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OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (13-13/11-7 PacWest) Dixie State closes out its 2017 season in southern California this weekend with its final two Pacific West Conference games. DSU will open the two-game trip in Irvine with a date against Concordia-Irvine (16-9/12-6 PacWest) this Friday at 7 p.m. (PT), followed by the season finale at conference newcomer Biola (20-7/13-5 PacWest) in La Mirada on Saturday at 6 p.m. (PT).  
    Live stats/video links for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 3-1 in its brief series vs. Concordia-Irvine, this after the two sides traded a pair of 3-0 sweeps on the other's home court last season. DSU claimed a 3-0 win in Irvine on Sept. 17, 2016, then the Eagles returned the favor five weeks later in St. George (10/23/16). Dixie State also claimed both matches in CUI's debut season in the PacWest in 2015.   
    Saturday's match at Biola will be the second meeting between the BU Eagles and Trailblazers on the volleyball court, with the Eagle claiming the first-ever match in a 3-0 sweep in St. George this past Oct. 28.

COACHING STAFF: 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002) is in her sixth season on the Trailblazer bench. Felder has posted a 95-68 overall record during her tenure, including a 17-11 record last season. In 2015, Felder led the Trailblazers to their first-ever Pacific West Conference title and the program's third-straight NCAA West Regional appearance. In addition, five Trailblazers earned all-PacWest honors and Felder was named Conference Coach of the Year. The season before that, she led DSU to its most successful season in the program's Division II era. The Trailblazers played to a 22-9 overall record, which marked the first time Dixie State had reached 20-plus wins in a season since its first year of NCAA play in 2006.
    Felder, who was also named PacWest Co-Coach of the Year in 2013, is joined on the bench by assistant coaches David Richards (first season), Nate Capps (third season), and former DSU standout Lindsay Garrett (student assistant, first season). 

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN PACWEST IN 2017: Heading into its final season of league play, Dixie State was picked to finish third by the Pacific West Conference coaches in the annual preseason poll released by the league on August 23.
    Defending PacWest champion Concordia-Irvine was the overwhelming choice to repeat in 2017 as the Eagles collected 10 out of a possible 14 first-place votes to top the poll with 189 points. California Baptist picked up three first-place nods to finish second with 158 points, followed by the Trailblazers in third with 158 points. Azusa Pacific (one first place vote) came in fourth in the poll with 151 points, while Point Loma (119 points) edged out Hawai'i Pacific (118 points) for fifth place, and Dominican (105 points) rounded out the top half of the poll in seventh.
    DSU, which has finished in the top-three in the PacWest each of the last four years, including the program's first conference crown in 2015, landed one player on the league's awards list. Junior Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) was voted 2017 PacWest Preseason Libero of the Year and was named to the preseason all-PacWest team.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State ran its winning streak to a season-high four games after the Trailblazers claimed their final two home games of the 2017 season. DSU picked up a big 3-0 upset victory over regionally-ranked Azusa Pacific on Senior Day this past Saturday, and followed that up with a 3-1 triumph over Academy of Art in the home finale last Sunday.

GAMMELL EARNS PACWEST HONOR: Sophomore MB/RS Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) was named PacWest Defender of the Week Monday for her efforts in the Trailblazers' three home victories last week.  
    Gammell averaged 6.67 total blocks (20 total), 1.3 digs and 22 kills (7.33) over her three starts last week. She collected six blocks along with two digs and eight kills in a 3-0 sweep of Hawai'i Hilo Nov. 6, and went for five blocks and seven kills in DSU's 3-0 upset win against Azusa Pacific last Saturday. She then followed that up with a game-high nine block assists with two digs and seven kills in the Trailblazers' 3-1 triumph over Academy of Art on Sunday.
    Gammell enters play this week fifth in the PacWest in total blocks with 111, including 11 solo stops (#8 in the PWC), and is second on the team among regular starters in kills (209) and hitting percentage (.243). Earlier this season she tied DSU's single-match record with 10 block assists to go with four kills and two digs vs. Point Loma (10/21). Gammell is second on the team with 209 kills (2.13 k/s) and is hitting .243 on the season, while she has moved into the top-10 in career hitting at No. 10 at .223.

TEAM NOTES: Junior MB Kayla Chapman (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) has been on a hitting tear over her last 15 matches as she has averaged 9.6 kills per match, while hitting .345 overall with just 34 attack errors in 319 total attempts over this current stretch ... she threw down a career-high 22 kills (and DSU team season-high) in DSU's come-from-behind win at PLNU (11/3), and followed that up with game-highs of nine kills and eight total blocks (career-high) in the Hilo win (11/6) ... She also collected a team-high 12 kills in the home finale vs. AAU ... Chapman leads the team in kills (214) and is ranked sixth in the PacWest with a .313 hitting percentage ... Chapman's recent tear has also vaulted her up to second on DSU's career hitting percentage list (.268) ... Chapman (137) also moved into t-10th place DSU's career top-10 total blocks list.
    Senior RS Brette Barney (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) recorded a combined 10 kills in her final two home matches, including six in the APU win on Senior Day last Saturday ... Barney also collected a career-high six total blocks vs. the Cougars and enters her final two matches in a DSU uniform eighth all-time in total blocks (153).
    Freshman Kaycee Adams (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS) threw down a career-high 11 kills in the AAU home win last Sunday, six of which came in the deciding fourth set ... sophomore Savannah Ipsen (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS) (3 kills) and Ashtyn Lunt (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) (3 kills) also posted career-highs in kills vs. AAU.
    Freshman setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS) posted two more double-doubles last weekend to push her team-leading total to 10 overall ...Nelson went for 23 assists and 10 digs in the APU win (11/3), then followed that up with 24 assists and 10 more digs in the AAU win ...  Nelson needs six more dimes to become the eighth player in DSU's NCAA era to amass 500 assists as she enters play this week with 494 dimes to her credit.
    Junior libero Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) needs 45 more digs to become the fourth player in program history to reach amass 1,000-career digs ... Brandon has recorded double figures in digs in 21 of 26 matches played this season, including a career-high 31 digs at home vs. Point Loma (10/21), and she is currently ranked fourth in the PacWest with 449 digs on the year.
    Dixie State closed its 2017 home slate with a 7-3 overall record - all of which were in PacWest play ... In all, DSU played to a 67-34 (.663) record in 101 PacWest home matches inside the DSU SAC, which included a 42-17 (.712) mark in six seasons under Head Coach Robyn Felder ... DSU won seven or more conference home games in six of its 11 seasons of PacWest membership, six of those occasions came during the Felder-era, including a program-best nine wins (9-1) in 2014, and eight wins (8-2) in 2013 and in the Trailblazers' PacWest championship winning season in 2015 (8-2).
    DSU racked up 17.0 total team blocks in its home match vs. PLNU, which were the most since the Trailblazers combined for 15.0 blocks in a win over Holy Names last season (9/24/16) ... DSU lost the home Point Loma match despite outhitting the Sea Lions, .149-.065 ... the last time the Trailblazers outhit an opponent and lost was in a five-set thriller at Alaska-Anchorage in the first round of the 2015 NCAA West Regional (.144-.133; 12/4).
    Dixie State hit a season-high .370 in a win at Academy of Art (10/16), which was bolstered by a total team effort that saw 10 Trailblazers account for all 38 DSU kills in the match ... Meanwhile, 11 different players collected at least one dig in the AAU match as Dixie State held the Urban Knights to a .048 H%.
    DSU's defense held Holy Names to opponent season-lows of 18 total kills and an -.023 hitting percentage in the Trailblazers' three-set win (10/13) ... DSU also collected a season-high 13 service aces, including a career-high four from Chapman and three more from Nelson ... the 13 aces were the fifth-most in a single match in the program's NCAA era and the second-most recorded in a three-set match overall.
    DSU hit just .077 in its win vs. FPU (10/26), which marked the first time in nearly four full seasons that the Trailblazers won a match despite hitting below .150 ... back in the 2013 season, DSU posted a .121 H% on its way to a 3-2 home win over California Baptist (11/2/13).
    As a team DSU is hitting .186, while Trailblazer opponents are hitting at a .169 clip through 26 matches this season ... DSU is averaging 11.95 kills, 16.11 digs and 2.16 blocks per set overall.