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CSUMB Classic Tournament Information

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State officially opens the 2017 regular season this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Seaside, Calif., to play in the Cal State Monterey Bay-hosted Spring Hills Suites Otter Classic. DSU will kick off the round-robin tourney Friday morning with a match-up against No. 20 Metropolitan State University-Denver at 9 a.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. the home-standing Otters later that day at 2 p.m. (PT).
    The Trailblazers will play two more matches on Saturday, the first coming against Cal Poly Pomona at 9 a.m. (PT), and they will wrap up play vs. Northwest Nazarene at 4:30 p.m. (PT).

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Friday's season opener vs. MSUD will be the first-ever meeting between Trailblazers and the Roadrunners on the volleyball court. DSU is 3-1 overall vs. CS Monterey Bay, including a 3-0 sweep of the Otters last season in St. George in the final game of the DSU-
hosted Crystal Inn Inv'l.
    Dixie State is 1-3 against Cal Poly Pomona, however the two sides have not met since the 2014 season, when DSU claimed a 3-0 sweep of the Broncos to break through in the series. DSU is 3-4 all-time vs. Northwest Nazarene, having won two of the last three meetings overall, though the Crusaders claimed a hard-fought 3-2 win at the DSU-Crystal Inn Invite in St. George last season.

COACHING STAFF: 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) begins her sixth season on the Trailblazer bench. Felder has posted a 82-55 overall record during her tenure, including a 17-11 record last season. In 2015, Felder led the Trailblazers to their first-ever Pacific West Conference title and the program's third-straight NCAA West Regional appearance. In addition, five Trailblazers earned all-PacWest honors and Felder was named Conference Coach of the Year. The season before that, she led DSU to its most successful season in the program's Division II era. The Trailblazers played to a 22-9 overall record, which marked the first time Dixie State had reached 20-plus wins in a season since its first year of NCAA play in 2006. Felder, who was also named PacWest Co-Coach of the Year in 2013, is joined on the bench by assistant coaches David Richards (first season), Nate Capps (third season), and former DSU standout Lindsay Garrett (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (student assistant, first season). 

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN PACWEST IN 2017: Heading into its final season of league play, Dixie State was picked to finish third by the Pacific West Conference coaches in the annual preseason poll released by the league on August 23.
    Defending PacWest champion Concordia-Irvine was the overwhelming choice to repeat in 2017 as the Eagles collected 10 out of a possible 14 first-place votes to top the poll with 189 points. California Baptist picked up three first-place nods to finish second with 158 points, followed by the Trailblazers in third with 158 points. Azusa Pacific (one first place vote) came in fourth in the poll with 151 points, while Point Loma (119 points) edged out Hawai'i Pacific (118 points) for fifth place, and Dominican (105 points) rounded out the top half of the poll in seventh.
    DSU, which has finished in the top-three in the PacWest each of the last four years, including the program's first conference crown in 2015, landed one player on the league's awards list. Junior Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) was voted 2017 PacWest Preseason Libero of the Year and was named to the preseason all-PacWest team.

2017 RETURNEES: Dixie State welcomes back two starters and 11 letter winners for the 2017 campaign, highlighted by senior right side hitter Brette (Anderson) Barney (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) and junior libero Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS).
    Barney started in 16 of 24 matches played in 2016 and was fourth on the team in kills with 128 (1.86 kps) and sixth in total blocks with 44 (five solo; 0.56 bps). Meanwhile Brandon played in 25 matches a season ago and finished seventh in the PacWest in digs with 450 (4.95 dps), which was also the seventh-best single-season total in the DSU's NCAA era.
    The Trailblazers also return senior libero Jaclyn Condie (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS) (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS/Salt Lake CC; 232 digs/21 assists), junior middle blocker Kayla Chapman (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS; 92 kills/51 blocks), junior RS Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS; 40 kills/23 blocks) and sophomore setter Kara Moore (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS; 48 assists), who all saw significant time last season. However DSU will be without the services of senior RS Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS/BYU-Hawaii; 128 kills/67 blocks), who will miss the 2017 season as a medical redshirt.

2017 NEWCOMERS: In all DSU will open camp with 20 players, including six new freshmen in outside hitters Kaycee Adams (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS) (Salt Lake City/Syracuse HS) and Sydney Johnson (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley HS) (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley HS), along with RS Destiny Kaumatule (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Kaiser HS) (Honolulu/Kaiser HS), MB Ashtyn Lunt (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS), setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) and libero Abbey Smith (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS).
    The Trailblazers also brought in a pair of transfers in RS Savannah Ipsen (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS) (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS) from Westminster (UT) College and OH Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) from Grossmont (CA) College.

UP NEXT: Dixie State will wrap up the non-conference portion of the 2017 regular season slate next weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Ellensburg, Wash., for the annual D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, hosted by Central Washington, on Sept. 7-9.