Match Notes 
Live Stats (DBU | UT Tyler)
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CANYON, Texas – The No. 17 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M (7-4, 0-0 LSC) are back home this weekend to open Lone Star Conference action with matches against DBU (9-2, 0-0 LSC) and UT Tyler (7-4, 0-0 LSC) at The Box.  WT will face DBU on Friday at 5 p.m. followed by a rematch with UT Tyler on Saturday at 2 p.m. 
 
This weekend's promotions feature a Daddy and Daughter Day (Sept. 16) followed by Welcome Back Middle School Campers (Sept. 17).  Campers who wear their WT Volleyball camp shirt will gain free admission into Saturday's match against UT Tyler. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
A live stream and stats will be provided by the WT Communications department.  Both matches will be streamed on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.  Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. 
 
Fans can also purchase a $50 volleyball season pass that will give them access to all Lone Star Conference volleyball matches.  In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2022 season for $10 each.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
DBU
The DBU Patriots come to Canyon for the first time this season with a 9-2 overall record led by second-year head coach Jordan Fish.  Coach Fish took the reins of the Patriots volleyball program in 2021 leading the program to its first winning season since 2015. 
 
WT and DBU meet on the court for the 14^th time with the Lady Buffs leading the all-time series 13-0 including an eight-game win streak in Canyon.  The Lady Buffs are 1-0 against DBU under head coach Kendra Potts.
 
AJ Koele leads the way with 172 kills (4.53/set), which ranks third in the LSC, on 366 swings with 61 attack errors to hit .303. Lauryn Burt guides the offense with 398 assists (10.21/set) while Leah Palensky leads the back row with 111 digs (3.17/set) while Lindsey Otero and Koele combine for 43 of the Patriots 58 blocks.  
 
UT Tyler
WT and UT Tyler meet on the court for the second time this season, and first in Canyon since 2019.  The Patriots have led off the season 7-4 with a current five-game win streak.  UTT is led by seventh-year head coach Lyndsay Mashe who has led the program to rise as a top contender.  
 
On Saturday afternoon, the Patriots defeated the Lady Buffs in three straight to take hold of the all-time series 3-2.  The two programs will meet at The Box for the first time since 2019 where WT grabbed a 3-0 victory in the series opener.     
 
UTT swept the LSC weekly honors with Mikayla Ware earning Offensive Player of the Week accolades followed by Adeline Ortman as the Setter of the Week and Dakota Rogers-Hurtado as the Defensive Player of the Week after going 3-0 at the LSC Crossover.  Ware leads with 176 kills on 507 swings with 71 attack errors to hit .207, averaging 4.76 kills per set. Ortman has guided the Patriots offense with 304 assists (8.69/set) and a team-high 15 service aces.  Savannah Guzman leads with 138 digs to average 3.73 per frame while Dakota Rogers-Hurtado has totaled 39.0 blocks. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs went 2-1 at the Lone Star Conference Crossover held in San Angelo with sweeps against host Angelo State and Lubbock Christian before falling to UT Tyler in three.  WT took hold of their first victory over the Angelo State at Junell Center since 2014 including their first sweep over the Belles in San Angelo since 2010. 
 
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
WT enters conference play with the second-best hitting percentage in the conference (.244) while ranking fourth in kills average (13.53) and blocks average (2.50).  Two Lady Buffs rank in the top five in three categories with freshman Taytum Stow ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage (.333), second in total blocks (49) and 12^th in Division II in blocks per frame (1.36) while Torrey Miller is fifth in kills per set (3.76).  Blair Moreland leads the team with 205 assists, Kayla Elliot is first in aces (11), and Emma Patterson leads with 164 digs. 
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR 
Four teams opened LSC play on Wednesday night with Texas A&M International and Angelo claiming conference opening victories.  TAMIU leads the conference standings after leading off league play with a victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville to move to 10-3 overall. Angelo State (5-8, 1-0 LSC) sits second followed by DBU (9-2), Eastern New Mexico (9-3), and Texas Woman's (9-3) rounding out the top five.  WT ties sixth with Oklahoma Christian and UT Tyler with each posting a 7-4 overall record.  
 
IN THE POLLS
The Lady Buffs are the only program represented in the national standings while UT Tyler and Dallas Baptist are each receiving votes.  Tampa stayed atop of the national standings for the fourth running week with 39 first-place votes, totaling 1,155 points followed by Washburn, Wayne State (7-fpv), MSU Denver and Concordia-St. Paul rounding out the top five. St. Cloud State stands sixth followed by Southwest Minnesota State, Nebraska-Kearney, Western Washington, and Minnesota Duluth to close the top 10.
 
WT HEAD COACH KENDRA POTTS
Kendra Potts begins her fourth season as the helm of Lady Buff Volleyball with an overall 65-20 (.765) record and 37-10 (.787) in league play.  Potts led her alma mater to the program's 14^th NCAA Elite Eight Appearance after capturing the South Central Regional title to become the sixth head coach in program history to guide WT to the Elite Eight. 
 
HOME DOMINANCE
WT houses one of the best home environments in the country across all of NCAA volleyball.  The WTAMU Fieldhouse, best known as "The Box" is home to 20 Lone Star Conference Championships, 14 regional titles and three NCAA Division II National Championships.  At "The Box", the Lady Buffs are 511-83 since 1980 for an incredible winning percentage of 86.1% and 90.4% during conference play. 
 
BRITKARE COURT
WT Athletics proudly announced a new state-of-the-art court for the historic home of Lady Buff Volleyball thanks to a generous gift from BritKare Home Medical that highlighted the 2021 season.   ­BritKare Court at The Box features a top-line Taraflex court surface that is widely used in Division I arenas, professional volleyball and was most recently featured at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.  
 
UP NEXT
WT will head down south to continue conference play with matches at St. Edward's (Sept. 23) and St. Mary's (Sept. 24).  
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BUFFS
Fans can follow and stay up to date on all the Lady Buff action on online and on social media.  Follow the Lady Buffs on Twitter (@WTVolleyball), Instagram (@ladybuffvolleyball), Facebook (@WTVolleyball) and now Tik Tok (@WestTexasAMVB).