) in the first set. Then after an assisted block by
Sydney Bradley and
Nickilah Whatley, an attack error by the Patriots' Sydney Atkinson made it a five-point Falcons' advantage (11-6) and forced a Patriots' timeout.
The timeout proved to be a successful move for UT Tyler as the Patriots settled down and scored five straight points, scoring in a variety of ways (attack error, service ace, kill, solo block, kill) to tie it (11-11). The two kills during the 5-0 run for UT Tyler were both provided by Kailey Manes on assists from Riley Clinton. The Patriots' run grew to 9-2 as a costly UTPB attack error allowed UT Tyler to take a 15-13 lead at the technical timeout.
A kill by Johnson and a solo block and a kill by Whatley helped the Falcons keep the Patriots from pulling away for the time being. It was a one-point margin (20-19) before the fourth kill of the set by Manes as the Patriots continued to take advantage of setting toward the middle.
Again at a one-point deficit (21-20), UTPB was again unable to get back into the set as a service error followed by an attack error made it 23-20. To close out the first set, the first kill of the night by right-side hitter Melanie Merrill, who earlier in the season was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Week, made it 24-21. A UTPB attack error gave UT Tyler the 25-21 win to steal the first set. UTPB helped out UT Tyler by hitting just .091 in the opening set.
UTPB again led early in the second set, going on a 6-0 run starting with a kill by Parks and then with Parks serving and helping force three UT Tyler attack errors to take a 6-2 lead. After trailing 11-6 in the first set, UT Tyler ultimately trailed 10-6 in the second set, but again came back to win it. UT Tyler regained the lead at 11-10 after an assisted block and back-to-back service aces by Makhai Lewis, forcing a UTPB timeout.
Attacking from the middle was the key in each of the first two sets for UT Tyler. Merrill and Manes teamed up on an assisted block to make it a 14-12 advantage for the Patriots. Also in the middle, Lewis scored four straight points (3 kills, 1 assisted block) to make it a 19-13 Patriots' lead, part of a 7-0 run that ultimately made it 21-13. The Patriots closed out set two with a 25-17 win, winning the final point on another assisted block involving Lewis, who finished with four kills and three blocks in the set.
UT Tyler freshman Mia Cross opened the third set with back-to-back service aces, and then the Patriots again took advantage setting the middle as the seventh kill of the match by Manes made it 3-1. Later, it was a block party for UT Tyler as back-to-back assisted blocks, both involving Lewis, made it a 13-9 lead and forced a Falcons' timeout. Again, back-to-back aces, this time by Kaitlyn Davis, gave UT Tyler a 20-11 lead. UT Tyler won the final set 25-13 after an 11-3 run to end it.
Despite committing seven service errors, the Patriots evened it out with seven aces. They also out-blocked the Falcons 10-3.
UTPB hit .000 percent in each of the final two sets as the blocking game for UT Tyler took over. As a team, UT Tyler combined for five blocks in the second set while Lewis finished with a match-high seven blocks individually.
In the end, UTPB's final hitting percentage of .035 percent was its lowest of the season.
UTPB got eight kills from Salgado (tying for the match-high), two blocks from Whatley, 12 assists from
Kierra Freeman, and 11 digs from
Kyndall Torres.
UTPB falls to 5-7 overall and 0-6 in the Lone Star Conference while UT Tyler improves to 13-2 and 4-1. Despite playing each of its first 13 matches of the season on the road, UT Tyler finds itself tied for third place in the LSC standings after back-to-back sweeps in its first two home matches of the season. UT Tyler finished the 2025 season with a 17-12 overall record and 12-5 mark in LSC play, advancing to the LSC Championship Semifinals for the second consecutive season.
UT Permian Basin finishes off the week against The University of Texas at Dallas starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 3, in Richardson, Texas.
