(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (14-4/9-2 RMAC) kicks off the final road swing of the 2018 regular season this weekend with a pair of crucial RMAC matches as teams are jockeying for position for the upcoming RMAC tournament.
    DSU, which enters the weekend in third place in the RMAC standings, begins the swing this Friday night with a big RMAC showdown at second-place Colorado Mesa (15-4/10-1 RMAC) at 7 p.m., inside the CMU Brownson Arena. The Trailblazers then turnaround and head up to Gunnison for a Saturday night tilt at Western Colorado (2-18/1-10 RMAC) at 6 p.m., at Paul Wright Gym.
    Live stats and video links for both matches this weekend can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 3-1 all-time vs. CMU, which includes a 3-1 victory last month inside the DSU SAC. The Trailblazers also  claimed the first two meetings at home in 2009 (3-1; 9/2/09) and in Grand Junction (3-0; 9/8/11), while the Mavericks' lone win in the series came in 2013 (1-3; 9/14/13) on a neutral court.
    Dixie State holds a 4-1 series edge over Western Colorado and has won four-straight in the series overall, including a 3-0 Blazer sweep in the first match played between the two sides in St. George back on Sept. 14. DSU and Western split the first two meetings on consecutive days in Gunnison back in the 2010 season (9/10-11/10), and the Trailblazers swept the next two matches vs. the Mountaineers on neutral courts in 2011 (9/10/11) and 2013 (9/14/13).

COACHING STAFF: Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 109-74 overall record) is in her seventh season at the helm of the DSU women's volleyball program as it heads into its first year of RMAC play. The two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year (2013/2015) led the Trailblazers to a 13-15 overall record last season which included an 11-9 mark (t-6th) in their final season of PacWest competition.
    In 2015, Felder led the Trailblazers to their first-ever Pacific West Conference title and the program's third-straight NCAA West Regional appearance. 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 only time Dixie State has reached 20-win plateau in the program's NCAA-era, and DSU also reached the 2014 NCAA West Regional final (Sweet 16).
    Felder is joined on the DSU sideline by second-year assistant coaches David Richards (BYU, 1983) and former DSU standout Makenzi Bird-Murphey (Dixie State, 2018).

HI, MY NAME IS....: After 11 years as a member of the Pacific West Conference, Dixie State embarks on its first season as full members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2018.
    The Trailblazers won one PacWest volleyball title (2015) over their conference membership and posted a 117-75 overall record (.609) in 192 league games. DSU won 10 or more PacWest matches in seven of those 11 campaigns, including a program-best 17 matches (17-3) in 2014.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State came away with a split of two home sweeps this past weekend inside the DSU SAC. The Trailblazers posted a 3-0 victory over Chadron State (25-21, 25-15, 25-13) last Friday before tasting defeat for just the second time in RMAC play in a tough 3-0 loss to MSU Denver (20-25, 21-25, 18-25) on Saturday.

THINGS TIGHTENING UP IN RMAC RACE: Dixie State enters this weekend in a two-way tie for third place in the RMAC standings with Regis at 9-2, one game back of CMU (10-1) and two games back of conference leader No. 21 Colorado School of Mines (11-0) with seven regular season matches remaining.
    MSU Denver stands in fifth place at 8-2, followed by both UCCS (7-4) and Colorado Christian (7-4) in t-sixth, while four teams (Black Hills State, NM Highlands, Westminster and Fort Lewis) are all tied for eighth at 4-7.
    The top-eight teams advance on to the 2018 RMAC Tournament, which begins with quarterfinal action at the home sites of the top-four seeds on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The semifinals and championship match will be held at the top-remaining seed on Nov. 9-10, with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA South Central Regionals.

TEAM NOTES: Sophomore right side hitter Megan Treanor (Salem, Utah/Salem Hills HS) returned to the Trailblazer lineup last weekend and averaged 9.0 kills over the two matches, including a co-game high 10 kills in the win over Chadron State ... Treanor posted her team-high seventh double-double with 14 kills and career-high 28 assists, along with seven digs at Colorado School of Mines (9/28) ... Treanor, who was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week (9/17), leads the team in kills (187, 3.17 k/s) and has enough attacks to now qualify to be ranked on DSU's career hitting percentage list (.260, 9th).
    Senior MB Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) has been on a hitting tear over her last seven games to the tune of a .364 clip, including a .409 attack percentage with a career-high 13 kills at Mines (9/28), followed by a .458 night with 13 more kills at Westminster (10/2) ... Marshall also hit .364 with six kills at UCCS (9/29) and a combined .444 vs. both Fort Lewis (9/21) and Adams State (9/22) ... Marshall's recent tear has helped pad her DSU record .313 career attack percentage ... additionally, Marshall collected five block assists in the Blazers' two home matches last weekend and now stands five total blocks shy (132) of cracking DSU's career blocks list, while she is tied for 10th-place on DSU's career solo block list (14).
    Junior MB Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) tallied 10 more total blocks (2 solo) last week, including a match-high seven total blocks (1 solo) in the win over Chadron State ... the two-time RMAC Defensive POW honoree, also had one solo block and two helpers in the loss to MSUD.
    Gammell has recorded five or more blocks in 11 of 18 matches this season and currently leads all of NCAA D-II in blocks per set at 1.59 bps, and she is ranked second in the RMAC and third-nationally in total blocks with 105 ... Gammell (231; #5 all-time) also became the sixth player in program history to reach the 200-block plateau, doing so vs. FLC (9/21) ... in addition, the junior MB is currently fifth all-time in block assists (210) and sixth in solo blocks (21).
    Sophomore setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) recorded a career-high four kills vs. CMU (9/15) and dished out a career-best 37 assists in the win at UCCS (9/29) ... Nelson also notched her second double-double of the year with 16 dimes and a season-high 12 digs at Westminster (10/2).
    Senior L Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) (1,268 digs) became the third player in program history to collect 1,200-plus digs in the Mines match ... Brandon did see her streak of double-digit dig matches stopped at 22-straight after "only" nine digs in the Westminster win, and the senior has collected 10 or more digs in 17 of 18 matches this season overall ... sophomore OH Sydney Johnson (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley HS) tied career highs with 14 kills, nine digs and two aces at Mines (9/28).  
    Junior MB/OH To'a Faleao-Baich (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) picked up a combined four services aces last weekend (2 vs. CSC/2 vs. MSUD) to move into the RMAC lead with 25 through her 17 starts this season ... Faleao-Baich notched her first Trailblazer double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs at UCCS (9/29)  ... Faleao-Baich also posted a career-high seven blocks to go with 12 kills and six digs at Colorado School of Mines (9/28).
     Senior OH Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) recorded her third double-double of the year with 10 kills and 10 digs vs. Chadron State last Friday, and hit .519 with a season-high 14 kills at UCCS (9/29) ... freshman Miranda Marshall (Fairfield, Calif./Vanden HS) tallied a career-high five block assists and had two kills at UCCS (9/29), while two other freshmen posted career-highs at Westminster (10/2), including Hailee Oviatt-Devallier with three kills and two blocks, and Abbey Smith (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) with 11 digs.
    Dixie State's 14-4 start is the best overall start through 18 games in the program's NCAA era ... DSU hit .430 against Adams State, which wound up as the second-highest single-match percentage in the program's four-year era, and was the first time Dixie State had hit .400 or better in a match in nearly three full seasons (.402 at Holy Names; 10/23/15) ... the DSU match record for hitting percentage is .440 set vs. Molloy College during the 2015 season (9/5/15) ... as a team DSU is hitting .215 (#4 in the RMAC) through 18 matches, while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .128 clip (#2 in the RMAC/#24 in NCAA DII) ... DSU also leads the RMAC in services aces/set (1.58) and is second overall with 104 aces, including a combined 10 aces (7 vs. Chadron State) last weekend.
    DSU is averaging 12.80 kills and 15.68 digs per set ... Dixie State currently leads the nation at the NCAA D-II level in blocks/set at 3.08, and leads the RMAC and is third-nationally in total blocks (203.0).

UP NEXT: Dixie State closes out the road portion of its 2018 regular season at Colorado State-Pueblo on Friday, Oct. 19, followed by a match-up at New Mexico Highlands on Saturday, Oct. 20.