(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (12-6/8-2 PacWest) returns home to the DSU Student Activities Center for two key PacWest matches against teams directly above the Trailblazers in the league standings. DSU, which begins play this week one game out of first place in the conference standings, opens in the brief homestand on Homecoming Saturday vs. league-leading California Baptist (14-4/9-1 PacWest) at 6 p.m., and will quickly turnaround to face second-place Concordia-Irvine (19-2/10-2 PacWest) in a rare Sunday tilt at 12 noon.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 3-8 all-time vs. California Baptist, though the Trailblazers have won three of the last five meetings overall, including a 3-1 triumph the last time the two teams met at the DSU SAC in 2015.
    DSU is 3-0 in its brief series vs. CUI, which includes a 3-0 sweep earlier this season in Irvine (9/17), as the Trailblazers are one of two teams to have beaten the Eagles this year (CBU the other). Dixie State also claimed both matches last season against the PacWest newcomers.

COACHING STAFF: 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) is in her fifth season on the Trailblazer bench. Felder has posted a 77-50 overall record during her tenure, including a 19-11 record last season in leading DSU to its first-ever Pacific West championship. In 2014, she led DSU to its best record in the program's NCAA Division II-era, a 22-9 overall mark, which included a trip to the NCAA West Region final (Sweet 16). Felder, who was also named PacWest Co-Coach of the Year in 2013, is joined on the bench by assistant coaches Liz Fisher (fifth season), Nate Capps (second season), and former DSU standout Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS) (student assistant, first season).  
    Felder is 3-5 vs. CBU and 3-0 vs. CUI.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SECOND IN PACWEST IN 2016: Defending PacWest champion Dixie State was picked to finish second in the conference's preseason coaches' poll released on August 25.
    California Baptist narrowly surpassed DSU in the poll, 189-180, as the Lancers received eight of the 14 possible first-place votes, while the Trailblazers collected five first places nods. Point Loma (158 points) and Concordia University Irvine (131) finished third and fourth, respectively, followed by Azusa Pacific (127) in fifth, Chaminade in sixth (121), and BYU-Hawaii (116) picked up one first place vote en route to seventh place to round out the top-half of the poll.
    Dixie State senior Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) was named PacWest Preseason Setter of the Year, while she and senior outside hitter Delayne Daniel (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) were voted onto the preseason all-PacWest team.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State had an up-and-down week on its annual Hawaiian Islands trip last week. The Trailblazers managed to extend their winning streak to a program-record tying 10 matches after a hard-fought 3-2 win at BYU-Hawaii (25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-10) on Oct. 14. However the streak came to an end a night later (Oct. 15) in a 3-1 loss at Hawai'i Pacific (25-14, 20-25, 22-25, 19-25), which was followed by a 3-1 setback at Hawai'i Hilo (25-27, 25-21, 20-25, 16-25) last Monday night to close out the trip.

QUICK HITS: Senior setter Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) became the second player in DSU's NCAA D-II era to amass 2,000 career assists after she posted a 43-assist night in the win at BYU-H ... Frei now has 2,091 career dimes, including 589 (#9 on single-season list) assists this season, and she needs only 236 more to pass former DSU setter Shelby Sorenson (2,326; 2012-14) to become DSU's career assists leader ... Frei also posted her third double-double of the year with 41 assists and a career-high tying 14 digs at Hilo (10/17) ... Frei enters this week sixth on DSU's career hitting percentage list (.255) and needs 15 more kills for 200 for her career.  
    Senior outside hitter Delayne Daniel (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) became the ninth player in DSU's four-year era to record 500 career kills, reaching the milestone in the Hilo match last Monday ... Daniel now has 507 kills to her credit, which ranks her ninth on DSU's career list ... Daniel also recorded double-doubles in all three matches in Hawai'i last week to give 10 on the season ... Daniel collected 40 total digs in those three matches, which moved her into 10th-place on DSU's career digs list with 477.
    Senior middle blocker Lindsay Garrett (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) threw down a career-high 17 kills in the loss at Hilo last Monday, which eclipsed her previous PR of 16 kills set nearly two years ago in an NCAA West Regional win at Northwest Nazarene (11/20/14) ... Garrett enters this week needing just 20 more kills to reach 500 for her career ... Garrett also tied a career-high with nine total blocks in the win at BYU-H (10/14) ... Garrett, who is DSU's career hitting percentage leader (.281), became the fourth player to amass 200-plus block assists and has 204 for her career ... she is also fourth in school history in total blocks (226) and fifth all-time in solo blocks (22).
    Sophomore OH Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) notched her first career double-double with season-highs of 19 kills and 14 digs (tied career high) vs. Notre Dame de Namur (10/3) ... Duryea also had 13 kills in the win at BYU-H and has recorded double-digits in kills in seven of 18 matches overall ... Duryea also notched her 400th-career kill at Hilo (10/17) ... in addition, she has 56 career services (26 this season), which ranks her eighth on DSU's career aces list.
    Junior MB Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) recorded a DSU career-high 10 kills vs. NDNU (10/3) as Dixie State had a season-high four Trailblazers notch double figures in kills (Duryea, Daniel and Garrett) ... sophomore libero Sidney Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) posted her fourth 20-plus digs match of the year with 20 at Hilo (10/17) ... in all four DSU players posted double figures in digs at Hilo (Frei, Daniel, junior Jaclyn Condie (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS)), which tied a season high ... DSU also had four players post double figures in digs (Frei, Daniel, Duryea, Brandon) as DSU collected a season-high 95 total team digs vs. NDNU (10/3).
    Junior RS Brette Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) enters this week needing two more kills to reach the 300-kill plateau ... senior RS Megan Huddleston (Provo, Utah/Timpview HS) notched a career-high three service aces at HPU (10/15), while freshman OH Amanda Schultz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) recorded her first collegiate ace and collected a career-high six digs at Hilo (10/17) ... sophomore RS Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) threw down a career-best five kills at Hilo (10/17).
    Dixie State's 10-game winning streak, which was halted at HPU (10/15), matched the program's all-time mark set in the 2014 season when DSU won a four-year program-best 22 matches (22-9) ... DSU hit a season-high .329 in the win at Concordia-Irvine (9/16), including a .400 clip in set two and a then-season-high .417 in set three ... DSU hit a season-best .500 in the opening set vs. Holy Names (9/24) ... Dixie State's defense held HNU to a DSU school record -.082 hitting percentage, which marked just the fourth time in DSU's NCAA D-II era that it had forced a team into a negative hitting percentage ... the previous record was -.034 vs. Fort Lewis (9/9/11), while DSU forced two other opponents in 2014, including Chaminade (-.020; 10/13/14) and Fresno Pacific (-.020; 11/15/14).
    As a team DSU is hitting .193, while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .164 clip through 18 matches this season ... DSU collected 16 total service aces in Hawai'i and has 115 on the year, compared to just 67 combined by its 18 opponents ... DSU is averaging 12.20 kills, 16.72 digs and 2.32 blocks per set through 18 matches this season.

HEAD COACH ROBYN FELDER ABOUT ON THE TRAILBLAZERS: "After a tough weekend of play in Hawai'i we are excited to have the opportunity to bounce back against the number one and number two teams in the [PacWest] conference. We have come back more focused than ever and we are excited to see what we can do. This is probably going to be the biggest weekend for us at home and we are excited to be back in our own gym with our own crowd. It's going to be a great weekend of volleyball."

UP NEXT: Dixie State heads to the Bay Area for its penultimate road trip of the 2016 regular season next week. The Trailblazers start the trip at Notre Dame de Namur on Friday, Oct. 28, followed by a match at Academy of Art on Saturday, Oct. 29, and will close the trip with a Halloween match at Fresno Pacific on Monday, Oct. 31.