(COMPLETE MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (7-3/2-0 RMAC) heads out for a four-match RMAC road swing, which begins in Gunnison this Friday night with a date at Western Colorado (6-5/2-1 RMAC) at 7 p.m. DSU will then make the quick trip back down to Grand Junction for a Saturday showdown at Colorado Mesa (6-5/2-1 RMAC) beginning at 4 p.m. Live stats and video links for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State owns a 5-1 series edge over Western Colorado and has won five-straight in the series overall, including a sweep of two matches last season in RMAC play (3-1 at DSU, 3-0 at WCU).
    Dixie State is 4-3 all-time vs. CMU, though the two sides split four matches played last season. The Trailblazers swept both regular season meetings against CMU (3-1 at DSU, 3-1 at CMU), however the Mavericks exacted a little revenge on Dixie State as they eliminated the Blazers from both the RMAC Tournament in the semifinal round (3-1, 11/9/18) and from the NCAA Division II Tournament South Central Region first round (3-0, 11/15/18). 

COACHING STAFF: 2018 RMAC Co-Head Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 124-79 overall record) is in her eighth season at the helm of the Dixie State women's volleyball program. Last season, Felder led the Trailblazers to a NCAA era school-record tying 22 wins (22-6) and to a share of the RMAC regular season title (16-2) 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 third-year assistant coaches David Richards (BYU, 1983) and former DSU standout Makenzi Murphey (Dixie State, 2018). In addition, Whitnee Tupe (fifth season, Dixie State, 2007) returns to Felder's staff after a three-year stint as an assistant at Snow College, and Camilla Hafoka (Oregon State, 2010) is in her first season on the Trailblazers' staff.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN THE RMAC IN 2019: Dixie State was voted to finish third by the RMAC coaches in the annual preseason poll released by the league on August 14.
    Fellow RMAC co-champion Colorado School of Mines topped the 16-team poll as the Orediggers received nine first place votes and 214 total points, while Colorado Mesa picked up four first place nods and 209 points to claim the second spot. The Trailblazers collected the final three first place votes and 204 points to finish third in the voting, followed by Regis (184 pts) in fourth and 2018 RMAC tourney champion MSU Denver (173 pts) in fifth.

LAST SEASON IN THE RMAC: After joining the RMAC in 2018, the 2019 season will mark the second and final season the Trailblazers will be a competing member of the conference. In 2020, Dixie State will begin its transition to NCAA Division I status and will become a new member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State extended its season-long winning streak (and longest current win streak in the RMAC) to six-straight after opening RMAC play with a pair of dominant 3-0 sweeps last weekend in the DSU SAC. The Trailblazers began the weekend with a sweep of Black Hills State (25-17, 25-14, 25-15) on Friday, and followed that up with a 3-0 result vs. South Dakota Mines (25-17, 25-12, 25-21).

NO FRIDAY THE 13TH JINX: Junior RS/S Megan Treanor made program history in DSU's win over SW Oklahoma State on Friday the 13th (of Sept.) when she became the first Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to post a triple-double, going for 14 kills, 18 assists and 11 digs in the four-set victory.
    The junior then followed that up with two more near-misses as she tallied 10 kills, 17 assists and a career-high nine total blocks (2 solo) in just three sets in the sweep of Pittsburg State later that evening. Then the next day she racked up nine kills, 15 assists, and 14 digs in a four-set triumph over Lubbock Christian.
    Treanor, who now has 17 double-doubles in 36 career matches at DSU, also collected her 400th career assist (435) and a had career-high three aces for good measure against the host Lady Chaps on her way to LCU All-Tournament honors.

MVP...MVP...MVP: Senior MB/OH To'a Faleao continued her dominant play during DSU's two sweeps last weekend, averaging 13.0 kills (4.3 kps) with a .418 H% (only 3 attack errors in 55 total attempts), 3.5 aces (1.16 saps), 8.5 digs (2.8 dps) and 2.0 total blocks (0.67 bps) in the two wins.
    She opened the weekend with a co-team high eight kills (.318 H%) with four services aces, seven digs and two block assists in a sweep of BHSU. The senior then followed that up with a career-high 18 kills and a season-high .418 H%, along with three more aces, 10 digs (2nd double-double of the year) and two block assists in the sweep of SD Mines.
    Faleao made her 2019 debut a memorable one as she was named the LCU Tournament MVP after averaging 12.0 kills, 2.0 aces, 10.25 digs and 1.5 blocks in four tournament starts.

I'LL TAKE GAMMELL FOR THE BLOCK: Senior RS/MB Lauren Gammell helped anchor a stout Trailblazer defense that held both BHSU (-.050) and SD Mines (.143) to a combined .045 hitting percentage in six total sets over the weekend. She averaged 6.0 blocks (2.0 bps) and 2.5 digs, along with 5.0 kills (1.67 kps) with a .409 H% (1 attack error in 22 total attempts) in the two matches.
    She collected six total blocks (1 solo) with five kills in the three-setter vs. BHSU, and tallied six block assists, including her 300th-career block assist in the third set, in the SDM win to become the first Trailblazer to reach the 300 BA plateau (302). She also collected a career-high five digs and five kills (.556 H%) against the Hardrockers.
    Gammell (331 career blocks) also reached the 300-career block milestone in the UT-Permian Basin win (9/12) on her way to LCU All-Tournament Team honors.

ACE OF BASE: Dixie State has reached double figures in service aces in three-straight matches, including a season-high tying 11 aces vs. BHSU and 10 more the next night vs. SDM. Faleao (4) and Treanor (3), along with freshman Siara Roberts (first two collegiate aces), combined for nine of those 11 aces in the BHSU match, while junior MB Lizzy Clark collected a career-high four aces in the SDM win. In fact, all four of Clark's aces came in the Blazers' 9-0 first set run against the Hardrockers. 

TEAM NOTES: Junior setter Jordyn Nelson (1,339) recorded her 1,300th career assist late in the finale set at LCU (9/14) to become just the fourth player in the program's NCAA-era to dish out 1,300 or more dimes.
    Freshman libero Mykenna Nelson has led the Trailblazer defense in digs in nine of 10 matches this season, including a career-best 23 digs in her collegiate debut vs. St. Cloud State (9/5), while she recorded her first career kill in the BHSU win last Friday ... after missing the last two seasons, sophomore DS Rebekah Farris has been solid contributor defensively, tying a career-high with nine digs on three occasions against St. Cloud State (9/5), Simon Fraser (9/6) and UTPB (9/12) ... sophomore RS Hailee Oviatt-Devillier collected a career-best six total blocks and tied career highs with nine kills and two digs in the Stanislaus win (9/6) ... junior OH Sydney Johnson led DSU with nine kills in the season opener vs. St. Cloud State (9/5), and recorded a career-best four total blocks vs. UTPB (9/12) ... junior OH Sai Collins threw down five kills in her Trailblazer debut vs. St. Cloud State (9/5) ... Clark tallied a career-high 14 kills and three digs vs. SWOSU (9/13) and dished out a career-best four assists in the UTPB win (9/12).  
    As a team DSU is hitting .242 (#3 in the RMAC), while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .155 clip (#2 in the RMAC) through 10 matches this season ... DSU is averaging 13.18 kills, 16.00 digs and 2.41 blocks per set (t-13th nationally) ... Dixie State hit a combined .321 last weekend vs. BHSU/SDM, highlighted by a season-high .347 vs. SD Mines ... meanwhile, the DSU defense limited both opponents to a .045 H%, including a season-low -.050 clip in the BHSU sweep, which marked the second-straight week DSU had held an opponent to a negative H% (-.010 vs. Pittsburg State, 9/13), this after not achieving that feat in nearly two seasons (-.023 vs. Holy Names; 10/13/17) ... DSU was outblocked in a win for just the second time in two full seasons in the finale at Lubbock Christian (9/14, 5.0-6.0) ... the last time that happened also came on the road in a win at Central Washington (9.0-10.0, 9/8/17).

UP NEXT: Dixie State wraps up its four-match RMAC road swing next weekend with games at Adams State on Friday, Oct. 4, and at Fort Lewis on Saturday, Oct. 5.