(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season co- champion Dixie State (21-4/16-2 RMAC) will host its first-ever RMAC postseason tournament match this Tuesday night as the second-seeded Trailblazers welcome No. 7-seed Colorado-Colorado Springs (12-14/10-8 RMAC) to the DSU SAC. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
    The DSU/UCCS winner will then move on to the RMAC Tournament semifinals and finals, which will be played this weekend (site and times TBD). Live stats and video links for Tuesday's match can be found HERE.

THE REST OF THE TOURNEY FIELD: Fellow RMAC co-champion Colorado School of Mines (22-4/16-2 RMAC) earned the top seed in this week's tournament by virtue of its 3-2 win over Dixie State in Golden back on Sept. 28. The Orediggers will host No. 8-seed Fort Lewis (9-13/9-9 RMAC) in one of the three other conference tournament quarterfinal matches on Tuesday.
    The two other quarterfinal match-ups feature No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa hosting No. 6 seed Colorado Christian, and No. 4 seed MSU Denver playing host to No. 5 Regis.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State owns a 3-1 series lead over the UCCS, this after winning both matches vs. the Mountain Lions this season. The Trailblazers posted a 3-1 triumph in their third match at the DSU-hosted Desert Garden Inn by Wyndham Classic in the Burns Arena on Aug. 31, then claimed a 3-1 conference win in Colorado Springs back on Sept 29.

COACHING STAFF: Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 116-74 overall record) is in her seventh season at the helm of the DSU women's volleyball program as it wraps up 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 first time Dixie State had reached the 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 Murphey (Dixie State, 2018).

WEEK IN REVIEW: The Trailblazers clinched a share of the RMAC championship last Friday night when the Trailblazers swept in-state rival Westminster College on Senior Night inside the DSU SAC. DSU claimed the first set by a 25-17 count, then posted consecutive 25-19 wins in sets two and three to close out the match.

JUST WIN BABY: Dixie State posted its 21st victory of the season with its three-set win over Westminster, which broke the program's NCAA-era record for regular season victories, while the Trailblazers' 21-4 start to this season is far and away the best overall mark after 25 matches in the program's four-year era.
    In 2014, Dixie State won 20 regular season games on its way to its second NCAA tournament appearance, during which DSU (22-9) won two matches and advanced to the West Regional final. The Trailblazers also won 19 matches in their Pacific West Conference championship season in 2015.
    In addition, the Blazers won a program-best 11 home matches this season (11-2) and clinched its sixth-straight winning home record (3-1 @ Burns Arena, 8-1 @ 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 last Friday's 3-0 win over Westminster. 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.

VIVA LAS VEGAS .... NEW MEXICO: Dixie State shattered the program's NCAA era single match attack percentage record by hitting .491 with 61 kills and just nine attack errors in 106 attempts in its 3-1 victory at New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 20. The Blazers' performance bested the previous record of .440 set in a 3-0 sweep of Molloy College during the 2015 season (9/5/15).
    The Trailblazers were red hot in all three set wins as they hit .640 in the opening frame (25-10), followed by a .556 percentage in set two (25-9) and a .542 clip in the decisive fourth stanza (25-12). DSU's .640 percentage in the first set was also the second-highest single set percentage in program history (.667 in fifth set vs. Hawai'i Pacific; 10/2/07).  
    Junior Lauren Gammell led the hit parade as she posted a career-best .800 attack percentage with 12 kills and no errors, though she fell five attacks shorts (min. 20) to qualify for the school's single-match record. Meanwhile, sophomore Megan Treanor tallied a match-high 15 kills and hit .520 over the four sets, and junior To'a Faleao-Baich hit an even .500 and registered a career-high tying 13 kills.

TEAM NOTES: Dixie State moved up to fourth in the latest NCAA South Central Regional rankings released on Oct. 31 and the Trailblazers received votes in this week's AVCA D-II Coaches Top-25 poll.
    Gammell enters the RMAC Tournament as the NCAA D-II leader in blocks per set (1.59) and is second-nationally in total blocks (148) ... the four-time RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award winner shattered both DSU single-season block assist (137) and total blocks records, and has collected five or more total blocks in 15 of 25 regular season matches with four double-digit block starts overall ... Gammell tied DSU's single-season record for total blocks (11) vs. CMU (9/15), at CMU (10/12) and vs. Regis (10/27) ... on the offensive end, Gammell hit .232 on the season and had six or more kills on 12 occasions, and posted her first career double-double with 10 kills and 11 blocks at CMU (10/12).
    Treanor leads the team in kills (249) and double-doubles (9), and is second in assists (248), fifth in digs (111) and fifth in blocks (69) ... the sophomore, who was named RMAC Offensive POW Sept. 17, has posted double figures in kills in 13 of 23 outings, including nine RMAC matches ... Treanor tallied a career-high 19 kills in wins at then nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene and vs. current #10 Tarleton State ... six of her nine double-doubles have come in RMAC play, including a 14-kill, 28-assist performance in a five-set loss at Mines (9/28).
    Senior MB Malary Marshall leads the team and is ranked sixth in the RMAC in H% (.328), and is DSU's career hitting % record holder (.316) ... the senior has started in all 25 games and posted double figures in kills in seven of those starts ... 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) ... closed the second half of the season on a hitting tear over her last 14 games to the tune of a .347 clip (97K/29E/196A) and 6.9 kills per match, including a .565 attack percentage with 13 kills and no errors at CSU-Pueblo (10/19) ... finished regular season fifth in the RMAC in total blocks and bps, and fourth in block assists ... tallied at least one block in 24 of 25 matches with 10 five-plus block outings and enters the RMAC tourney in eighth-place on DSU's career block assists list (147), while she is tied for t-ninth-place in career solo blocks (15) and is ninth in career blocks (162).
    Sophomore setter Jordyn Nelson (1,078, #6 all-time) enters this week needing 22 more assists for 1,100 for her career ... Nelson (37 kills in 2018) tallied 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 has collected 25 or more assists in nine of her 25 starts with three double-doubles this season, two of which came in RMAC play in wins at Westminster (16A/12D, 10/02) and vs. Regis (11K/18D, 10/27) ... dished out a career-high 37 assists at UCCS (9/29) ... redshirt junior setter Kara Moore posted her first-career double-double with 12 assists and a career-high 13 digs vs. Westminster last Friday.  
    Senior libero Sid Brandon (1,378 digs - #3 all-time) has recorded double figures in digs in 23 of 25 matches and collected 20 or more digs on four occasions, including a season-high 24 digs in road wins at UCCS (9/29) and CSU-Pueblo (10/19) ... she is also second on the team in service aces, and enters this weekend sixth in career aces (69) and sets played (320), and needs 22 more digs for 1,400 for her career.  
    Faleao-Baich leads the team in service aces (27) and is second in kills (218), fourth in blocks (72) and sixth in digs (101) ... has posted double figures in kills in 10 of 24 starts, including seven RMAC matches, highlighted by a career-high 16 kills in a home win over Regis (10/27) ... posted her lone double-double of the year with 11 kills and 10 digs at UCCS (9/29) ... tallied at least one total block in 23 of 24 matches played and had five blocks on five occasions, including a career-best seven total blocks with 12 kills at Mines (9/28).  
    Senior OH Hannah Doonan Is second on the team in digs (249) and double-doubles (7) and is fourth in kills (175) and sixth in total blocks (32) ... has posted double figures in kills in nine of 25 starts, including seven RMAC matches ... 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) ... posted an RMAC season-high 18 digs with 11 kills in a five-set win over Regis (10/27).
    Senior RS Shannon Sorensen tallied seven kills and three block assists on Senior Night ... Sorensen enters the tournament sixth in the team in kills (124) and third in blocks (81, seven solo), including a career-high seven blocks vs. Regis (10/27).     
    As a team DSU is hitting .228 (3rd in the RMAC), while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .123 clip (1st in the RMAC/T-14th in NCAA DII) ... DSU is averaging 12.91 kills and 15.67 digs per set.
    Dixie State currently leads the nation at the NCAA D-II level in blocks per set at 3.03, and leads the RMAC and is t-fourth-nationally in total blocks (281.5) ... DSU's 281.5 total blocks this season are second-most in the program's NCAA era (287.5), while the team's 469 block assists are a school record, and the team's 47 solo blocks are third-most  ... DSU tallied a season-high 18.0 total team blocks in the Regis win, 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 seven overall, came on the defensive side on blocked Maverick attacks.

UP NEXT: The 2018 RMAC Women's Volleyball Tournament continues with the two semifinal matches on Friday, Nov. 9, followed by the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 4, on the home court of the highest remaining seed. The winner of the RMAC Tournament championship will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA South Central Regionals, which will be held Nov. 15-17.