UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 29, 2024

Volleyball strong in PacWest play

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The Dixie State University volleyball team rallied past California Baptist University Wednesday to stay at first place in the Pacific West Conference.

The Storm brought the heat in the first set with a 15-25 win but lost momentum in the second set and fell 25-14. DSU was able to start back up and win the next two sets, 25-22 and 25-23, ending the game with an ace from freshman outside hitter Taylor Duryea. 

“We pulled together at the right times,” said Duryea, a communication major from Logan. “We’ve all been saying every game is do or die because we want first.”

Junior middle blocker Lindsay Jones led the team with 14 kills while Duryea had 10. Junior setter Kailey Frei had 40 assists and three kills. 

The Storm continued their home stand Saturday against Point Loma University with a 3-0 sweep. This is the Storm’s ninth-strait match. 

The Sea Lions kept the team on its toes, and both teams fought for the lead during most of the second set. However, DSU proved strong, outscoring PLNU 7-0 with the help of three kills from junior outside hitter Delayne Daniel.

PLNU continued to make errors, and a kill from senior middle blocker Makenzi Bird-Murphey ended the second game 25-21 and put the Storm up 2-0 in the match.

DSU started the third set strong, but the Sea Lions made it hard to stay in the lead with an 8-1 rally, including four-straight points in one stretch.

PLNU kept the Storm on their toes and pushed their advantage to as much as three points, which led DSU to a timeout.

The Storm were able to reclaim the lead with kills from sophomore outside hitter Brette Anderson, junior middle blocker Lindsay Jones and Daniel.

Jones clinched the sweep for DSU with her sixth kill of the day to end the match.

Head coach Robyn Felder said the team has so much to gain with the next few games coming up, and the team is playing with confidence and momentum.

“We came into the night focused and fearless,” Felder said. “We wanted to focus on our side of the court and our side of the net, and when we did that we were successful.”

The Storm will head to the Hawaiian Islands for their last road trip of the regular season. The Storm will play three matches in three days, beginning with a PacWest showdown vs. second-place BYU-Hawaii Thursday, followed by a match at Chaminade University Friday and the finale at University of Hawaii Hilo Saturday.