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OPENING SERVE: Dixie State (0-0/0-0 RMAC) officially opens the 2018 regular season this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Nampa, Idaho, to play in the Northwest Nazarene-hosted Fairfield Inn Invitational. DSU will kick off the round-robin tourney Friday morning with a match-up against former Pacific West Conference foe Biola (0-0) at 9:30 a.m. (MT), followed by a date vs. the home-standing No. 19 Nighthawks (0-0) that evening at 7:30 p.m. (MT).
    The Trailblazers will wrap up play on Saturday vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (0-0) at 11 a.m. (MT). All matches will be played at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus. Live stats/video links for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Friday's season opener vs. Biola will be just the third meeting between the Trailblazers and Eagles on the volleyball court, with the Eagles having claimed each of the previous two matches played by 3-0 sweeps last season.
    Dixie State is 3-5 all-time vs. Northwest Nazarene, with the two sides having split the last four meetings overall, which includes a 3-1 DSU loss to the Nighthawks last season in a season-opening tourney hosted by CSUMB. DSU is 3-2 overall vs. CS Monterey Bay, though the Trailblazers wound up on the wrong end of a 3-0 result vs. the Otters at their tournament last season in California.

COACHING STAFF: Robyn Felder (Eastern Washington, 2002; 95-70 overall record) begins her seventh season at the helm of the DSU women's volleyball program as it heads into its first year of RMAC play. The two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year (2013/2015) led the Trailblazers to a 13-15 overall record last season which included an 11-9 mark (t-6th) in their final season of PacWest competition.
    In 2015, Felder led the Trailblazers to their first-ever Pacific West Conference title and the program's third-straight NCAA West Regional appearance. 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 only time Dixie State has reached 20-win plateau in the program's NCAA-era, and DSU also reached the 2014 NCAA West Regional final (Sweet 16).
    Felder is joined on the DSU sideline by second-year assistant coaches David Richards (BYU, 1983) and former DSU standout Makenzi Bird-Murphey (Dixie State, 2018).

HI, MY NAME IS....: After 11 years as a member of the Pacific West Conference, Dixie State embarks on its first season as full members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2018.
    The Trailblazers won one PacWest volleyball title (2015) over their conference membership and posted a 117-75 overall record (.609) in 192 league games. DSU won 10 or more PacWest matches in seven of those 11 campaigns, including a program-best 17 matches (17-3) in 2014.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SEVENTH IN THE RMAC IN 2018: Dixie State was voted to finish seventh by the RMAC coaches in the annual preseason poll released by the league on August 13.
    Defending RMAC co-champions No. 7 Regis and No. 20 Colorado School of Mines combined to collect all 16 first-place votes in the poll, with Regis garnering 15 first-place nods to top the poll with 225 points, while CSM earned the other first-place vote and finished with 208 points.
    MSU-Denver wound up third in the poll with 181 points, followed by Colorado Christian (181 pts) in fourth, Colorado Mesa (173 pts) in fifth, Colorado-Colorado Springs (152 pts) in sixth, DSU (128 pts) in seventh, and Adams State (123 pts) rounded out the top half of the poll in eighth.

2018 RETURNEES: Dixie State returns five starters and 11 letter winners from last season's 13-15 squad, led by a pair of seniors in libero Sid Brandon (Bountiful, Utah/Bountiful HS) and outside hitter Hannah Doonan (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS), along with junior right side/middle blocker Lauren Gammell (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS).
    Brandon earned 2017 PacWest honorable mention recognition after she ranked third in the league in digs (473) and collected 10 or more digs in 23 of 28 matches played. Meanwhile, Doonan started in 26 of the 28 matches a season ago and finished third on the team in kills (188, 1.96 kps) and finished second in service aces (20) and digs (254), and Gammell earned second team all-PacWest honors after she wound up fourth in the conference in total blocks (119) and block assists (108) and was second on the team in kills (217).
    The Trailblazers also welcome back sophomore setter Jordyn Nelson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway HS), who led the team with 519 assists (5.09 aps) and was third in aces (19) and digs (215), along with redshirt-senior MB Malary Marshall (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) (2016 – 128 kills/67 blocks/9 solo blocks/23 digs), and sophomore OH Kaycee Adams (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS), who collected 125 kills, 87 digs, 29 total blocks and seven aces in 78 sets played as a freshman last year.
    In addition, DSU returns senior RS Shannon Sorensen (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) (160 kills/66 blocks), outside hitters Amanda Robinson (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) (7 kills/8 digs) and Sydney Johnson (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley HS) (85 kills/6 aces/16 blocks), junior setter Kara Moore (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) (310 assists/21 aces-team high/131 digs) and sophomore MB Ashtyn Lunt (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) (11 kills/12 blocks). Redshirt freshman Abbey Smith (Prescott, Ariz./Prescott HS) could also see time at libero, and junior RS Savannah Ipsen (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS) (23 kills/4 aces/5 blocks) will miss the 2018 season as a medical redshirt.

2018 NEWCOMERS: Dixie State opened its 2018 fall camp with 21 players, including a pair of junior college transfers from Salt Lake CC, highlighted by 2017 NJCAA All-American OH To'a Faleao-Baich (Lehi, Utah/Lehi HS) and an NJCAA all-region pick at right side hitter in sophomore Megan Treanor (Salem, Utah/Salem Hills HS).
    The Trailblazers also brought in six new freshmen in right side hitters Miranda Marshall (Fairfield, Calif./Vanden HS), Hailee Oviatt-Devillier (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS) and Megan Sintay (Lindon, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS), along with OH Sydney Berenyi (Las Vegas, Nev./Silverado HS), setter Baylie Bishop (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS), and libero Hannah Waddell (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS).

UP NEXT: DSU will return home the next weekend to host the 2018 Dixie State/Desert Garden Inn by Wyndham Classic inside the Burns Arena Aug. 30-Sept. 1, marking the first time in program history that the Trailblazers will play on the Burns Arena floor.
    DSU will open the 12-match, round-robin tourney vs. preseason No. 18 Tarleton State on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m., followed by two matches vs. Western New Mexico (2 p.m.) and fellow RMAC-member UCCS (7 p.m.) on Friday, Aug. 31, and will wrap up the tournament vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m.