Dixie State won its fifth-straight and ninth match in 10 outings as the Storm swept Dominican University in three sets, 25-21, 25-20, 30-28, Saturday afternoon in San Rafael, Calif. DSU improved to 12-8 on the season, 9-3 in Pacific West Conference play while the Penguins fell to 6-12, 3-9.

The Storm trailed for most of the opening set but managed to stay close and eventually pull away late as DSU outscored the Penguins 8-4 to break a 17-17 tie to win by four points. Dixie State led virtually the entire second set as the Storm scored five of the first six points of the stanza and were never really challenged en route to a five-point win.

The Penguins came out hot in game three and held a 14-10 advantage midway through the frame. Dixie State rallied to pull even at 15-15 and the Storm looked as if they were on their way to close out the match with a commanding 21-18 lead. Dominican would rally to pull to within a point at 22-21, but consecutive kills by freshman Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) gave the Storm a three-point lead on serve at match point.

Dominican again fought back with three-straight points on a DSU service error and two kills from Kate Even. Dixie State answered with a Delayne Daniel (American Fork, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) kill and again had service honors at match point, but the Penguins scored two-straight points to serve for the set at 26-25. The two teams then traded next four points of the set and the Storm eventually tied the match at 28-28 after another Daniel kill. DSU then forced a pair of Penguin hitting errors to close out the set and the match victory.

Duryea and Daniel each finished with 11 kills, while Daniel added 14 digs and four block assists. DSU hit .160 for the match with 20 attack errors, and survived 10 service errors in the win.

Dixie State held the Penguins to a PacWest opponent season-low .044 hitting percentage and forced 26 Dominican attack errors in the match. The Storm also tallied 13 total blocks, including a match-high seven block assists by junior Lindsay Jones (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) and two solo blocks from senior Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS). In addition, the Storm had four players reach double figures in digs, led by senior Alex Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) with 16.

Dixie State closes out October and its five-match PacWest road swing next week as the Storm travels to SoCal for PacWest matches at Azusa Pacific on Friday, Oct. 30, and at conference newcomer Concordia on Saturday, Oct. 31.