(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (2-1/0-0 PacWest) opens the road portion of its 2016 regular season schedule this week as the Trailblazers travel to Rohnert Park, Calif., to play in the 2016 D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, hosted by Sonoma State. The Showcase will feature teams from the Pacific West, Great Northwest and California Collegiate Athletic conferences.

Three of the four teams Dixie State will face this weekend are currently ranked in the AVCA Division Top-25 Coaches poll, beginning with a match Thursday vs. #14 Western Washington beginning at 3 p.m. (PT). DSU will play two matches on Friday, the first vs. No. 12 Alaska Anchorage at 3 p.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. No. 15 Cal State San Bernardino at 8 p.m. (PT). The Trailblazers will then close the showcase against host Sonoma State (receiving votes in AVCA poll) on Saturday at 1 p.m. (PT).

All four matches will be played in the Wolves' Den on the SSU campus. Live stats/video for all four matches can be found on SSU's official website: www.sonomaseawolves.com/d2vbshowcase.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 0-2 in its brief series vs. Western Washington, with both losses coming in PacWest/GNAC/CCAA crossover play, including a 3-0 loss last year and a 3-1 setback in 2014. DSU and UAA have met on the volleyball court six previous times, with the Trailblazers trailing 2-4 in the series, including a 3-0 loss in crossover play last September, and a hard-fought 3-2 defeat in the 2015 NCAA West Regional first round in Anchorage this past December.

Friday's match vs. CSUSB will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Coyotes on the volleyball court, while Saturday's game at Sonoma State will mark just the second time DSU and SSU have squared off. The first-ever meeting came in the 2014 NCAA West Regional final, a match the Seawolves claimed by a 3-1 count.

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 67-45 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.

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 opened the 2016 regular season last weekend in hosting the DSU/Crystal Inn Volleyball Invitational inside the DSU SAC. The Trailblazers opened play last Friday with a 3-0 sweep of Black Hills State, followed by a tough five-set loss to Northwest Nazarene. The Trailblazers then rebounded to sweep away Cal State Monterey Bay to close out tourney play last Saturday.

QUICK HITS: Frei tallied 20 or more assists in all three matches over the weekend, including a season-high 43 dimes vs. NNU ... Daniel posted double-doubles (kills/digs) in two of the three matches last week, including a career-high 21 digs and a match-high 10 kills in the opening win vs. Black Hills State ... Daniel also tied career-highs in aces (2) vs. BHSU and assists (2) vs. CSUMB ... sophomore OH Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) collected a career-best nine digs vs. BHSU and had a season-high 15 kills to go with a career-high four aces vs. NNU ... junior libero Jaclyn Condie (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS) tallied a career and team-tourney high 30 digs vs. NNU ... freshman rightside hitter Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) wasted little time making a name for herself in a Trailblazer uniform as the southpaw registered a career and team-high nine kills in the win over CSUMB ... Gammell was also credited with two blocks vs. NNU .... junior Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) posted DSU career-highs in kills (7) and digs (3) vs. NNU and had two blocks vs. BHSU ... senior RS Megan Huddleston (Provo, Utah/Timpview HS) recorded career-highs in digs (7) and aces (2) vs. NNU ... junior RS Brette Anderson (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) collected a career-best six digs vs. NNU ... freshman setter Kara Moore (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) recorded her first collegiate kill to go with career-highs of 13 assists and two aces vs. CSUMB ... freshman libero Rebekah Farris (Kuna, Idaho/Kuna HS) picked up three digs and one ace in her collegiate debut vs. NNU ... freshman Kayla Chapman (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) tallied career-highs of five kills vs. BHSU and three blocks vs. NNU ... freshman OH Amanda Schultz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) tallied her first collegiate kill vs. CSUMB.

Dixie State received eight votes in this week's AVCA Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll … as a team DSU is hitting .157, while the Trailblazer defense is holding opponents to a .156 clip through the first three matches of 2016 ... DSU collected 25 service aces on the opening weekend, compared to just six combined by its three opponents ... DSU is averaging 11.82 kills, 16.55 digs and 1.64 blocks per set.

HEAD COACH ROBYN FELDER ON TRAILBLAZERS: "We are extremely excited to head to Sonoma this weekend to match up against the GNAC and the CCAA. Three of the teams we are playing are top-25 in the nation teams so are we are looking forward to great and high-level competition. We are going to have to play with a lot of energy and execute very well if we want to compete. We have been fine tuning all week and working hard and I know we are ready to play."

UP NEXT: Dixie State will conclude its season-long six-match road swing and will open PacWest play with two matches in southern California, beginning with a date at Point Loma on Friday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. (PT) in San Diego. DSU will then travel up the I-5/I-405 to Irvine to play at Concordia University Irvine on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. (PT).