(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (10-4/6-0 PacWest) wraps up its three-match homestand with a crucial Pacific West Conference game vs. Azusa Pacific (7-9/3-4 PacWest) this Saturday at 12 noon inside the DSU Student Activities Center (SAC). The Trailblazers, winners of eight-straight overall, enter the match as the lone remaining unbeaten team in PacWest play at 6-0 and with a half-game lead atop the PacWest standings on California Baptist (6-1) and Concordia-Irvine (6-1).

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 4-4 all-time against APU and has won four-straight overall vs. the Cougars after an 0-4 start in the series. Last season the Trailblazers posted a 3-1 home victory over APU at the SAC, which was followed by a 3-2 result in Azusa later in the year.

COACHING STAFF: 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) is in her fifth season on the Trailblazer bench. Felder has posted a 75-48 overall record during her tenure, including a 19-11 record last season in leading DSU to its first-ever Pacific West championship. In 2014, she led DSU to its best record in the program's NCAA Division II-era, a 22-9 overall mark, which included a trip to the NCAA West Region final (Sweet 16). Felder, who was also named PacWest Co-Coach of the Year in 2013, is joined on the bench by assistant coaches Liz Fisher (fifth season), Nate Capps (second season), and former DSU standout Makenzi Bird-Murphey (St. George, Utah/Snow Canyon HS) (student assistant, first season).  
    Felder is 4-4 all-time vs. Azusa Pacific.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SECOND IN PACWEST IN 2016: Defending PacWest champion Dixie State was picked to finish second in the conference's preseason coaches' poll released on August 25.
    California Baptist narrowly surpassed DSU in the poll, 189-180, as the Lancers received eight of the 14 possible first-place votes, while the Trailblazers collected five first places nods. Point Loma (158 points) and Concordia University Irvine (131) finished third and fourth, respectively, followed by Azusa Pacific (127) in fifth, Chaminade in sixth (121), and BYU-Hawaii (116) picked up one first place vote en route to seventh place to round out the top-half of the poll.
    Dixie State senior Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) was named PacWest Preseason Setter of the Year, while she and senior outside hitter Delayne Daniel (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) were voted onto the preseason all-PacWest team.

WEEK IN REVIEW: The Trailblazers ran their winning streak to a season-high eight games after DSU won a pair of matches last week. Dixie State opened its three-match homestand with a convincing 3-0 sweep of Chaminade last Saturday, followed by a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame de Namur this past Monday night.

QUICK HITS: Senior setter Kailey Frei (Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS) is now just 58 assists away from becoming the second player in DSU's NCAA D-II era to amass 2,000 career assists ... Frei now has 1,942 career dimes, including 440 assists this season, which features a season-high 50 in the win at Point Loma (9/16) ... Frei also recorded her second double-double of the year with 43 assists and 11 digs vs. NDNU ... senior outside hitter Delayne Daniel (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleaseant Grove HS) moved into 10th-place on DSU's career kills list with 458 after she posted a pair of 12-kill outings vs. Chaminade and NDNU ... Daniel also recorded her team-high sixth and seventh double-doubles of the year with 13 digs vs. CUH and 20 digs vs. NDNU, and served for a career-high four aces vs. CUH ... sophomore OH Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View HS) notched her first career double-double with season-highs of 19 kills and 14 digs (tied career high) vs. NDNU ... Duryea also had 10 kills in the Chaminade match and has recorded double-digits in kills in six of 14 matches overall ... Duryea also has 53 career services (23 this season), which ranks her eighth on DSU's career aces list ... senior MB Lindsay Garrett (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) leads the team with a .297 hitting percentage (min. 150  attacks), which has increased her DSU all-time career hitting percentage record to .284 ... Garrett also became the fifth Trailblazer in the program's D-II era to record 200 or more total blocks and now stands alone in fourth place on DSU's career blocks list (207).
    Junior MB Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) recorded a DSU career-high 10 kills vs. NDNU as Dixie State had a season-high four Trailblazers notch double figures in kills (Duryea, Daniel and Garrett) ... sophomore libero Sidney Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) posted her third 20-plus digs match of the year with 24 vs. NDNU, which was two digs off her career-high of 26 set at home vs. Hawai'i Hilo (9/26) ... in all four DSU players posted double figures in digs vs. NDNU (Frei, Daniel, Duryea), which was a team season high, as were the 95 total team digs.
    Dixie State played a season-high 15 players in the Westminster match (9/28), and 14 players saw time in the Holy Names game (9/24) ... DSU hit a season-high .329 in the win at Concordia-Irvine (9/16), including a .400 clip in set two and a then-season-high .417 in set three ... DSU hit a season-best .500 in the opening set vs. HNU ... Dixie State's defense held HNU to a DSU school record -.082 hitting percentage, which marked just the fourth time in DSU's NCAA D-II era that it had forced a team into a negative hitting percentage ... the previous record was -.034 vs. Fort Lewis (9/9/11), while DSU forced two other opponents in 2014, including Chaminade (-.020; 10/13/14) and Fresno Pacific (-.020; 11/15/14).
    As a team DSU is hitting .198, while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .159 clip through the first 14 matches of 2016 ... DSU collected 15 service aces in the two matches last week and have 92 on the year, compared to just 48 combined by its 14 opponents ... DSU is averaging 12.53 kills, 17.22 digs and 2.39 blocks per set through 14 matches this season.

HEAD COACH ROBYN FELDER ABOUT THE APU MATCH: "This match for us against Azusa Pacific is a huge match, as is every match is at this point [of the season]. It's exciting that we are playing so well with so much momentum, but every match counts and we can't afford to take a night off. We have worked extremely hard this week and the chemistry with the team is really starting to click. We are going to keep working to continuously get better and prepare for the next match."

UP NEXT: Dixie State heads out on its annual Hawaiian road swing next week, starting with its final road match ever at BYU-Hawaii on Friday, Oct. 14. DSU will also play at Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 15, and at Hawai'i Hilo on Monday, Oct. 17.