(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State's women's volleyball team officially opens the 2016 regular season this weekend as the Trailblazers will host the DSU/Crystal Inn Volleyball Invitational at the Student Activities Center (SAC). DSU will welcome in Northwest Nazarene, Cal State Monterey Bay and Black Hills State for the six-match, round-robin tourney.

The action gets underway with four matches on Friday, Sept. 2, beginning with NNU vs. CSUMB at 9:30 a.m., followed by DSU taking on BHSU at 12 noon. CSUMB and BHSU will then square off at 4:30 p.m., and the Trailblazers and NNU will wrap up day one at 7 p.m. NNU and BHSU will begin day two on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 9:30 a.m., and Dixie State and CSUMB will conclude tourney play at 12 noon.
 
DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Friday's season opener vs. BHSU will be the first-ever meeting between Trailblazers and the Yellow Jackets on the volleyball court. Dixie State is 3-3 all-time vs. Northwest Nazarene, though DSU has won two-straight in evening the series, including a 3-1 triumph over the Crusaders last season at the PacWest/GNAC Crossover in Ellensburg, Wash., and a 3-1 upset win in the first round of the 2014 NCAA West Regional. DSU is 2-1 in its brief series vs. CS Monterey Bay, though the two teams have not met since the 2009 season, when Trailblazers won two-straight against the Otters on consecutive days at a CSUMB-hosted season-opening tournament.

COACHING STAFF: 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) begins her fifth season on the Trailblazer bench. Felder has posted a 65-44 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). 

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.

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. Frei (5-11; Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) broke DSU's single-season assists record with 1,120 assists in 2015, which was good for seventh in the PacWest overall. She started in all 30 matches last season and one of only three Trailblazers to play in all 115 sets.

Daniel (5-9; Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS/Snow College) was named second team all-PacWest last season and led the DSU and finished 16th in the PacWest with 298 kills (2.71 KPS), which was good for seventh on DSUs single-season list. She started in 29 of 30 matches played and had at least 10 kills in 14 of 30 matches played en route to a team-high 12 double-doubles (kills/digs). 

2016 RETURNEES: In all, Dixie State returns five starters and 10 letter winners for the 2016 campaign, including a trio of all-PacWest honorees, highlighted by Daniel, third-team selection in senior middle blocker Lindsay Garrett (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS; 230 kills/105 total blocks/.263 hitting percentage), and honorable mention pick in junior right side hitter Brette Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS; 217 kills/.253 hitting percentage).

The Trailblazers also return sophomore OH Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) (Logan, Utah/Skyview HS; 237 kills/30 aces), liberos Jaclyn Condie (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS) (Jr., Salt Lake City/Salt Lake CC; 155 digs) and Sidney Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) (So., Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS; 77 digs/10 aces), right side hitters Megan Huddleston (Provo, Utah/Timpview HS) (Sr., Provo, Utah/Northwest College) and Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) (So., Smithfield, Utah/Skyview HS), and sophomore middle blocker Kayla Chapman (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS). In addition, DSU returns redshirt freshmen Kara Moore (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) and Taylor Tibbetts (Tenino, Wash./Tenino HS) (Tenino, Wash./Tenino HS).

2016 NEWCOMERS: In all DSU opened fall camp with 20 players, including four new freshmen in libero Rebekah Farris (Kuna, Idaho/Kuna HS) (Kuna, Idaho/Kuna HS), right side hitter Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS), middle blocker Kjersten Hillers (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kilsap HS) (Silverdale, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) and outside hitter Amanda Schultz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) (Springville, Utah/Springville HS). The Trailblazers also brought in two junior college transfers from Western Wyoming CC in junior setter Alexa Goulding (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (St. George/Desert Hills HS) and junior OH Leah Heger (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS) (St. George/Snow Canyon HS), and added University of Utah transfer Jaydra Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral HS) (So., OH; Temecula, Calif./Chapparal HS) and BYU-Hawaii transfer Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) (Jr., MB; Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS).

QUICK 2015 RECAP: Dixie State became the first mainland program to win the PacWest crown as the Trailblazers clinched their first-ever conference championship in volleyball last fall ... DSU broke BYU-Hawaii's string of four-straight league titles, while BYU-H and Hawai'i Hilo had combined to win the first nine PacWest championships dating back to the league's debut in 2006 ... The Trailblazers won 16 of their final 20 matches in 2015 to finish with a 19-11 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in PacWest play ... DSU also earned its third-straight trip to the NCAA West Regionals and drew top-seed and tournament host Alaska Anchorage in the first round ... DSU gave the nationally-ranked Seawolves all they could handle and more as the two teams split the first four sets of the NCAA first round match to force a decisive fifth stanza ... Dixie State raced out to a quick 7-3 in the final frame, but UAA went on a decisive 12-5 run to close out the match and DSU's season in the five-set thriller ... Fifteen of DSU's 19 wins last season came in four sets or less, including the team's last five victories overall ... last season the Trailblazers were 15-3 when they win the first set and 11-2 when up 2-0 ... Dixie State had four players register 10 or kills in a match four times in 2015 - in wins at Hawai'i Hilo (11/14), at Fresno Pacific, (10/21) and at home vs. Academy of Art (10/17), and in a loss at CBU (9/18).

UP NEXT: Dixie State will open up the road portion of its 2016 regular season slate next weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Rohnert Park Calif., for the annual D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, hosted by Sonoma State Sept. 8-10.