Dixie State's opened the Pacific West Conference portion of its 2015 season on a sour note as the Storm dropped a five-set heartbreaker at California Baptist Friday night in Riverside, Calif. DSU (3-6, 0-1 PacWest) rallied from two sets down to force a decisive game five, but the rally came up just short, 14-25, 21-25, 26-24, 26-24, 11-15.

DSU jumped out to a quick lead early in set one, but the Lancers (8-1/1-0 PacWest) used an 11-2 run to turn an 8-8 tie into a 19-10 lead en route to an 11-point win. CBU trailed briefly in set two, however the Lancers again erased the deficit and led by as many as six points before coasting to a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

California Baptist looked like it was on its way to a sweep in set three as the Lancers bolted out to a 4-1 lead. However Dixie State battled back with 6-1 spurt to lead 7-5. The Storm never trailed the rest of the way in the third frame, though the Lancers did draw even on four separate occasions, the last coming at 24-24. However this time DSU would not be denied as sophomore Brette Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) registered the last of her five kills in the set, while she and senior Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS) combined to block a final Lancer attack to clinch the set win.

Dixie State trailed most of set four and faced match point at 23-24, but the Storm rallied again with three-straight points, started by another Anderson kill and followed by consecutive Lancer attack errors which gave DSU a 26-24 win to extend the match to a decisive fifth set. However the magic would run out in final frame as the Lancers never trailed and held a five-point advantage before settling for the 15-11 decision to close out the match.

"I am proud of our effort, we fought back and gave ourselves a great opportunity to finish the comeback," Head Coach Robyn Felder said. "We had too many errors that cost us the fifth set. You just can't win games when you give the other team points right and left. We showed that we have a lot of heart and that's what Dixie volleyball is about."

Anderson finished with a career-high 17 kills and hit a team-high .378 for the match. Junior Delayne Daniel (American Fork, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) notched her fourth-straight double-double with 14 digs and 10 kills, while freshman Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) (career-high) and junior Lindsay Jones (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) each finished with 10 kills, and junior Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) notched a double-double with 45 assists and 14 digs. DSU could not overcome a .145 hitting percentage, which included 16 total blocks by CBU.

Dixie State will have a quick turnaround as the Storm travels to San Diego to face Point Loma in a PacWest showdown Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (PT).