ST. GEORGE - Dixie State College's women's volleyball team continued to show improvement Saturday night in a dominating 25-16. 25-17. 25-15 sweep of Notre Dame de Namur.
With the win. Dixie (10-12 overall. 6-6 PacWest) eclipsed last year's conference win total of five. and DSC also finds itself in the middle of a four-way race for second place in the Pacific West.
But perhaps the most telling mark of progress is in the hitting percentages. DSC coach Gregg Jensen said his team was happy if they hit .200 at the start of the season. Now. that mark is expected.
On Saturday night Jensen's squad attacked at an impressive .311 clip. including a .343 mark in Game 3.
Jensen was impressed with the mark.
"Three forty-three will get it done every time. and .250 will win almost every match." Jensen said.
The key to DSC's effectiveness was setter Anna Bullard (Farmington. UT/Davis HS '07). The setter is volleyball's equivalent to the quarterback in that the offense runs through the setter. and she is also responsible for making a quick read of the defense before making the play.
"She's almost everything because it's her decision with the ball." said Jensen of Bullard. "She has a great understanding of who's hot and who has an advantage at the net. Her biggest attribute is that she knows how to get the ball out of her hand. so that the opponents don't know where she's going to serve."
Bullard picked apart the Argonaut block on her way to 35 assists.
Her setting led to big statistical nights for her hitters. Outside Katie Luna (Mesa. AZ/Westwood High '05) had 15 kills with just one error for a whopping .519 hitting percentage. and middle blocker Amanda Goodell (Fort Collins. CO/Rocky Mtn HS '07) had seven kills without an error.
"Amanda Goodell (Fort Collins. CO/Rocky Mtn HS '07) has had her best games against that same team (Notre Dame de Namur) the last two seasons." Jensen said. "And she scores all her points on the same play. and they never can figure it out."
Mariesa Nielson (Oak City. UT/Delta High '05) also had nine kills while hitting .486.
Meanwhile. the Argonauts (1-29 overall. 0-12 PacWest) hit .020.
Bullard also made an impact in the service game where she had two aces. but she also had 21 service attempts - 10 more than any other DSC player. as Dixie went on two big rallies when Bullard was serving. An 8-0 run on Bullard's service attempt sealed Game 1. and a 6-0 rally on another one of her turns in Game 3 put that game out of reach.
Bullard credited her coaches - Jensen and last year's head coach Jeff Parker - for her success.
Parker spent time last season working with Bullard on her serving. and she said she began feeling comfortable with her jump serve over the summer.
"Gregg just tells me where to serve. and I put it where he tells me to serve it." she said.
The win sets up an important home conference matchup on Halloween night at Grand Canyon. one of the teams DSC is battling for second place.
