2021 DIXIE STATE VOLLEYBALL
(4-9, 3-2 WAC)

MATCHES 14-15 - VS. Utah Valley
Thursday, Oct. 14 - vs. Utah Valley - 6 p.m.
Burns Arena | St. George

Saturday, Oct. 16 - at Utah Valley - 1 p.m.
Lockhart Arena | Orem, Utah
 

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The Dixie State volleyball team is set to take on Utah Valley in two matches this week as the teams play a Western Athletic Conference home-and-home in St. George and Orem.   
 
The Trailblazers and Wolverines open the weekend on Thursday at 6 p.m. inside the Burns Arena in St. George before traveling to Orem and Lockhart Arena for the grudge match on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, and live stat information can be found at DixieStateAthletics.com. 
 
OLD HAMMER RIVALRY: Dixie State and Utah Valley announced in February 2021 a renewed rivalry between the schools.  "The Old Hammer Rivalry" will continue the tradition that had been formed during their junior college days to present day with both schools holding NCAA Division I status and sharing membership in the WAC. DSU and UVU currently compete for WAC titles against one another in baseball, m/w cross country, m/w golf, m/w basketball, m/w soccer, softball, women's track & field, and women's volleyball.
 
ALL-TIME VS. UTAH VALLEY:Thursday's match marks the fourth meeting between Dixie State and Utah Valley. The Wolverines currently hold a 3-0 series lead. DSU and UVU first met in 2006 as Utah Valley was transitioning from the NJCAA to NCAA Division I and Dixie State was in its first transition year as an NCAA Division II member. The teams wouldn't meet again for nearly 15 years when UVU claimed a 3-2 win and a 3-0 sweep over DSU in March 2021. 
 
KNOW YOUR FOE:Utah Valley enters the weekend with an 8-8 overall record and a 3-2 mark in WAC play. The Wolverines have won three consecutive matches, including a road sweep over Seattle U and California Baptist last week. Outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa leads the Wolverines and ranks fourth in the WAC with 226 kills, while setter Abbie Miller ranks seventh in the WAC with a team-best 368 assists. Defensively, Utah Valley leads with the WAC and ranks 13th nationally with 176.5 total blocks. Middle blockers Sadie Hamson and Kendra Nock lead UVU and are tied at third in the WAC with 63 total blocks each. Libero Bryton Bishop ranks third in the WAC with a team-high 259 digs. 
 
ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE PLAY:In their 15 seasons (2007-2021) of NCAA conference membership, the Trailblazers have posted a 158-91 (.634) record in conference play, including a 90-36 (.714) mark at home and a68-55 (.553) record on the road. Since joining the WAC in 2020, DSU has posted an 11-10 (.523) record in conference play with a 7-3 (.700) mark at home and a 5-7 (.416) record on the road. 
 
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE: Since joining the NCAA in 2006, Dixie State has posted a 108-47 (.697) overall record at home and has logged a winning record at home 11 times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, spring 2020), including eight consecutive home winning seasons. Until 2018, the Student Activities Center served as the main home venue for DSU Volleyball. The Trailblazers hosted season-opening tournaments inside the Burns Arena in 2018 and 2019, before making the arena its main home venue in Spring 2021. Dixie State has played to a 12-7 (.631) overall record inside the Burns Arena. 
 
ON THE ROAD:The Trailblazers have recorded an 89-84 (.514) record in true-road matches during its NCAA era, and have logged a winning record on the road nine times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019). Additionally, DSU has posted a 34-47 (.420) record in neutral-site matches.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Dixie State swept its two-match west coast road trip last week with a 3-1 victory over California Baptist on Thursday and a 3-0 sweep of Seattle U on Saturday. 
 
WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Freshman middle blocker Kate Hardy swept all three WAC Player of the Week awards on Monday and was named Offensive, Defensive, and Freshman Player of the Week. Hardy posted a career-high 19 kills to go with seven total blocks and three services aces to power DSU to a 3-1 win over California Baptist on Thursday. Hardy also finished with a .600 hitting percentage, marking the third-highest single-game percentage in DSU's NCAA era, as well as just the third time since 2006 a Trailblazer has recorded a percentage of .600 or higher. Hardy picked up where she left off on Saturday, adding nine more kills and matching a career-high nine total blocks to lead the Trailblazers to a 3-0 sweep of Seattle U. In all Hardy, finished the weekend with 28 kills (4.00 k/s), 16 total blocks (2.29 b/s), and a .571 hitting percentage, committing just four errors on 42 total attacks. 
 
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING:Thursday's win at CBU marked a night of firsts for the Trailblazers as DSU picked up its first road win of the season and the first road victory of the Camilla Hafoka era. Hafoka also accomplished a feat no other Dixie State NCAA-era volleyball coach has done: Win in Riverside. Thursday's win marks the first time in eight NCAA-era tries the Trailblazers have defeated California Baptist in Riverside. 
 
A NEW ERA:For the first time since 2012, the Trailblazers opened the season with a new head coach. After two seasons serving as an assistant coach, Camilla Hafoka begins her first season as the new head coach of the Dixie State Volleyball program.
 
During her time on the Trailblazer sidelines, Coach Hafoka helped lead Dixie State to a 29-16 overall record. In her first season as an assistant coach, Dixie State played to a 20-8 overall record in the program's final year of NCAA Division II competition. This past spring, Hafoka helped guide DSU to a 9-8 overall mark in its debut NCAA Division I season, which included an 8-8 mark (t-4th) in its first season in the Western Athletic Conference.
 
Whitnee Tupe returns for her eighth season as a DSU assistant coach, while Julia Smith (Texas A&M, 2002) joins the staff after coaching last season at Snow College. Former DSU player To'a Faleao also joins the staff as a volunteer assistant coach, and Riley Lyman (BYU, 2020) will serve as Director of Volleyball Operations to round out the staff. 
 
LET'S RUN IT BACK:After posting a 9-8 overall record in its first season as an NCAA Division I member, Dixie State is ready to pick up where it left off in year two.
 
The Trailblazers return 13 players from the Spring 2021 season, including five starters. Senior outside hitter Megan Treanor (First Team All-WAC, 171 kills, 168 assists, 127 digs, 34 blocks, 25 service aces) headlines the returners and was named to the Preseason All-WAC team.
 
DSU returns three others who posted at least 100 kills in the spring, including junior outside hitter Whittnee Nihipali (149 kills), junior middle blocker Lauolive Tonga (116 kills), and freshman Kate Hardy (WAC All-Freshman team, 103 kills). Despite playing in only nine matches in the spring, senior setter Jordyn Nelson returns as DSU's spring leader in assists (249). Defensively, Hardy posted a team-high 52 blocks in the spring, while Tonga added 42.
 
YEAR TWO IN THE WAC:The Trailblazers enter their second season as a member of the WAC in 2021. DSU recorded an 8-8 mark in WAC play in the spring to finish in a fourth-place tie with Tarleton State.
 
With the addition of the four Texas schools (Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin) the conference standings have been split into two divisions: Southwest and West. Dixie State will play in the West Division, alongside California Baptist, Chicago State, Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, Seattle U, and Utah Valley, while the Southwest Division will feature Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, and UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
The Trailblazers were picked to finish fifth in the West Division in the recent WAC Preseason Coaches Poll. DSU will play a 14-game WAC slate with a home-and-home against each member of the West Division, while traveling to Abilene, Texas, for matches against ACU and Tarleton.
 
TEAM NOTES:        The Trailblazers picked up their first road win of the season with a 3-1 triumph over CBU on Thursday. The win also marked DSU's first-ever road win over the Lancers.
                        Dixie State recorded its largest-ever Burns Arena volleyball crowd on September 18, when 631 fans attended to see Dixie State take on Southern Utah. Only three other matches in DSU's NCAA era have seen more fans in attendance, with the biggest crowd coming on Oct. 6, 2017, when 1,004 fans packed the Student Activities Center to see the Trailblazers battle Hawaii Pacific.  
            Head Coach Camilla Hafoka made her debut as Dixie State head coach in August, marking the first time since 2012 the Trailblazers opened the season with a new head coach. Hafoka earned her first career win on September 18 in a 3-1 victory over SUU.
            Freshman middle blocker Kate Hardy posted 28 kills, 16 total blocks, and a .571 hitting percentage to snag WAC Offensive, Defensive, and Freshman of the Week honors, marking DSU's first weekly honors of the season.
            Junior outside hitter Whittnee Nihipali tallied her team-best fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 kills and 12 digs in the 3-1 win over CBU.
            Senior setter Jordyn Nelson tallied 53 totals assists last week to push her team-high total to 190 assists. Nelson also moved up to No. 2 on the DSU All-Time Sets Played list with 374 career sets played.   
            Freshman outside hitter Hannah Howard added 17 kills, four digs, and seven total blocks to her season tallies. Howard currently leads DSU with 106 total kills. 
            Sophomore libero Mykenna Nelson recorded with 23 digs last week to push her team-best total to 223 for the year. Nelson ranks 10th in the WAC with 4.65 digs per set.  
            Junior defensive specialist Rebekah Farris recorded double-digits digs in both matches last week, finishing with 13 digs on Thursday and 10 digs on Saturday.
            Junior middle blocker Lacie Tenney tallied a career-high six total blocks on Thursday at California Baptist.
            Senior outside hitter Megan Treanor finished the weekend with 17 kills and 10 total blocks. Treanor also moved up to No. 3 on the DSU All-Time Total Attacks list with 2,128 total attacks.
                     
UP NEXT: Dixie State will travel to Texas next week for a Friday matchup against Abilene Christian and a Saturday matchup vs. Tarleton State.