Dixie State pulled into a first-place tie atop the Pacific West Conference standings Friday night as the Storm picked up a huge five-set road victory at Azusa Pacific, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 16-25, 15-9. The win, the team's sixth-straight and 10^th in 11 matches overall, moved DSU to 13-8, 10-3 in PacWest play (tied with California Baptist), while the Cougars fell to 12-10, 8-5.

Dixie State dominated the first set as the Storm posted a .425 hitting percentage with 17 kills and no errors en route to the six-point win. DSU trailed briefly twice in the stanza and turned an 11-11 tie into a 20-16 lead thanks to a pair of kills from Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS). Junior Delayne Daniel (American Fork, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) and freshman Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) had four kills apiece in the frame, with Duryea slamming home two kills to close out the set.

Both teams battled back and forth in set two, which featured 15 ties and eight lead changes, but it was the Cougars who captured the lead for good as APU scored three of the final four points to knot the match at 1-1.

Dixie State looked like it was well on its way to an easy win in set three as the Storm erased a 6-5 Cougar lead with an 8-1 run, sparked by four more Bird-Murphey kills and three APU attack errors to bolt to a 13-7 advantage. However the Cougars clawed back into the set by outscoring the Storm 8-2 to pull even at 15-15. Trailing 18-17, DSU mounted another charge thanks to consecutive kills from junior Lindsay Jones (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) and a service ace from freshman Sidney Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS), which gave the Storm the lead for good in the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Storm kept the momentum going to start the fourth set and led 7-2 when APU called a timeout. That break served as a wake-up call for the Cougars, and cooled the Storm offense, as Azusa Pacific went on a decisive 15-4 to take a commanding 17-11 lead. APU took advantage of three of the Storm's nine attack errors in the stanza on during that run as the Cougars won going away to force a fifth set.

However DSU would not be denied as the Storm led virtually wire-to-wire in the deciding game, with Duryea recording six of her team-high 18 kills in the set, including the final point of the match to seal the victory.

"I am so proud of the fight these girls have, they just don't quit," DSU Head Coach Robyn Felder said. "Taylor [Duryea] had a big night for us tonight and it was good to see her step up. We are taking it one game at a time and tomorrow [at Concordia] is another big game. We need to pull together and play well."

Bird-Murphey finished with 14 kills and Jones added 11 as DSU finished with 61 kills for the match. Junior setter Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) recorded 51 assists, the fourth-time this season she had reached 50-plus assists in a match, while senior Alex Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) led the Storm defense with a match-high 24 digs, and Jones led DSU with four total blocks.

Dixie State has a quick turnaround on Halloween Saturday as the Storm squares off with PacWest newcomer Concordia at 5 p.m. (PT), in Irvine. DSU enters the match with a two-game lead over Concordia (13-10), which currently stands in fourth place in the conference standings at 9-5.