The Student Activity Center was shaking over the weekend as the Dixie State University women’s volleyball team took on Northwest Nazarene in a double-header.
The Red Storm won the match 3-1 Friday but lost the match Saturday in a three-game sweep.
DSU head coach Robyn Felder said the Red Storm played great Friday in all aspects of the game.
“Overall, it was a good first win of the season,” Felder said.
The first game Friday went to extra points thanks to a four-point comeback from the serves of sophomore setter Shelby Sorenson to tie the game at 22 points a piece. The team completed the rally with a 31-29 win.
“Even though we were down in the first game, we were still in control,” said outside hitter Shannon Young, a senior communication major from Whittier, Calif. “We were in control because we had energy and came back and won.”
The Red Storm took a commanding lead early in the second game only to see it slowly melt away. The team finished the game before Northwest Nazarene could complete its comeback. It quickly took the 25-23 victory.
Game three was the lone loss in the match. It was a tight, lead-changing win for the Crusaders, who escaped at the end of the game and won 25-22.
“We wanted to sweep in three games, but a few errors held us from winning the third game,” Felder said.
The Red Storm won the fourth game 25-17 and finished on a 13-4 run.
“We didn’t know much about (Northwest Nazarene), so we wanted to start off swinging hard,” Young said.
Felder singled out both Young and sophomore outside hitter Makenzi Bird for their accomplishments in the match.
Young had 15 kills in the match and served 16 times without any errors. Bird added seven kills off the bench for the Red Storm.
The Red Storm lost three straight games going 18-25, 21-25 and 21-25 Saturday.
“A lot of the problems were our own errors,” Felder said. “We need to take care of our own side, and we’ll be all right.”
Young led the team with another 15 kills and added 11 digs Saturday.
“We lost the games because of lack of communication and a lack of energy,” Young said.
The Red Storm will travel to New Mexico for a tournament Sept. 13 and 14. The team will play four matches over the two-day tournament. Dixie State will play two games on Friday at 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. It begins the tournament against Colorado Mesa University and ends with Western New Mexico University. The Red Storm will also play two matches on Saturday. Their first game will start at 9 a.m. against Western State Colorado University, and then they will take on New Mexico Highlands University at 4:30 p.m.
