(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: After playing 10 of its first 11 matches on the road, Dixie State (3-8/1-2 PacWest) returns to the DSU SAC for a three-match homestand this weekend. The Trailblazers will host Holy Names (0-13/0-4 PacWest) on Friday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m., followed by a match-up vs. Dominican (3-8/2-1 Pacwest) at 12 noon on Saturday, Sept. 30.
    Live stats/video links for both home matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: The Trailblazers are 6-1 all-time vs. Holy Names and has won six-straight overall vs. the Hawks in the series, including a 3-0 home sweep at the DSU SAC last season (9/24/16).
    Dixie State is 10-1 all-time against Dominican University, though the Penguins finally broke through in the series with a 3-1 win at the DSU SAC last season (11/5/16). DSU is 5-1 all-time vs. DUC at home, while eight of DSU's 10 victories in the series overall have been three-set sweeps.

COACHING STAFF: 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) is in her sixth season on the Trailblazer bench. Felder has posted a 85-63 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.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State split two matches on its final trip to the Islands as a member of the PacWest Conference. The Trailblazers opened the trip with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Hawai'i Pacific last Friday night. Sophomore Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) threw down a career-high 21 kills, while junior Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) collected a career-high tying 16 kills and 17 digs, to help lead DSU to the win. Dixie State then closed the trip with a tough 3-1 loss the next day at Chaminade.

300 AND COUNTING....: Dixie State played in its 300th NCAA match this past Sept. 23, when the Trailblazers took the court vs. California Baptist. Through 302 matches, DSU has posted a 163-139 (.539) overall record in 11-plus seasons of four-year competition, which includes a 107-68 (.611) mark in PacWest play. Dixie State is 67-36 (.650) inside the DSU SAC, while the Trailblazers are 66-64 (.507) in true road games and 30-39 (.434) all-time in neutral site matches.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Dixie State made a little history in its comeback win over Central Washington this past Sept. 8, as for the second time in Head Coach Robyn Felder's tenure the Trailblazers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to post a victory.
    DSU dropped the opening two sets by a combined score of 50-26 and was trailing 17-8 in set three. However the Trailblazers stormed back with a 16-7 run to knot the match at 24-24 and would go on to win the frame, 27-25. Dixie State then tied the match at 2-2 with a 26-24 triumph in set four and bolted out to a commanding 10-2 lead in the decisive fifth set to silence the home crowd and take both the 15-9 set win and the match.
    The come-from-behind victory came exactly five years to the day (9/8/12) since the last time the Trailblazers rallied from a two-set deficit to pull out a victory. DSU last accomplished the feat in a five-set triumph over Adelphi (21-25/12-25/27-25/25-18/15-13) in Anchorage, Alaska, which was also Coach Felder's second-career win at DSU.

TEAM NOTES: Gammell's 21 kills at HPU were the most recorded by a DSU player since former Trailblazer OH Delayne Daniel (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) collected 23 kills in a win at Point Loma last season (9/16/16) ... Doonan posted her team-leading fourth double-double of the season in the HPU win, while freshman setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) posted her second double-double of the year overall with 28 assists and a career-high 13 digs vs. the Sharks ... Nelson has moved into eighth place on DSU's career assists list after just 11 matches (209), while sophomore setter Kara Moore (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) (154) moved into ninth place overall.
    Junior RS Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) averaged 7.0 kills on the Hawai'i trip, including eight kills at Chaminade ... libero Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) became just the fourth player in DSU's NCAA era to surpass the 700-dig plateau with her second dig in the Chaminade match ... Brandon now has 715 digs in two-plus seasons in a Trailblazer uniform ... sophomore RS/DS Savannah Ipsen (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS) collected a DSU career-best 15 digs in the HPU match as DSU finished with a season-high 90 digs overall ... junior OH Jaydra Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral HS) returned to the line-up in Hawai'i and responded with a career-high tying five kills at HPU and a career-best four blocks at Chaminade.
    DSU hit a season-high .250 in the win vs. Stanislaus, and a PacWest season-high .238 in the HPU win ... as a team DSU is hitting .168, while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .226 clip through 11 matches this season ... DSU is averaging 11.44 kills, 15.28 digs and 1.72 blocks per set overall.

UP NEXT: Dixie State closes its homestand next Friday night, Oct. 5,  when the Trailblazers welcome in Hawai'i Pacific to the DSU SAC. First serve is set for 6 p.m.