Dixie State won its season-best fourth-straight match with a 3-1 triumph in a slugfest with Academy of Art Sunday afternoon at the DSU SAC. The match, DSU's 2017 home finale, also marked the final Pacific West Conference home match for the Trailblazer program, which will transition to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference beginning next season.
Dixie State (13-13/11-7 PacWest) jumped out to a two-set lead in the match, but it was not easy as the Trailblazers rallied from a 20-12 deficit with an 11-3 run to pull even at 23-23. Freshman
Sydney Johnson (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley HS) then gave DSU just its second lead of the frame with a service ace to force set point, which sophomore
Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) clinched with a kill.
DSU claimed a 25-22 set-two win and held a 17-14 advantage in set three. However the Urban Knights (5-20/2-16 PacWest) rattled off six-straight points and outscored Dixie State 11-5 to close the frame to take set three, 25-22, and close the gap to 2-1 in the match.
In the decisive fourth set, the Trailblazers raced out to a 15-9 lead, but again DSU could not hold on to it as AAU scored eight of the next nine points overall to take a 17-16 advantage. Following a DSU timeout, the Trailblazers responded with five-straight points, including a pair of Gammell kills and a
Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) throw down, to wrestle the lead back at 21-17 and never looked back as DSU clinched the match with another 25-22 set win.
Junior
Kayla Chapman (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) led DSU with 12 kills, while freshman
Kaycee Adams (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS) collected six of her 11 career-high kills in the fourth set. Gammell finished with seven kills and a game-high nine total blocks, and freshman setter
Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) recorded her 10
th double-double of the year with 24 assists and 10 digs. In all, 10 of the 16 Trailblazers who played notched at least one kill.
Dixie State managed to hit .176 in the match with 55 kills and nine service aces. DSU's defense held AAU to a .182 hitting percentage and collected 12 total team blocks. AAU's Bailey Soolsma led the Urban Knights with 22 kills and 12 digs.
Dixie State will close out the 2017 season with its final two PacWest matches, which will be played at Concordia-Irvine on Friday, Nov. 18, followed by the finale at league newcomer Biola on Saturday, Nov. 18.
