OPENING SERVE: Following its three-set victory in its D1 over Southern Utah University, Dixie State (1-0) now travels to Tucson, Arizona to begin conference play to take on the WAC preseason favorite New Mexico State.
The Trailblazers will face the Aggies in two matches Monday and Tuesday. The two matches serve as the pod format for conference play this year wherein teams will play each other on back-to-back nights at the same venue. Dixie State will play a total of 16 matches in conference play this season while playing 8 conference opponents.
Monday's matchup is set to begin at 3 p.m. with Tuesday's matchup will begin at 12 noon. Live stats and streaming video information for the matchup can be found at www.dixiestateathletics.com.
KNOW YOUR FOE: New Mexico State is coming off back-to-back Western Athletic Conference Tournament championships. The Aggies also claimed the regular season title in 2019 after finishing a perfect 16-0 in conference play. NM State finished the season with an overall record of 27-4 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to No. 14 BYU.
The matchup against the Trailblazers will be the Aggies first match of the season. NM State consists of two seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores, and nine freshmen. Redshirt Junior Savannah Davison was named the WAC preseason player of the year after finishing the 2019 season third in kills.
COACHING STAFF: Head Coach
Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 137-83 overall record) is in her ninth season at the helm of the Dixie State women's volleyball program. Last season, Felder led the Trailblazers to a 20-win season (20-8) and to a 3 seed in the 2019 RMAC conference tournament with a 14-4 conference record.
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). In Dixie State's first season as a full member in the RMAC, Felder lead her team to a NCAA era school-record tying 22 wins (22-6) and subsequently was named the 2018 RMAC Co-Head Coach of the Year.
Felder is joined on the DSU sideline by second-year assistant coaches
Camilla Hafoka (Oregon State, 2010) and former DSU standout Makenzi Murphey (Dixie State, 2018). In addition, Whitnee Tupe (2nd season, Dixie State, 2007) returns to Felder's staff after a three-year stint as an assistant at Snow College, and
Rick Reeve (BYU), is in his first season on the Trailblazers' staff.
LAST TIME OUT: After a long-anticipated, COVID-delayed season, the Dixie State Volleyball team earned its first Division 1 win after sweeping Southern Utah University in three sets Friday in Cedar City.
The Trailblazers came out firing against the Thunderbirds as they nabbed an early 13-5 lead. SUU would climb back into the set by going on an 11-5 run to bring the first set to 18-16. The Trailblazers would close the door as they allowed only two points in the final nine volleys to secure the opening frame 25-18. DSU committed a match-low 4 errors throughout the entire first set while finishing the set with a .281 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, the Trailblazers forced SUU into 10 errors and a negative hitting percentage.
Set two was a classic back-and-forth battle for the first half of the session as it was knotted at 10 halfway through. DSU would slowly begin to creep away as the Thunderbirds tried to hold on. A late charge by SUU would come up short and Dixie State would hold on to take set two 25-21. Despite the close score, the second set was by far the best for Dixie State in terms of hitting percentage as the Trailblazers tallied a scorching .412 hitting percentage.
The T-Birds wouldn't go down without a fight, however, as they gave DSU everything it could handle in the third, and would-be final, set. After a 13-13 tie half way through the set, Dixie State worked itself into a 20-16 lead, but it had to work overtime to close out SUU. The T-birds worked it back level at 23 before DSU rattled off three out of four points to secure a 26-24 set-three victory and a clean sweep of the Thunderbirds in its Division 1 debut.
The Trailblazers finished the match with a hitting percentage of .311 while putting the clamps down on the other end limiting SUU to a meager .145 hitting percentage.
Whittnee Nihipali and
Megan Treanor led the way for the Trailblazers as both finished in double figures in kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Nihipali and Treanor also notched double-doubles, as Nihipali secured 13 digs while Treanor handed out 17 assists.
Jordyn Nelson was also in a helping mood as she recorded a team-high 22 assists in the victory.
NO LOVE IN PRESEASON POLLS: In its inaugural season in Division I, Dixie State was picked to finish 6th in the Western Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll.
The 2019 regular season and back-to-back conference tournament champs New Mexico State was slated as the favorite to retain its title as it finished with eight of the nine first-place votes for a total of 64 points. NM State is led by Outside Hitter Savannah Davison, who was named the WAC preseason player of the year. The junior from Toronto, Canada was named to the 2019 All-WAC first team after finishing third in kills last season.
The rest of the top five rounded out with Grand Canyon (1 FPV – 55 pts) voted in second, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley (48 pts) in third, California Baptist (42 pts) in fourth, and Utah Valley (40 pts) in fifth place overall.
Dixie State finished in a three-way tie for sixth place alongside Seattle U and fellow WAC and Division I newcomer Tarleton State. All three teams received 21 points in the poll while Chicago State was tabbed to finish in ninth place with a total of 12 points.
No Dixie State players were voted to the preseason All-WAC Team despite the Trailblazers returning two-time All-RMAC first team selection and 2018 All-American
Megan Treanor. Treanor, a senior from Salem, Utah, led the RMAC last season with three triple-doubles and finished in the top 10 in the league in kills, kills/set, aces, and aces/set. Treanor enters the 2021 season fourth in career kills/sets (3.00), eighth in career assists (655), and 10th in career assists/set (3.56) at DSU.
EXPANDING THE WAC: As it stands now, there are nine total teams the compete in volleyball within the Western Athletic conference. Namely, New Mexico State, UT Rio Grande Valley, Grand Canyon, California Baptist, Tarleton State, Utah Valley, Seattle U and Chicago State. The WAC, however, is expanding. With an announcement in January 2021, five new schools will be joining the Western Athletic Conference as full members beginning as early as Fall 2021.
Southern Utah University was named as one of the five schools making the transition alongside Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State, and Stephen F. Austin. SUU makes the transition to the WAC after being a member of the Big Sky Conference since 2012.
The addition of the 5 new schools will create a 13-team conference as Chicago State will be leaving the conference. This conference will then be divided into two divisions for all sports except for football, men's basketball, and women's basketball. Dixie State will be in a division consisting of Southern Utah, Utah Valley, Grand Canyon, California Baptist, New Mexico State, and Seattle University. The other division will be comprised of the Texas-based schools, including Tarleton State, UT Rio Grande Valley, Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State, and Stephen F. Austin.
NEW HOME FLOOR: Beginning with the 2021 season, the Dixie State Volleyball Team will play all of its home matches inside the Burns Arena. The Trailblazers have played the majority of their home matches in the Student Activity Center during their 14 years in Division II, while playing in the Burns Arena sparingly and primarily for tournaments.
The Burns Arena has served as the primary home venue for the men's and women's basketball teams since 1986, but will now also be the home floor for the volleyball team as well.
UP NEXT: Dixie State will welcome UT Rio Grande Valley into the Burns Arena for the 2021 home opener on Monday Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. and Tuesday Feb. 2 at 12 noon.
The Vaqueros finished last season with a 14-17 overall record and and 8-8 conference record finishing in fourth place in the WAC. This season, UT Rio Grande Valley are 0-2 with losses coming at the hands of UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
