(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (16-8/13-3 PacWest) looks to stay atop the Pacific West Conference standings this week as the Storm hits the road for the final time this regular season with a three-match trip to the Hawaiian Islands. DSU will open the three-match in three-night swing Thursday night against second-place BYU-Hawai'i (13-11/11-5 PacWest) at 7:30 p.m. (HT), in Laie. The Storm will then head to Honolulu to square off against fourth-place Chaminade (17-7/10-6) on Friday at 7 p.m., and will close the trip Saturday with a late afternoon match at Hawai'i Hilo at 4:30 p.m. Live stats and live video links for this week's matches can be found at www.dixieathletics.com.

DSU has won nine-straight and 13 of its last 14 overall in opening a two-game lead in the PacWest standings ahead of BYU-H and California Baptist (11-5) with four games left in the conference regular season.

DSU/BYU-H TELEVISED NATIONWIDE THIS WEEK: Thursday night's match at BYU-H will be televised live on BYU-TV beginning at 10:30 p.m. (MT), from Laie. BYU-TV can be found on DIRECTV Channels 68 and 374, DISH Network Channel 9403, and on TDS Cable Channel 15 in St. George/Washington County.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 3-12 all-time vs. BYU-H, though the last match against the Seasiders was a memorable one as the Storm defeated BYU-H in the second round of last year's NCAA West Regional en route to the West Regional final. On the flipside, DSU owns an 11-5 series edge vs. Chaminade and has three of its last four and 11 of 12 against the Silverswords after an 0-3 start to the series. However the Storm will be looking to avenge its lone PacWest loss of the year as Chaminade rallied for a 3-2 win over DSU in St. George this past Oct. 7. Dixie State is 7-8 through its first 15 meetings with Hilo on the court, though the Storm has won four-straight overall in the series, including its the last two trips to the "Big Island."

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) is in her fourth season on the Storm bench. Felder has posted a 62-41 overall record during her tenure, including a 22-9 mark in 2014 in leading the Storm all the way the NCAA West Region final (Sweet 16). Felder is joined on the bench by assistant coaches Liz Fisher (fourth season), Whitnee Tupe (fourth season) and volunteer assistant Nate Capps (first season).

DURYEA REPEATS AS PACWEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: For the second-straight week freshman outside hitter Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) has been named PacWest Freshman of the Week. Duryea hit .280 and averaged 10.0 kills, 1.5 aces, 3.5 digs and 0.5 total blocks in DSU's two big home wins vs. CBU and PLNU. She had 10 kills in the four-setter vs. CBU with five digs, while one of her three aces was the game-winner. She then had 10 kills and hit .360 in the sweep of Point Loma.

QUICK HITS: For the first time this season DSU received votes in the 2015 AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll as the Storm picked up 13 total points in this week's poll ... twelve of DSU's 16 wins this year have come in four sets or less, including both home wins last week ... this season the Storm is 13-2 when they win the first set and 9-1 when up 2-0 ... junior middle blocker Lindsay Jones (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) averaged 10.0 kills and 3.0 total blocks in the two wins last week ... Jones hit .326 overall, including a .361 clip vs. PLNU, which bumped her DSU career-record hitting percentage 33 points to .301 heading into this weekend ... senior middle blocker Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS) inched closer to becoming DSU's career leader in block assists ... Bird-Murphey (224) stands just three BAs shy of surpassing former DSU player Morgan Hill (2008-11), who collected 226 block assists in her four-year career ... Bird-Murphey Bird (24) needs three more solo blocks to move into third place on DSU's career solo blocks list, and she is also ranked #3 all-time in total blocks (248) and is currently t-fourth in hitting percentage (.260), followed closely in sixth place by sophomore Brette Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) (.258) ... junior outside hitter Delayne Daniel (American Fork, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) had a huge match against Point Loma as she connected for 16 kills and finished with nine digs ... Daniel averaged 11.5 kills on the week, while her 16 spikes were three off of her career-high of 19 set vs. NDNU (9/23) ... junior setter Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) was DSU's PacWest Offensive POW nominee after she averaged 39.5 assists (11.3 aps) with three kills, four aces, 12 digs and five total blocks in the home sweep last week ... she had 40 assists, three kills, and three aces vs. CBU, and recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 39 assists and 10 digs to go with another ace in the sweep of PLNU ... Frei has reached 50+ assists five times this season, including 51 dimes at Azusa Pacific (10/30) and a career-high 54 assists earlier this season vs. NDNU (9/23) ... senior libero Alex Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) collected 31 digs last week and now has 1,651 digs for her career (#2 all-time) ... Anderson stands just 148 digs shy of becoming DSU's career digs leader ... Anderson (74) also moved into fourth-place on the Storm's career aces list with two service aces last week ... sophomore libero Jaclyn Condie (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS) also got into the dig act as she averaged 11.0 digs last week, including a career-high 13 digs in the win over PLNU.

HEAD COACH ROBYN FELDER ON THE STORM: "?Last week wass a great week for our team, we are playing great volleyball and are firing on all cylinders. We have worked on finishing all year and now it really counts. We have four games to go and we need to finish strong if we want to take the conference. I just keep telling the girls to stay focused and take it one game at a time. [The Hawai'i trip] will be a big test for us but I know the girls are up to the challenge. I am looking forward to this last road test and can't wait to see who steps up."

UP NEXT: Dixie State returns home for its final two regular season games next week, beginning with a non-conference date with in-state foe Westminster College on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. DSU will then close PacWest play vs. Fresno Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 12 noon. Both matches will be played inside the DSU Student Activities Center.