Volleyball Splits Final Day of Invite
September 6, 2008

The University of Texas at Tyler volleyball team split its final two games of the 2008 Azalea/UT Tyler Volleyball Invitational on Saturday at the Herrington Patriot Center. The Patriots went 3-1 on the weekend and now stand at 6-2 on the year.

In the first match, UT Tyler came out firing on all cylinders against Rhodes, taking an early 13-0 lead. The Patriots would go onto win the first game, 25-15, but would then run into trouble.

After falling behind early in game two, the Patriots struggled throughout the match and eventually fell, 3-1.

Freshman Liz Bartelson (Burlington, Wis.) led UT Tyler in kills with 13, while senior Megan McCarty (Kaufman, Texas) had an outstanding defensive match with 27 digs. Sophomore Whitney Clement (Flint, Texas) had her first double-double of the season with 18 assists and 10 digs.

In the final match of the tournament, the Patriots took on Bacone. UT Tyler had trouble closing out sets in the first two games, losing 25-23, 25-21, and falling to an early 0-2 deficit.

However the Patriots kept their focus and battled back to win the next three sets, 25-12, 25-13, 15-11, giving them the 3-2 win of the match.

Junior setter Cristy Meredith (Amarillo, Texas) had 30 assists in the match, while her counterpart, Clements, had 26.

Offensively for UT Tyler, freshman Danika Waldrep (Arlington, Texas) led the way with 17 kills, while Bartelson and junior Lana Low (Quitman, Texas) followed behind with 12 and 11, respectively.

Standing out defensively for the Patriots were senior Ashley Montalvo (Blooming Grove, Texas), who had 26 digs and freshman Amanda Hanson (Spring, Texas), who had four blocks.

The Patriots will now travel to Sherman, Texas on Tuesday to take on No. 13 Austin College at 7 p.m.

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