Dixie State maintained its two-game lead atop the Pacific West Conference standings as the Storm blew past Point Loma in three sets, 25-20, 25-21, 27-25, Saturday afternoon at the DSU Student Activities Center. The Storm (16-8/13-3 PacWest) won their ninth-straight and 13^th match in 14 outings overall, and in the process snapped the Sea Lions (15-9/9-6 PacWest) eight-match winning streak.

The Storm claimed a five-point win in the opening set thanks to an 11-6 run, which came on the heels of three-straight points scored by PLNU that erased a 14-11 DSU lead. Both teams battled back and forth for most of set two, but this time it would the Sea Lions who would take control at the midway point as PLNU rattled off a quick 7-3 spurt to take a 19-15 lead after a Kelli LeClair kill.

However DSU mounted a furious rally, outscoring the Sea Lions 7-0, including three kills off the right hand of junior Delayne Daniel (American Fork, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) and four PLNU errors, to take back the momentum and the lead at 22-19. Point Loma got as close as 23-21, but another Sea Lion error and a Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS) kill secured the set and a 2-0 Storm lead in the match.

Dixie State kept the momentum going in the third frame as the Storm used a 5-1 run to turn a 6-6 tie into an 11-7 lead. Following a timely-called PLNU timeout, the Sea Lions stole the momentum back with an 8-1 rally, including four-straight points in one stretch, to lead 14-12.

Point Loma would push its advantage to as many as three points a 20-17, leading to a DSU timeout. However this time it would be the Storm that would benefit from the stoppage as Dixie State outscored the Sea Lions 5-1 to reclaim the lead at 22-21 on a Brette Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) kill. The Storm then got kills from junior Lindsay Jones (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) and Daniel to set up match point at 24-22 with service honors.

PLNU rallied again with three-straight points to force set point at 25-24 on serve, but the Sea Lions were done in by two more attack errors, while Jones clinched the sweep for DSU with a her sixth kill on the day to end the match.

"Our goal was to win in three sets today, " DSU Head Coach Robyn Felder said. "Point Loma has been hot and they are a good team. They are the number one offense and defense in the [PacWest] and we knew we had to stay with them offensively and defensively if we were going to win. You could tell we were not going to lose today.

"The girls are in a really good place mentally," Felder added. "They were able to rebound after playing poorly for a few points and were able to get their feet back under them. We are playing with confidence right now and learning to trust each other. We are in a good place for our last four [PacWest] games." 

Daniel finished with a match-high 16 kills and hit .361 for the match, while freshman Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) added 10 kills, and Bird-Murphey had eight kills. Junior Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) notched her fifth double-double of the year with 39 assists and 10 digs.

Dixie State heads to the Hawaiian Islands for its final road trip of the 2015 regular season next week. The Storm will play three matches in three days, beginning with a crucial PacWest showdown vs. second-place BYU-Hawai'i (11-5) on Thursday, Nov. 12, followed by a match at Chaminade on Friday, Nov. 13, and the finale at Hawai'i Hilo on Saturday Nov. 14.