(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (9-2/4-0 RMAC) will look to stay atop the RMAC standings this weekend as the Trailblazers continue their four-match homestand inside the DSU SAC. DSU will play host to Fort Lewis (1-7/1-3 RMAC) this Friday night at 6 p.m., followed by a date vs. Adams State (4-8/1-3 RMAC) Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
    Live stats and video links for both matches this weekend can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 1-4 in its brief series vs. Fort Lewis, though the two sides have not met on the court since the 2011 season, when DSU claimed a 3-0 sweep of the Skyhawks in a neutral-site match played at Colorado Mesa (9/9/11).
    Dixie State is 1-3 all-time vs. ASU, however like the FLC series, the Trailblazers have not played the Grizzlies since 2011 at the same CMU tournament, at which Adams State posted a 3-1 win over DSU (9/10/11). DSU's lone win in the series came in the first-ever meeting in 2006 (DSU's first year of NCAA competition), which was a 3-2 result in a match played in Salt Lake City.

COACHING STAFF: Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 104-72 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.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SEVENTH IN THE RMAC IN 2018: Dixie State was voted to finish seventh by the RMAC coaches in the annual preseason poll released by the league on August 13.
    Defending RMAC co-champions No. 7 Regis and No. 20 Colorado School of Mines combined to collect all 16 first-place votes in the poll, with Regis garnering 15 first-place nods to top the poll with 225 points, while CSM earned the other first-place vote and finished with 208 points.
    MSU-Denver wound up third in the poll with 181 points, followed by Colorado Christian (181 pts) in fourth, Colorado Mesa (173 pts) in fifth, Colorado-Colorado Springs (152 pts) in sixth, DSU (128 pts) in seventh, and Adams State (123 pts) rounded out the top half of the poll in eighth.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State pushed its RMAC winning streak to four-straight with a pair of home victories last week in the DSU SAC. The Trailblazers took the first two sets on their way to a 3-1 victory over Western State Colorado last Friday, then followed that up with a big 3-1 win over Colorado Mesa on Saturday. DSU dropped the first set against CMU, but rallied to win the next three to claim victory in an early battle between two of the top teams in the RMAC.

TREANOR AND GAMMELL CLAIM RMAC AWARDS: Sophomore right side hitter Megan Treanor (Salem, Utah/Salem Hills HS) and junior middle blocker Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) collected two of the three RMAC Volleyball weekly awards on Monday.
    Treanor was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week after she averaged 16.5 kills (2.875 kps), 12.5 assists (3.1 aps), 4.5 digs (1.1 dpg) and 3.5 blocks (0.9 bps), and combined to hit .491 (33 kills to just six errors) in the two matches. She just missed a triple-double in the four-set win over Western State, going for a game-high 18 kills (hit .571), 15 assists, seven digs and a career-best five total blocks (1 solo). Treanor then went off for 15 kills (hit .407) with 10 assists, two digs and two more blocks in the four-set triumph over Colorado Mesa.
    Gammell claimed her second RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honor in three weeks after she averaged 10.0 (2.5 bps) blocks and 9.5 kills (2.4 kps) per match, and hit .531 (19 kills to just two errors) overall. The RMAC's leading blocker continued her dominance on the front line as she collected nine block assists and 10 kills (hit .500) in DSU's four-set win vs. Western State. She then tied DSU single match records for total blocks (11 - 1 solo) and block assists (10) with nine more kills (hit .562 with 0 errors) in the four-set win victory over CMU.

TEAM NOTES: Dixie State's 9-2 start this season is the best start after 11 matches in the program's NCAA era ... in 2009 and again in 2013, DSU started 8-3 through its first 11 games of those respective seasons.
    Gammell's big weekend also vaulted her to the top spot on the NCAA D-II blocks per set list at 1.67 bps, and she is ranked second-nationally in total blocks with 70 ... Gammell (196) enters this weekend's matches needing just four more blocks to become just the sixth player in program history to reach the 200-block plateau ... in addition, the junior MB is currently sixth all-time in block assists (179) and solo blocks (17).
    Senior MB Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) threw down an RMAC season-high 10 kills with five digs and three total blocks (one solo) in the CMU win, and collected a career-high four aces with seven kills in the Western State victory ... Marshall's (14) solo block vs. CMU moved her into a tie for 10th-place on DSU's career solo block list ... sophomore setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) recorded a career-high four kills vs. CMU and she needs 38 more assists to reach the 800-assist plateau.  
    Senior L Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) (1,165 digs) moved into third place on DSU's career digs list in the Western State win ... junior MB/OH To'a Faleao-Baich (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) threw down 12 kills vs. WSCU (one off her career high) and collected a career-best five blocks vs. CMU.
     Senior RS Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) has averaged 6.3 kills over her last four matches, including seven kills with a career-high tying six blocks (one solo) at BHSU (9/8) and seven more kills in the CMU win ... senior OH Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) tallied 10 kills in the Tarleton State win (8/30) and led DSU with 13 kills in the UCCS victory (8/31) ... freshman L Abbey Smith (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) tied a career high with 11 digs vs. CMU.
    Prior to DSU's come-from-behind win at NNU (8/24), the last time the Blazers rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win a match came at home last season vs. Fresno Pacific (10/26/17), while the last time the DSU achieved that feat on the road also came last year in a 3-2 win at Central Washington (9/8/17) ... Dixie State hit .538 in the decisive fifth set at NNU (7K/0E), which marked the first time the Trailblazers hit better than .500 in a set in nearly three full seasons ... During the 2015 campaign, DSU hit .533 in the first set of a 3-0 sweep at Holy Names (10/23/15).
    Through 11 matches, DSU is hitting .206 as a team, including a season-high .311 vs. WSCU last Friday, while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .121 clip ... DSU is averaging 12.86 kills and 16.00 digs per set ... Dixie State is currently leads the nation at the NCAA D-II level in blocks/set at 3.05 and is eighth in the NCAA D-II ranks in total blocks (128.0) ... DSU had 14.5 total blocks vs. CMU and 11.0 team blocks vs. WSCU.

UP NEXT: Dixie State heads back out on the road for a pair of crucial RMAC matches next weekend, beginning with a possible first-place showdown at conference co-leader Colorado School of Mines in Golden on Friday, Sept. 28. DSU will then travel to Colorado Springs to square off against UCCS on Saturday, Sept. 29.