AUSTIN – St. Edward's volleyball could not find their rhythm until late in the match and fell 3-0 to #23 Texas Tyler Saturday afternoon.
 
The Patriots were able to build a slight lead early in the first set, but then charged ahead to lead by ten, 21-11. SEU was held scoreless the rest of the set to drop set one 25-12.
 
A strong start early in set two proved to be enough for UTT as the Patriots led 11-5. SEU pulled within three, 16-13 after a ball handling error by UTT's Craus, but UT Tyler outscored the Hilltoppers 7-1 down the stretch to take set two 25-17.
 
After the long set break, St. Edward's was able to refocus and jumped out to a 7-2 thanks in large part to three straight aces by MAYA SMALLS. After multiple ties, UTT took their first lead of the set in the middle of a four-point run to lead 13-10.
 
SEU continued to battle and pull ahead once again 19-17 and held on to the two point advantage to 20-18. The Patriots put together another short run and were able to go up by three 23-20. St. Edward's continued to claw back and tied the set one more time, 24-24, on kills from Smalls and JILLIENNE CONNELL. The Hilltoppers weren't able to complete to comeback, however, as UTT secured the final two points needed to close the win 26-24.
 
St. Edward's was held to .000 attack percentage in the match with LOURDES GOMEZ leading with eight kills. CAROLINE SWAN added seven and HALLE SANDERS six. EMILY TRAN posted 26 assists with Gomez leading defensively with 12 digs. Connell led at the net with three blocks.
 
The Hilltoppers drop to 7-4 on the year and 2-2 in Lone Star Conference play. They return to action on September 30, returning to the road to face UT Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas. First serve is set for 2 pm.