Trailblazers close road schedule at New Mexico State and Grand Canyon

2021 DIXIE STATE VOLLEYBALL
(5-13, 4-6 WAC)

MATCHES 19-20 - at NMSU/GCU

Thursday, Nov. 4 - at New Mexico State - 6 p.m.
Pan American Center | Las Cruces, N.M.

Saturday, Nov. 6 - at Grand Canyon - 3 p.m. AZ time (4 p.m. MT)
GCU Arena | Phoenix, Ariz.

Dixie State volleyball is set to close out the road portion of its Fall 2021 schedule this week with matches at New Mexico State and Grand Canyon.

The Trailblazers will open the week with a Thursday evening (6 p.m.) matchup against New Mexico State in Las Cruces, New Mexico, followed by a Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. Arizona Time, 4 p.m. MT) tilt at Grand Canyon.

Thursday's match will be streamed live at WacDigitalNetwork.com, while Saturday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+. Live stats links for both matches can be found at DixieStateAthletics.com.

ALL-TIME VS. NEW MEXICO STATE: Thursday's match marks the fourth meeting between Dixie State and New Mexico State. The teams first met during the spring 2021 season in DSU's first-ever WAC contests. The Aggies earned back-to-back 3-1 victories in Tucson, Arizona, followed by another 3-1 win in St. George on September 25 to build a 3-0 lead in the series.

ALL-TIME VS. GRAND CANYON: Saturday's match marks the 20th meeting between Dixie State and Grand Canyon, dating back to both programs' days as NCAA Division II members of the Pacific West Conference. GCU currently holds an 11-8 overall lead in the series. The teams first met on Oct. 4, 2006, in Phoenix, and played every season until 2013. The Trailblazers enjoyed their longest win streak of the series from 2008 to 2010, winning five consecutive matches. The Antelopes won the next six matches, before the Trailblazers snapped the streak with a 3-0 sweep inside the Burns Arena on September 23.

KNOW YOUR FOE: New Mexico State enters the week tied for second in the West Division with a 16-7 overall record and a 7-4 mark in WAC play. The Aggies lead the WAC in kills (1,184), kills per set (13.45), hitting percentage (.251), assists (1,093), and assists per set (12.42). Redshirt senior middle blocker Lia Mosher leads the WAC with a .418 hitting percentage, while junior outside hitter Katie Birtcil ranks fifth with in the WAC with 299 kills. Senior right-side hitter Shaney Lipscomb ranks ninth with 257 total kills. Defensively, sophomore libero Darian Markham leads the team and ranks fifth in the WAC with 332 digs, while Mosher ranks 11th in the conference with 69 total blocks.

Grand Canyon enters the week tied for second in the West Division with a 15-5 overall record and a 7-4 mark in WAC play. Freshman outside hitter McKenzie Wise leads GCU with 225 kills and ranks sixth in the WAC with 3.57 kills per set. Defensively, senior libero Teagan DeFalco has posted a team-high 372 digs and leads the WAC with 5.17 digs per set. Junior middle blocker Hannah Eskes leads the 'Lopes with 60 total blocks, including 21 solo blocks.

ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE PLAY: In their 15 seasons (2007-2021) of NCAA conference membership, the Trailblazers have posted a 159-95 (.626) record in conference play, including a 68-57 (.544) mark on the road. Since joining the WAC in 2020, DSU has posted a 12-14 (.461) record in conference play with a 5-9 (.357) mark on the road, and an 0-1 record in neutral-site matches.

ON THE ROAD: Dixie State has recorded an 89-86 (.508) 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 34-48 (.415) record in neutral-site matches.

WEEK IN REVIEW: The Trailblazers dropped a 3-0 decision to Chicago State inside the Burns Arena last Thursday in its lone match of the week.

FIRST TO 20 KILLS: Freshman outside hitter Hannah Howard posted a career-high 22 kills to lead the Trailblazers to a 3-2 comeback win over Abilene Christian on October 22, marking the first time a DSU player has recorded 20 kills in a single match in the NCAA Division I era.

CAREER SETS PLAYED LEADER: Senior setter Jordyn Nelson became the DSU Career Sets Played leader (NCAA era) during the team's trip to Texas two weeks ago. Nelson has played in 393 sets and 108 matches since joining the Trailblazers in 2017.

NEVER-ENDING SET: Dixie State and Tarleton State combined for 70 points (36-34) in the second set on October 23, marking the Trailblazers' highest scoring set since the NCAA moved the winning point total from 30 to 25 in 2008. The set featured 21 ties and eight lead changes, while the teams combined for 14 set-clinching opportunities before the Texans eventually claimed the set on the 15th try.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Sophomore libero Mykenna Nelson made DSU history on October 16 at Utah Valley, posting 11 digs to surpass the 1,000 career digs marks and join the 1,000 career digs club. Nelson has added 57 digs since then for a total of 1,058 career digs. Nelson is just the fifth NCAA-era Trailblazer to tally 1,000 career digs.

CHASING HISTORY: Senior outside hitter Megan Treanor tallied five kills vs. Utah Valley on October 14 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:

Dixie State earned its first five-set victory of the season on October 22, rallying from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 win over Abilene Christian.
The Trailblazers played to a 36-34 loss in the second set vs. Tarleton State on October 23, marking DSU's highest scoring set since 2007.
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.
Freshman outside hitter Hannah Howard recorded 10 kills in Thursday's loss to Chicago State for her team-best eighth double-digit kill performance of the season. Howard leads DSU with 160 kills.
Sophomore libero Mykenna Nelson tallied 11 digs last week to push her career total to 1,058 kills. Nelson is just the fifth DSU player in the NCAA era to record 1,000 kills. Nelson also ranks sixth in the WAC with 4.66 digs per set.
Freshman middle blocker Kate Hardy leads the team with 81 total blocks and ranks second in the WAC with 1.21 blocks per set.
Senior setter Jordyn Nelson tallied six assists vs. Chicago State. Nelson leads DSU with 297 assists.
Freshman setter Lauren Mena posted a team-high 10 assists against Chicago State for her sixth double-digit assists performance of the season.

UP NEXT: Dixie State returns to the Burns Arena for its final two matches of the season. The Trailblazers will host Seattle U next Thursday and California Baptist next Saturday for Senior Day.

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Players Mentioned

#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

#18 Lauren Mena: S; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#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

#18 Lauren Mena
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: S