Dixie State opened the 2017 regular season on the wrong end of a pair of matches play at the Cal State Monterey Bay/Spring Hill Suites Otter Classic Friday at the CSUMB Kelp Bed. DSU was swept in the first match of the day by No. 20 Metropolitan State-Denver, 3-0, before dropping a 3-0 decision to the host Otters later in the day. ??

In the opener against MSU-D, the Roadrunners never trailed in the opening two games as they raced out to a quick 2-0 match lead by taking the first set by a 25-19 count, followed by a 25-11 result in set two. The Trailblazers (0-2) looked as if they shook off the early-match doldrums in the third frame as DSU led by as many as six points at 15-9 midway through the frame.

MSU-D rallied with an 11-5 run to knot the set at 20-20, but Dixie State used a Jaclyn Condie (Cottonwood Heights, Utah/Brighton HS) kill and Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) ace to jump back out to a 22-20 edge. However the Roadrunners would go on to score five of the final six points of the stanza to clinch the set and the match.

Dixie State was held to a .112 hitting percentage and 26 kills in the match. Senior rightside hitter Brette Barney (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) led the Trailblazers with seven kills, four of which came in the third set, while junior libero Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) collected a team-high eight digs.

After losing the first set in their match-up vs. CSUMB by a 25-21 count, the Trailblazers regrouped to start set two en route to an early 10-5 lead. Unfortunately the lead would evaporate quickly as the Otters scored the next six points of the stanza as part of a larger 15-2 run on their way to a 25-16 triumph. CSUMB then went on to lead wire-to-wire in the decisive third set to complete the sweep with a 25-18 win.

Junior Kayla Chapman (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) paced DSU with seven kills, while sophomore Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) and freshman Kaycee Adams (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS) collected five kills apiece. DSU hit just .107 in the three sets and finished with 33 kills overall.

Dixie State will wrap up play at the Otter Classic with a pair of matches Saturday against Cal Poly Pomona at 10 a.m. (MT), followed with the finale vs. Northwest Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. (MT).