Trailblazers head to Texas for WAC pod vs. Abilene Christian and Tarleton State

2021 DIXIE STATE VOLLEYBALL
(4-11, 3-4 WAC)

MATCHES 16-17 - AT ACU / VS. TSU
Friday, Oct. 22 - at Abilene Christian - 5 p.m. CT (4 p.m. MT)
Teague Center | Abilene, Texas

Saturday, Oct. 23 - vs. Tarleton State - 4 p.m. CT (3 p.m. MT)
Teague Center | Abilene, Texas

Dixie State volleyball will take a break from West Division play this week and is set to travel to Abilene, Texas, for a two-match pod against teams from the Western Athletic Conference Southwest Division.

The Trailblazers will open the weekend with a Friday evening matchup against host-school Abilene Christian at 5 p.m. Central Time (4 p.m. MT). DSU will wrap up its time in the Lone Star State on Saturday with a neutral-site match vs. Tarleton State at 4 p.m. CT (3 p.m. MT).

Friday's match will be streamed live on ESPN+, while Saturday's match can be viewed on the WAC Digital Network (www.wacdigitalnetwork.com). Live stat information can be found at DixieStateAthletics.com.

ALL-TIME VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN: Friday's match marks the second overall meeting, and the first as Division I schools, between Dixie State and Abilene Christian. The teams first met as NCAA Division II members on Sept. 5, 2008, in Durango, Colorado, with the Wildcats claiming a 3-0 victory.

ALL-TIME VS. TARLETON STATE: Saturday's match marks the fourth meeting between Dixie State and Tarleton State. The Trailblazers currently hold a 2-1 lead in the overall series. The teams first met as Division II members on Aug. 30, 2018, with DSU claiming a 3-1 win in St. George. DSU and TSU split two matches in Stephenville, Texas, in March, with each side earning a 3-0 sweep.

KNOW YOUR FOE: Abilene Christian enters with the weekend with a 7-9 overall record and a 1-4 mark in WAC play. The Wildcats earned a 3-1 win over Lamar on October 9 in their lone conference win of the season. ACU leads the WAC with an average of 12.21 assists per set. Redshirt junior setter Madison Rohre has tallied 576 of the Wildcats assists for a league-best 10.47 assists per set average. Senior outside hitter Lindsey Toney leads ACU with 212 kills, while junior outside hitter Jada Birkel (151 kills) and junior middle blocker Breanna Box (139 kills) have both tallied over 100 kills. Defensively, Graduate libero Madison Lawler ranks fifth in the WAC with 4.49 digs per set and has posted a team-best 247 digs. Redshirt freshman Braden Bossier leads the Wildcats with 56 total blocks.

Tarleton State enters the weekend with a 10-10 overall record and a 2-3 mark in WAC play, with victories over Abilene Christian and Lamar. The Texans will take on California Baptist on Friday before Saturday's match vs. DSU. Senior right side hitter Lauren Kersey leads the TSU offensive attack and ranks third in the WAC with a team-best 255 kills, while senior outside hitter Carmen Kinsey (153 kills) and freshman outside hitter Trinity Vinzant (111 kills) have each posted more than 100 kills. Defensively, TSU ranks second in the WAC with 154 total blocks. Senior middle blocker Lorin McNeil leads the conference with 81 total blocks. Senior defensive specialist Ana Costas leads the Texans with 224 digs.

ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE PLAY: In their 15 seasons (2007-2021) of NCAA conference membership, the Trailblazers have posted a 158-93 (.629) record in conference play, including a 68-56 (.548) record on the road. Since joining the WAC in 2020, DSU has posted a 11-12 (.478) record in conference play with a 5-8 (.384) mark on the road.

ON THE ROAD: Dixie State has recorded an 89-85 (.511) 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 dropped two matches to in-state foe Utah Valley last week, including a 3-2 heartbreaker at home on Thursday and a 3-0 defeat in Orem on Saturday.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Trailblazer sophomore libero Mykenna Nelson made DSU history in Saturday's match at Utah Valley, posting 11 digs to push her career total to 1,001 digs to join the 1,000 career digs club. Nelson is just the fifth NCAA-era Trailblazer to tally 1,000 career digs.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: With a career-high 10 total blocks on Saturday, freshman middle blocker Kate Hardy pushed her season total to 71. Hardy currently leads the WAC with an average of 1.27 blocks per set.

CHASING HISTORY: Senior outside hitter Megan Treanor tallied five kills in Thursday's match vs. Utah Valley to move her career total to 803 kills. Treanor needs just 48 kills to surpass Alex Shearer (850 kills) as the DSU All-Time Kills leader.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: The Dixie State win at California Baptist on October 7 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. The win over CBU marks the first time in eight NCAA-era tries the Trailblazers have defeated the Lancers 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 October 7. 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.
            Sophomore libero Mykenna Nelson tallied 33 digs last week to push her career total to 1,001 kills. Nelson is just the fifth DSU player in the NCAA era to record 1,000 kills. Nelson also ranks seventh in the WAC with 4.55 digs per set.
            Freshman middle blocker Kate Hardy tallied a career-high 10 total kills on Saturday to move her team-high total to 71 on the season. Hardy leads the WAC with 1.27 blocks per set.
   Junior outside hitter Whittnee Nihipali recorded 22 total kills last weeks and is now the team leader with 119 kills.
            Senior setter Jordyn Nelson notched 37 total assists last week to push her team-high total to 227 assists.
            Sophomore outside hitter Bridgett Talia made her first appearance since September 25 last week, totaling seven kills, six blocks, and two digs.
            Freshman outside hitter Hannah Howard tallied 12 kills in two matches last week to push her season total to 118 kills.
            Junior defensive specialist Rebekah Farris recorded 11 digs in Thursday's match vs. UVU, marking her third consecutive match with double-digit digs.
            Senior middle blocker Lizzy Clark posted a season-high six blocks, including three solo blocks, vs. UVU on Thursday.

UP NEXT: Dixie State will host Chicago State inside the Burns Arena next Thursday at 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Lizzy Clark: MB; 6' 1"; Senior

#4 Rebekah Farris: DS; 5' 9"; Junior

#6 Kate Hardy: MB; 6' 0"; Freshman

#3 Hannah Howard: OH; 6' 0"; Freshman

#1 Jordyn Nelson: S; 5' 6"; Senior

#7 Mykenna Nelson: L; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#15 Whittnee Nihipali: OH; 6' 2"; Junior

#16 Lauolive Tonga: MB; 5' 10"; Junior

#13 Megan Treanor: OH/S; 6' 1"; Senior

#5 Bridgett Talia: OH; 5' 11"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#9 Lizzy Clark
: 6' 1"; Senior
: MB

#4 Rebekah Farris
: 5' 9"; Junior
: DS

#6 Kate Hardy
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: MB

#3 Hannah Howard
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: OH

#1 Jordyn Nelson
: 5' 6"; Senior
: S

#7 Mykenna Nelson
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: L

#15 Whittnee Nihipali
: 6' 2"; Junior
: OH

#16 Lauolive Tonga
: 5' 10"; Junior
: MB

#13 Megan Treanor
: 6' 1"; Senior
: OH/S

#5 Bridgett Talia
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: OH