Rico Del Sesto for DSU Athletics

Women's Volleyball 12/4/2013 7:15:00 PM Jeff Cluff, Coordinator of Media Relations

VB: DSU Volleyball Battles No. 3 Seed UC San Diego in Opening Round of NCAA Regionals

Red Storm making first NCAA Appearance

No. 6 Dixie State vs. No. 3 UC San Diego
Game Details NCAA West Regional	Game #1 - Thursday, Dec. 5 at 1:00 p.m. MT at Cal State San Bernardino Coyote Den (1,000) San Bernardino, Calif.
Game Coverage	Tournament Central: CCAA / CSUSB \| NCAA Bracket Live Video: via DixieAthletics.com Live Stats: via DixieAthletics.com Live Audio: None Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DixieVB
Dixie State Links	Roster \| Schedule
UC San Diego Links	Roster \| Schedule

GAME INFO: Dixie State makes its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5 with an opening matchup against the California Collegiate Athletic Associations (CCAA) UC San Diego at 12 p.m. PT. The West Regional is being hosted by Cal State San Bernardino and all the matches will be played in the Coyote Den in San Bernardino. CSUSB Athletics will offer live stats and video of the games and the links are available on DixieAthletics.com.

ALL-TIME vs. UC SAN DIEGO: This will be the first time the Tritons and the Red Storm have played. DSU made the transition from a junior college to an NCAA school in 2006. UCSD made the transition from an NCAA DIII school to a DII school in 2000. They have appeared in the DII postseason eight straight years and 12 of 13 that they have been a member.

LAST TIME OUT: The Red Storm have not played in a match since their Nov. 16 match against Point Loma. It will be 18 days between matches and DSU has been working hard to keep the rust off. DSU lost their match 3-1, despite a career high 19 kills from senior outside hitter Shannon Young (Whittier, CA/St Paul). The Sea Lions won 19-25, 21-25, 26-24, 20-25 and the Red Strom squad felt like their postseason hopes could have been dashed. But the crystal ball revealed something different when they earned their first berth on Monday Nov. 25.

THE TOURNAMENT: The winner of the DSU-UCSD quarterfinal match will take on the winner of the 2:30 pm match between seventh-seeded Alaska Anchorage and two-seeded BYU-Hawaii. The other side of the regional bracket has the fourth-seeded Sonoma State and the fifth-seeded Western Washington at 5:00 pm and the final matchup has the host school and number one-seed CSU San Bernardino and the eighth-seeded Central Washington at 7:30 pm.

FELDER'S TWO CENTS: "Amazing, we felt after the last loss that we werent going to get in. But, this is a well deserved opportunity for our players. They have worked so hard for this reward and do everything they can to win. Obviously UCSD is a quality program with a great resume, we will be prepared to match their intensity. We have finished the season right were we wanted to be, peaking at the right time. Our work in practices and the way we finished we are playing the best volleyball that we have all year. We are ready to play!!"

PACWEST HONORS: Red Storm head coach Robyn Felder was named a the Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year honors with Point Loma's Sarah Gustin. Felder led the Red Storm to a berth in the NCAA II Playoffs with a 17-9 overall mark and a 14-6 conference record, while Gustin has her Sea Lions vying for the NCCAA National Championship after her team compiled a 24-7 overall record and a 16-4 PacWest mark. Felder in just her second season with the Red Storm,managed just a 7-14 record year one. This season was a complete turn around that included winning streaks of six and two four game streaks and the first postseason berth in DSU history.

ALL-CONFERENCE: Dixie State unleashed a trio of All-PacWest selections in 2013, including a pair of Second Team choices in sophomore libero Alex Anderson (Prescott, AZ/Prescott) (Prescott, AZ/Prescott) and junior OH Maddie Rex (Tucson, AZ/Sabino) (Tucson, AZ/Sabino). Sophomore setter Shelby Sorenson (Lehi, UT/Lehi) (Lehi, UT/Lehi) was a Third Team choice. Anderson is currently fifth in the PacWest in digs per set (4.54) and has totaled 449 points in 99 sets, while Rex is 19th in scoring in the league with her 3.24 points per set rate. She has 285 points on 257 kills, 19 aces, one block solo and 16 block assists. She also is 15th in kills per set (2.92) and 20th in digs per set (2.99).Sorenson is seventh in the PacWest in assists per set (9.99) and has 989 assists in 99 sets.

SCOUTING UCSD: The No. 12 team in the country and earning the third seed in the the West Region is the Tritons of UC San Diego. They finished the season with a 25-5 record, with all their loses coming at the hands of CCAA opponents. UCSD entered the final week of the season as the No. 1 team in the West Region Rankings and dropped two of its last three, including a five set match with eventual CCAA Champion and West Region host CSU San Berardino. They were 3-0 against common opponents, that included 3-1 win over California Baptist, 3-0 win over Point Loma and a 3-1 win over Fresno Pacific. They are led by junior right side Caitlin Brenton (2.88 Kills/set), sophomore outside hitter Danielle Dahle (3.30 kills/set), and sophomore setter Heidi Sierks(10.17 assists/set) who all represented UCSD on the CCAA All-Conference First Team. Junior middle blocker Sara McCutchen(2.71 kills/set) was honored by making the second team. They are led by head coach Ricci Luyties (81-31), in his fourth season.

RED STORM NOTES: Winners of nine of their last eleven matches, Dixie State looks to try and make waves in the West Regional this year by upsetting UC San Diego in its opener. The Red Storm are received votes in the national poll for the first time in school history as head coach Robyn Felder's (24-23) teams continue to mark a lot first's off her team's bucket list. DSU finished in 3rd place in the PacWest race behind No. 4 BYU Hawaii and Point Loma (ineligible for NCAA postseason). DSU is led by junior outside hitter Maddie Rex (Tucson, AZ/Sabino) (2.92 kills/set), senior outside hitter Shannon Young (Whittier, CA/St Paul)(2.79 kills/set), sophomore setter Shelby Sorenson (Lehi, UT/Lehi)(9.97 assists/set), and junior libero Alex Anderson (Prescott, AZ/Prescott) (4.57 digs/set). The Red Storm average a .195 hitting percentage and average 18.0 digs per set and 2.2 blocks per set.

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