(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (0-4/0-0 PacWest) will wrap up the non-conference portion of the 2017 regular season schedule this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Ellensburg, Wash., for the annual D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, hosted by Central Washington. The Showcase will feature teams from the Pacific West, Great Northwest and California Collegiate Athletic conferences.
    Two of the four teams Dixie State will face this weekend received votes in this week's AVCA Division Top-25 Coaches poll. DSU opens round-robin tourney play Thursday vs. Stanislaus State beginning at 3 p.m. (PT). DSU will then play two matches on Friday, the first vs. host (RV) CWU at 3 p.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. (RV) UC San Diego at 8 p.m. (PT). The Trailblazers will close the Showcase against Concordia (OR) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (PT).
    All four matches will be played in Nicholson Pavilion on the CWU campus. Live stats/video for all four matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Thursday's season opener vs. Stanislaus State will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Warriors on the volleyball court, while DSU is winless against both CWU (0-2 all-time; L, 2-3 in 2014; L, 1-3 in 2-15) and UC San Diego (0-1; lone meeting in 2013 in NCAA Regionals - L, 1-3). However Dixie State is 1-0 vs. Concordia (OR), though the two sides have not met since 2006, which was DSU's first season of NCAA play. DSU claimed a 3-0 sweep of the Cavaliers (9/15/06) in Portland, Ore.

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 82-59 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 began the 2017 regular season on a sour note as the Trailblazers dropped all four matches at the 2017 Cal State Monterey Bay Spring Hills Suites Otter Classic last weekend in Seaside, Calif.
    The Trailblazers were swept in the first two matches of the day last Friday (9/1) by then-No. 20 Metropolitan State-Denver and CSUMB, before dropping a pair of 3-1 results to both Cal Poly Pomona and Northwest Nazarene in the tourney's final day on Saturday (9/2).

TEAM NOTES: Junior libero Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) vaulted to fifth on DSU's career digs list (574) after she collected a combined 47 digs last weekend at CSUMB, including a season-high 24 digs in the finale vs. NNU ... Brandon also tied a career-high with five assists vs. NNU ... sophomore setter Kara Moore (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) also moved into the top-10 in career assists (101), thanks in part to a career-high 18 dimes in the Cal Poly Pomona match (53 assists overall at CSUMB tourney) ... freshman setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) posted a team-high (and career-high) 22 assists in her third collegiate match vs. CPP and had a career-best nine digs vs. NNU.
    Sophomore RS Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) was the only Trailblazer who recorded a double-figure kill total after she threw down a career-high 11 kills vs. CPP ... Gammell also tied a career-best with two blocks vs. NNU ... freshman OH Sydney Johnson (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley HS) collected career-highs of seven kills twice in both Saturday matches vs. CPP and NNU, and recorded a season-best seven digs vs. NNU ... junior OH Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) notched career highs of eight kills vs. NNU and eight digs at CSUMB ... junior RS Shannon Sorenson (8 kills) and junior S Alexa Goulding (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (8 assists) each recorded career-highs in the NNU match, as did freshman MB Ashtyn Lunt (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS), who had two aces and three total blocks in DSU debut.
    As a team DSU is hitting .151, while opponents are hitting at a .243 clip through the first four matches of 2017 ... DSU collected 15 service aces on the opening weekend ... DSU is averaging 10.64 kills, 13.14 digs and 1.75 blocks per set.  

UP NEXT: Dixie State opens its 2017 home slate and final year of PacWest play on Saturday, Sept. 16, as the Trailblazers host California Baptist inside the DSU SAC beginning at 12 noon.