(NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL)
(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season co-champion Dixie State (22-5) heads to Texas to play in the 2018 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Tournament South Central Regional, which will be held this Thursday-through-Saturday, November 15-17, on the campus of Tarleton State University in Stephenville.
    Live stats and streaming video information for Dixie State's NCAA tourney run can be found HERE.
    The Trailblazers, who earned an at-large bid after winning a school-record tying 22 matches (22-5), were awarded the South Central Region's No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed and RMAC Tournament champion Colorado Mesa (23-6) this Thursday at 12 noon (CT), at the TSU Wisdom Volleyball Gym.  
    Dixie State, which clinched a share of the RMAC regular season championship in the program's first year of conference membership, enters this weekend's regional having won 11 of its last 13 matches overall.
    Rounding out the South Region field is No. 1 seed and Lone Star Conference regular season champion Tarleton State (29-4), which will square off against Heartland Conference tournament champion No. 8 Arkansas-Fort Smith (20-11), while LSC tourney champion No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Commerce (28-5) will face fellow LSC member No. 7 seed Angelo State (22-9), and No. 4 seed and RMAC regular season co-champion Colorado School of Mines (23-5) will face No. 5 seed and RMAC member MSU Denver (21-9), which earned an at-large bid. In all, four RMAC schools, three LSC members and one Heartland member make up the field.
    All South Central Regional games will be played in the Wisdom Volleyball Gym on the TSU campus, with four quarterfinal matches to be played on Thursday, Nov. 15. The semifinals will follow  on Friday, Nov. 16, and the regional final will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17.
    Eight teams were selected from each of the following eight regions to make up the 64-team tournament: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance on to the 2018 NCAA Elite Eight, which will be held Nov. 29-Dec. 1, at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., as part of the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships Festival. 

DIXIE STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Dixie State has qualified for the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Tournament four times, including three-straight West Region appearances from 2013-15, and advanced all the way to the West Regional final (Sweet 16) in 2014. Overall the Trailblazers are 2-3 in NCAA tournament play, with both victories coming in that 2014 appearance.

DIXIE STATE AGAINST THE TOURNEY FIELD: Dixie State went a combined 3-4 against five of the seven South Central Regional participants this season, with two of the three wins coming against CMU in a pair of 3-1 victories in St. George (9/15) and in the return match in Grand Junction (10/12). However the Mavericks exacted a little revenge as CMU eliminated DSU in the RMAC tourney semifinals last Friday by, coincidentally, a 3-1 count.  
    Meanwhile, DSU picked up a 3-1 victory over host Tarleton State (8/30) and fell to Arkansas-Fort Smith (1-3; 9/1) in the Dixie State-hosted Desert Garden Inn by Wyndham Classic earlier this season. In addition, DSU dropped a hard-fought five-set decision to fellow RMAC co-champion Mines (9/28) and were swept at home by MSUD (10/6), which accounted for both Trailblazer losses in RMAC play.

COACHING STAFF: 2018 RMAC Co-Head Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 117-75 overall record) is in her seventh season at the helm of the Dixie State women's volleyball program. This season, Felder has led the Trailblazers to a NCAA era school-record tying 22 wins and to a share of the RMAC regular season title in the program's debut season in the league.
    A two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year (2013/2015) honoree, Felder led the Trailblazers to their first-ever Pacific West Conference title and the program's third-straight NCAA West Regional appearance in 2015. The season before that, she led DSU to its most successful season in the program's Division II era as the Trailblazers played to a 22-9 overall record, which marked the first time Dixie State had reached the 20-win plateau in the program's NCAA-era. That season also saw her squad reach 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 Murphey (Dixie State, 2018).

JUST WIN BABY: Dixie State tied its NCAA-era program record for victories with its 22nd win of the season in its RMAC tourney quarterfinal win over UCCS on Nov. 6. In 2014, Dixie State won 22 matches (22-9), which included 20 regular season wins and two NCAA West Regional victories to advance to the regional final (Sweet 16).
    In addition, the Blazers won a program-best 12 home matches this season (12-2) to clinch its sixth-straight winning home record (3-1 @ Burns Arena, 9-1 @ DSU SAC). DSU has won nine or more home matches in five of those six campaigns, and has finished .500 or better at home in 11 of its 13 seasons of NCAA play.  
    Meanwhile, DSU finished the road portion of its 2018 regular season with a 9-1 record, which tied for the best overall road mark in the program's NCAA era. Dixie State also won nine road matches in 2014 (9-3) and has posted a winning road record in seven of its 13 seasons of four-year competition overall.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: The Trailblazers posted their 11th sweep of the season in their 3-0 win over Westminster Nov 2. The 11 sweeps this season are tied for the second-most in the program's NCAA era. In 2016, Dixie State won 13 of its 17 matches in straight sets, while DSU claimed 11 of its 22 match wins in 2014 via the 3-0 sweep.

TRAILBLAZERS COLLECT NINE RMAC POSTSEASON AWARDS: Along with Coach Felder's coach of the year award, the Trailblazers collected nine total RMAC postseason awards on Nov. 6. Junior MB Lauren Gammell highlighted the list as she was tabbed as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and earned first team all-conference. Sophomore RS Megan Treanor joined Gammell on the league's first team, while junior MB/OH To'a Faleao-Baich, senior libero Sid Brandon and senior MB Malary Marshall were voted to the second team, and senior OH Hannah Doonan and sophomore setter Jordyn Nelson earned honorable mention honors.   
    Gammell entered this weekend's regional as the NCAA Division II leader in blocks per set (1.57) and is fourth-nationally in total blocks (159). The four-time RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree shattered both DSU single-season block assist (146) and total blocks records, and has collected five or more total blocks in 16 of 27 matches with four double-digit block outings overall, including six block assists vs. CMU in last Friday's RMAC semifinal, and five total blocks (two solo) in the RMAC quarterfinal win over UCCS (11/6). The junior also tied DSU's single-season record for total blocks (11) vs. Colorado Mesa (9/15), at CMU (10/12) and vs. Regis (10/27). On the offensive end, Gammell is hitting .230 on the season and had six or more kills on 13 occasions, including eight kills vs. UCCS (11/6), and posted her first career double-double with 10 kills and 11 blocks at CMU (10/12).
    Treanor currently leads the team in kills (274) and double-doubles (11), including two double-doubles in both RMAC tourney games as the sophomore earned RMAC all-Tournament team honors. Treanor posted a 14-kill, 12-assist night with nine digs and four blocks vs. UCCS (11/6) and went for 11 kills and 11 assists vs. CMU (11/9). Treanor is also second in assists (271), fifth in digs (123) and fourth in blocks (77). The sophomore, who was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17, has posted double figures in kills in 15 of 25 outings, including nine RMAC matches. She tallied a career-high 19 kills in wins at then nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene and vs. current #13 Tarleton State, while six of her 10 double-doubles have come in RMAC play, including a 14-kill, 28-assist performance in a five-set loss at Colorado School of Mines (9/28).
    Brandon has recorded double figures in digs in 25 of 27 matches and collected 20 or more digs on four occasions, including a match-high 23 digs vs. CMU (11/9), one off of her season-high of 24 digs in road wins at UCCS (9/29) and CSU-Pueblo (10/19). The senior also moved past the 1,400-career dig plateau vs. CMU (11/9) and has 1,419 (#3 all-time) to her credit over her four-year career. Brandon is also second on the team in service aces (26), including three aces vs. UCCS (11/6), and enters the Regional fifth in career aces (73) and sixth in sets played (328).
    Faleao-Baich leads the team in service aces (31 - t-fifth in the RMAC) and is second in kills (234), fifth in blocks (73) and sixth in digs (103). Faleao-Baich has posted double figures in kills in 11 of 26 starts, including seven RMAC matches, highlighted by a career-high 16 kills in a home win over Regis (10/27), and she tallied 11 kills vs. UCCS (11/6). The junior posted her lone double-double of the year with 11 kills and 10 digs at UCCS (9/29), while she has tallied at least one total block in 24 of 26 matches played and had five blocks on five occasions, including a career-best seven total blocks with 12 kills at Mines (9/28).  
    Marshall leads the team and is ranked eighth in the RMAC in hitting percentage (.323), and is DSU's career hitting percentage leader (.313). The senior (193 kills; t-3rd on team) has started in all 27 games and posted double figures in kills in eight of those starts, including 10 kills vs. CMU (11/9). She has tallied a career-high 13 kills on four occasions, including three RMAC road matches (at Mines 9/28, at Westminster 10/2, at CSU-Pueblo 10/19).
    Marshall is currently fifth in the RMAC in blocks per set (0.98) and seventh in total blocks (98), and she is fifth in block assists (92). The senior has tallied at least one block in 26 of 27 matches with 10 five-plus block outings and enters the RMAC tourney in eighth-place on DSU's career block assists list (150), while she is tied for t-ninth-place in career solo blocks (15) and is ninth in career blocks (165).
    Doonan is second on the team in digs (260) and double-doubles (7), fourth in kills (189) and sixth in total blocks (33). She has posted double figures in kills in nine of 27 starts, including seven RMAC matches, while six of her seven double-doubles have come in RMAC play, highlighted by a career-high 18 kills with 15 digs in a come-from-behind win at CSU-Pueblo (10/19).     
    Nelson has collected 25 or more assists in 10 of her 27 starts, including 28 dimes in the UCCS win (11/6). Nelson also has four double-doubles to her credit this season, two of which came in RMAC play in wins at Westminster (16A/12D, 10/02) and vs. Regis (11K/18D, 10/27). She also posted a double-double with 22 dimes and 11 digs vs. CMU (11/9). The sophomore also dished out a career-high 37 assists at UCCS (9/29), and has tallied 37 kills on the year, including a career-best four kills vs. CMU (9/15).

TEAM NOTES: Dixie State received votes in this week's AVCA D-II Coaches Top-25 poll.
    Senior RS Shannon Sorensen tallied seven kills and three block assists on Senior Night vs. Westminster (11/2) ... Sorensen enters the this weekend's regional sixth on the team in kills (133) and third in blocks (83, seven solo), including a career-high seven blocks vs. Regis (10/27) ... redshirt junior setter Kara Moore posted her first-career double-double with 12 assists and a career-high 13 digs vs. Westminster (11/2).      
    As a team DSU is hitting .224 (4th in the RMAC), while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .128 clip (2nd in the RMAC/T-19th in NCAA DII) ... DSU is averaging 12.83 kills and 15.50 digs per set.
    Entering the NCAA Tournament, Dixie State is second in the nation at the NCAA D-II level in blocks per set at 2.93, and leads the RMAC and is t-sixth-nationally in total blocks (295.5) ... DSU's 295.5 total blocks and 493 block assists this season are both new school records, while the team's 49 solo blocks are third-most  ... DSU tallied a season-high 18.0 total team blocks in the Regis win (10/27), which tied for the second-most in a single match in the program's four-year era ... DSU opened its four-set match victory at CMU (10/12) with 10-straight points, the first three of which, and five of the first seven points overall, came on the defensive side on blocked Maverick attacks.

UP NEXT: The winner of the NCAA South Central Region, along with the other seven regional winners, will advance to the 2018 NCAA Elite Eight, which will be held Nov. 29-Dec. 1, at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., as part of the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships Festival.