Dixie State wrapped up the opening weekend of the 2018 season with a three-set sweep of Cal State Monterey Bay Saturday at the Northwest Nazarene-hosted Fairfield Inn & Suites Invitational at the NNU Johnson Sports Center. DSU claimed two of the three matches played in the tournament to move to 2-1 on the young season.

The Trailblazers took the opening two sets by 25-22 and 25-19 counts, and bolted out to an early 9-3 lead in the decisive third set. CSUMB (2-1) managed to pull to within 9-6, but that would be as close as the Otters would get as Dixie State went on an 8-2 run to extend to a 17-8 advantage and never looked back.

Junior To'a Faleao-Baich (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) tallied a game-high nine kills to lead DSU, while sophomore Megan Treanor (Salem, Utah/Salem Hills HS), who earned tournament MVP honors, collected eight kills, 11 assists and three blocks. Treanor finished with 43 total kills (14.3 kpm/3.31 kps) over the three matches and was joined on the all-tournament team by senior Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS), who amassed 32 kills (10.7 kpm/2.4 kps) and led DSU with 16 total blocks in three starts, including eight kills and four total blocks on Saturday.

Dixie State hit .211 for the match, while the Trailblazer defense limited the Otters to a .040 percentage, including a -.012 clip over the final two sets. Seniors Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) and Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) each collected double figures in digs with 21 and 14, respectively, and the Blazers finished with 10.5 total team blocks.

DSU will return home to host the 2018 Dixie State/Desert Garden Inn by Wyndham Classic inside the Burns Arena next weekend, marking the first time in program history that the Trailblazers will play on the Burns Arena floor.

The Trailblazers will open the 12-match, round-robin tourney vs. preseason No. 18 Tarleton State on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m., followed by two matches vs. Western New Mexico (2 p.m.) and fellow RMAC-member UCCS (7 p.m.) on Friday, Aug. 31, and will wrap up the tournament vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m.