ST. GEORGE – The Dixie State volleyball team won its second straight conference match to even the Red Storm’s conference record at 2-2, this time defeating visiting Holy Names University in straight sets, 25-16, 25-23, 25-16.
In the first set, the two teams played even to start out. The score was tied at 7-7 when six consecutive kills by the Storm fueled a 7-0 run. Delayne Daniel, Brette Anderson and Lindsay Jones all contributed. The lead grew to nine points on a kill from Taylor Duryea, 21-12. Jones finished the set with another kill.
In the second set, Holy Names stayed with the Storm for the entire game. Neither team could pull away and the Hawks pulled even as late as 22-22. The Storm benefited from some HNU errors and Jones once again closed out the set with a kill.
“At intermission, coach got on us,” said Dixie setter Kailey Frei. “We did not want to have a repeat of the last match. We need to keep the pressure on closing out opponents.”
In the third set, the Storm built a cushion early. Good passing from Frei and Alex Anderson led to kills from Gianna Kioa and Duryea. Kioa had replaced Daniel in the rotation late in the second set.
“That is a luxury I do have,” said Dixie State head coach Robyn Felder. “I have four good outside hitters. When one is struggling, I have a couple of options to go to on the bench. Giana came in and played great.”
The lead grew as high as 10, 21-11, on Talia Brown’s service ace. Alex Anderson served out the set and match with an ace of her own.
Duryea’s stock continues to rise. She led the team with 10 kills and a .600 hitting percentage.
“I got some great sets today,” said Duryea. “It was a complete team effort. Especially on the defense.”
Jones finished with nine kills and four total blocks. The Storm hit .299 for the match and had seven blocks and held the Hawks to a .114 team hitting percentage.
The Red Storm improve to 5-7 overall, 2-2 in the PacWest. Holy Names drops to 1-10, 0-3 in the conference.
Dixie State will host Concordia on Monday night. Concordia is the newest member of the PacWest. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Student Activities Center (Old Gym).
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