Volleyball Sweeps Day 1 of Tournament
September 5, 2008

The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball team won both of its matches to open play in the 2008 Azalea Orthopedic/UT Tyler Volleyball Invitational at the Herrington Patriot Center on Friday.

The Patriots defeated Ottawa (Kan.) in three straight games, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23, during their first match of the day. In the second match, UT Tyler took care of cross-town foe, Texas College, in three straight as well, 25-8, 25-8, 25-9.

In the match against Ottawa, freshman Liz Bartelson (Burlington, Wis.) led the way offensively for the Patriots with 10 kills, while senior Megan McCarty (Kaufman, Texas) led defensively with 19 digs. Sophomore Whitney Clements (Flint, Texas) had 19 assists and junior Cristy Meredith (Amarillo, Texas) had 14 assists.

As a team, UT Tyler had 40 kills for an attack percentage of .277 in the match, as well as seven aces and five total blocks.

In the second match of the day, freshman Danika Waldrep (Arlington, Texas) got things started off right serving 12 consecutive points. Waldrep, along with Meredith and McCarty, would finish the match with three aces. Junior Lana Low (Quitman, Texas) led the offensive attack for UT Tyler with 8 kills, while Meredith and Clements had 11 assists each. Defensively, senior Ashley Montalvo (Blooming Grove, Texas) had nine digs and freshman Amanda Hanson (Spring, Texas) and Bartelson each came up with one solo block.

The Patriots finished with an attack percentage of .357, 29 kills and 17 aces. The 17 aces is single-matchrecord for UT Tyler. The Patriots had achieved the former record of 16 on two previous occasions, both in 2006, against Jarvis Christian and Howard Payne.

UT Tyler will wrap-up action in the Azalea/UT Tyler Invitational on Saturday. The Patriots will take on Rhodes at 12 p.m. and Bacone at 4 p.m at the Herrington Patriot Center.

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