Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A five-set thriller (19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 11-15) went against the Dixie State women's volleyball team earlier in the day to Northwest Nazarene and then No. 9 Western Washington was too much for the Red Storm as DSU dropped it's second match of the day 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 20-25, 17-25) at the GNAC/PacWest Crossover.

"We keep battling and when the opportunity comes we just need to step up," head coach Robyn Felder said. "It's great to find our weaknesses so early in the season. We have all the tools, now we just need to put it together."

The Red Storm (2-5, 0-0) suffered from several unforced errors and despite a very good passing game just couldn't overcome the miscues. The team hit .159 in the first match and improved to .213 in the second, but neither would be enough.

Against Northwest Nazarene, five players had double-digit kills for the Red Storm. Maddie Rex (Tucson, AZ/Sabino) led the way with 15, Edithza Urias (Bakersfield, CA/Golden Valley) had 14 while Nicole Koehler (Sandy, UT/Alta) and Makenzi Bird (Saint George, UT/Snow Canyon ) each added 11. Kendahl Weiland (Albany, OR/West Albany) delivered 10 kills.

The first set got away from the Red Storm as the team fell behind 12-7. Dixie State traded points with Northwest Nazarene but dropped the first set 25-19.

Set No. 2 was close the entire time, with the Crusaders holding the edge early. The Red Storm rallied to trim the lead to one at 17-16 after three straight points. ,After another back-and-forth Dixie State knotted up the match at 20-20. Momentum continued to roll for DSU as it went on an 8-2 run to finish the set and win it 25-22 to even the match 1-1.

Dixie State kept things rolling in the third set. Tied at 8-8 the Red Storm started to pull away, building up a lead to 16-12. Dixie State continued to maintain control and finished off Northwest Nazarene for a 25-19 win to take control of the match.

The Red Storm and Crusaders were locked in a tight battle in the fourth set. Neither team separated by more than two points the entire set. ,Northwest Nazarene got the last two points to go and forced a fifth set with a 26-24 win.

Dixie State played under pressure for most of the fifth set and was not able to get a lead. It was tied and back-and-forth until the Crusaders scored back-to-back points to lead 12-9. From there the Red Storm couldn't recover and came up short 15-11 to drop the five-set match.

The first set against Western Washington stayed close as the Red Storm battled. DSU led 19-18 but the Vikings scored five straight to take the lead 23-19. The late push was too much for the Red Storm as Western Washington took set No. 1, 25-21.

Set No. 2 belonged to Dixie State as the Storm built up a 7-point lead and wouldn't relinquish the edge down the stretch to take a set from No. 9 Western Washington, 25-22.

The third and fourth sets however swung back to the Vikings. Dixie State dropped the third 25-20 and fell 25-17 in the fourth to come up short in the match.

Rex and Urias led again with 14 kills apiece vs. Western Washington. Weiland added 10 for the Red Storm.

Dixie State will look to get back in the win column in Saturday's finale of the GNAC/PacWest Crossover against Alaska Anchorage at 3:30 p.m. MT.