Dixie State University volleyball stayed hot on the road in California with three more Pacific West Conference wins, making DSU unbeaten through six games.
DSU now improves to 8-5 on the season with a 5-0 conference record.
The Storm finished its California stretch defeating Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 late Saturday.
Senior right-side hitter Kendahl Weiland led the night with an average of 10.1 points for the Storm.
Weiland and junior outside hitter Edithza Urias also led the team in kills with nine.
Dixie’s second win of the California stretch was against Academy of Art University, winning 3-1. Outside hitter Maddie Rex led the team with 21 kills and averaged the highest points on the team with 21.5 points.
The first two sets for the Storm were close, with Dixie winning the first set. But AAU came up clutch the second set as it defeated Dixie 25-20. AAU wouldn’t see another victory.
The first win of the series came Thursday night against Holy Names University in Oakland, California.
The Storm won in straight sets (25-11, 25-21, 25-22).
The team spent the week with a lot of intense preparation.
“Our practices have been intense and focused,” said head coach Robyn Felder. “We will be hard to beat.”
DSU came out firing, recording a .324 hitting percentage in the first set, but then cooled down to .269 for the match. In contrast, Holy Names was only held to a .110 mark for the match.
“We came out really strong in the first set,” said Rex, a senior 3business from Tucson, Arizona. “Then we made some errors and gave them the momentum. We got the job done, but it wasn’t the prettiest volleyball we played this year.”
Offensively, DSU was too much for Holy Names, producing more kills in each of the three sets.
“Overall, I think the setters did a nice job of distributing the ball,” Felder said. “The defense really stepped up and allowed our hitters a lot of chances to take a swing at the ball.”
Weiland recorded a team-high 11 kills for the match, while Rex added eight kills and 10 digs.
After the hot start, DSU had to fight with winless Holy Names. Each team went back and forth with the lead, but DSU held on to win each set.
The team just stepped up and finished strong to get the last two sets, said Rex.
“We are road warriors,” Felder said. “We have scouted these teams and know what they bring to the table.”