Dixie State volleyball drops home match to Dominican

Written by Darren Cole
November 5, 2016
Dixie State's Sidney Brandon (7), Dixie State University vs. Dominican University, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Nov. 5, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The Dixie State volleyball team dropped a match against visiting Dominican University at home on Saturday afternoon in four sets 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 26-24.

DSU won three matches on the road last week, but is now just 3-5 in its last eight outings dating back to mid-October.

blazerDThe first set saw the two teams stay close early. Kailey Frei’s kill tied the set at 12-12. Delayne Daniel’s kill off of Frei’s set pulled the Trailblazers to within 15-14. The Penguins then went on a 10-4 run to close out the match. Passing and attack errors hurt DSU during the run.

Dixie State came out with a vengeance in set two, going up by four points early at 5-1 and later at 8-4. In addition to good service from Jaclyn Condie, the Blazers got two kills from Daniel during the run. The Penguins then responded with five straight to take a 9-8 lead.

Dixie State's Amanda Schultz (15), Dixie State University vs. Dominican University, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Nov. 5, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Dixie State’s Amanda Schultz (15), Dixie State University vs. Dominican University, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Nov. 5, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Neither team would take more than a two-point lead for the next several points. Daniels’ kill put DSU up 17-14. Malary Marshall pushed the lead to 20-17 with a kill. The Penguins stormed back with three straight to knot up the set at 20-20. After a Dominican service error Condie again came through with clutch service to put DSU back up 23-20. After a couple of Penguin points DSU got a sideout and Sidney Brandon served out the set. Kayla Chapman’s kill on set point knotted the match at one set apiece.

Sets three and four were nearly identical in game flow. Neither team dominated and the lead switched continuously throughout the two sets. Dixie State held late leads in both only to see closing surges both times by the visitors.

Both teams amped up the defense. Dominican had a .171 attack percentage but held the Blazers to .145.

Individually Daniel led the team with 15 kills. Marshall and Kayla Chapman had 12 kills apiece. Frei led the team with 47 assists. Brandon led the team with 25 digs and three service aces. Also recording double-digit digs were Daniel (15), Frei (11) and Megan Huddleston (10). Marshall led the team with six blocks.

Dixie State falls to 11-5 in the PacWest and 15-9 overall. They will travel next weekend, facing Cal Baptist on Friday night before traveling to Azusa to take on the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. Game time for Friday night’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Pacific Time.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darren Cole recently returned to sportswriting after a 20-plus year hiatus. While pursuing other studies, he developed an early passion for sports writing as a senior writer and sports editor for the Ricks College Scroll in 1988-89. Darren has spent the last 20 years writing legal memorandi and appellate briefs. In addition to his legal career, he has also taught legal and criminal justice courses at the university level for nine years as an adjunct professor. Darren is married to wife Lisa, has two sons and is a confessed sports junkie.

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