Dixie State University Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 2, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

LOS ANGELES, CA – The DSU Volleyball team rebounded from their earlier loss in the day to defeat Seattle Pacific University in straight sets, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22.

In the first set the Falcons jumped on Dixie early leading 8-2 early. Dixie bounced back and pulled even with Falcons at 9-9. Both teams battled back and forth knotting up again at 17. Dixie would then outscore the Falcons 8-4 to take the first set.

The second set also saw Dixie down early 5-2 behind two service aces by Falcon Amanda Ganete. The Storm caught up then surged ahead taking a four-point lead on a block form Kailey Frei and Lindsay Jones 11-7. Dixie pushed the lead to eight on a kill from Kakenzi Bird-Murphey 18-10. Dixie would get its biggest lead of the set on a kill by Jones to go to 24 -15 before Sidney Brandon served out the set for the win.

The third set saw the Storm dig itself into a deep hole again as SPU took a 10-2 lead behind errors by Dixie. Once again Sidney Brandon served Dixie back into the match pulling them to within three 11-8. Dixie would fall behind by five again (15-10) before fighting back and knotting the score at 16. The teams were neck and neck for the next few points till Dixie scored four consecutive points to go ahead 21-18. SPU would pull within one twice more before Dixie scored the final two points of the match to win 25-22.

“We got into trouble in all three sets early,” said Dixie head coach Robyn Felder. “But we had a lot more energy and focus in the second match. We fought back and held on.”

Sophomore hitter Brette Anderson led the Storm with a career-high 11 kills, while Frei had 30 assists on DSU’s 42 total kills. Dixie also recorded 19 total blocks in the match, including eight by junior Lindsay Jones and five from Kioa.

“Brette Anderson played great in this game,” said Felder. “(Libero) Alex Anderson also played great defensively.”

In addition to DSU’s defense, SPU was done in by 24 attack errors and the Falcons finished with a .040 hitting percentage.

Dixie still had 10 service errors after suffering 11 in the earlier match. “We cannot have these errors,” said Felder. “Overall we played well, but we definitely have things to work on, service errors being at the top of the list.”

Dixie State closes play at the CSU-LA tourney with a pair of matches Saturday. The Storm opens play vs. Molloy College at 9 a.m. Pacific Time, followed by a match against Lewis University at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time.