Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A late rally from the opposition turned the tide as the Dixie State women's volleyball team came up just short of upsetting the No. 13 team in the nation in a 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-27, 9-15) heartbreaker to Central Washington at the GNAC/Pacwest Crossover in Riverside, Calif.
 
Newcomer Edithza Urias (Bakersfield, CA/Golden Valley) had a breakout performance with a match-leading 22 kills. Nicole Koehler (Sandy, UT/Alta) had 14 kills while Makenzi Bird (Saint George, UT/Snow Canyon ) and Kendahl Weiland (Albany, OR/West Albany) had 10 kills apiece. Alex Anderson (Prescott, AZ/Prescott) led the match with 26 digs for the Red Storm. Shelby Sorenson (Lehi, UT/Lehi) also led the match with 56 assists.
 
Dixie State kept it close in the opening set. Central Washington got on a run to retake control, leading 17-12, but DSU wouldn't go quietly and rallied to tie the match at 19-19. A back-and-forth battle ensued and the Red Storm fell just shy of a first-set win and succumbed 25-21.
 
Despite the setback, Dixie State gained the confidence it needed and raced out to a 10-5 lead in the second set. The Wildcats brought it back to a one-point game but the Red Storm had an answer with back-to-back kills from Hannah Harrah (Saint George, UT/Dixie) and Sorenson to get some breathing room. DSU went on to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 win in the second set.
 
The momentum was all on the Red Storm's side as the team went on a 10-1 run to close the third set with a 25-16 win to give Dixie State a 2-1 edge in the match with eyes on an upset.
 
The Red Storm led 20-13 in the fourth set but Central Washington continued to hang around. The No. 13 team managed to tie the set up at 23-23 and had more down the stretch to push through for a 27-25 victory to force a fifth and final set.
 
A slow start in set No. 5 doomed the Red Storm as they dug themselves into an early 5-0 deficit.  Dixie State cut the lead to 12-9 but couldn't complete the comeback and came up on the wrong end of the five-set thriller, dropping the set 15-9.
 
Dixie State will face Northwest Nazarene at 10 a.m. MT in the first of two matches on Friday. The second match will feature the Red Storm vs. Western Washington at 7 p.m. MT.