Sophomore Lauren Gammell threw down a career-high 21 kills to help lead Dixie State’s women’s volleyball team to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory at Hawai’i Pacific late Friday night.
The Trailblazers (3-7, 1-1 PacWest) dropped the first set by a 25-21 count and found themselves in a deep 12-1 hole to begin set two. However, DSU clawed its way back into the set with 10-straight points to cut the deficit to 12-11 after a Jaydra Thurber kill. HPU (4-7, 2-1 PacWest) extended to a 20-17 advantage, but Dixie State answered with a 7-3 run to reach set point at 24-23 thanks in part to three Gammell kills, along with point-scoring attacks from Thurber and Hannah Doonan.
HPU rallied to wrestle away set point at 25-24, but DSU closed the stanza with three-straight points, culminating with an Alexa Goulding kill to take the frame, 27-25, and square the match at a set apiece. Hawai’i Pacific quelled the DSU momentum as the Sharks never trailed in set three on their way to a 25-22 set win, but again Dixie State rallied to force a deciding fifth frame with a 25-23 result in the fourth stanza.
Dixie State trailed just twice early in the decisive fifth set, but the Trailblazers used a 6-1 spurt to break a 5-5 tie and closed out the match with a 15-8 set win.
Gammell hit .487 for the match and finished with five total blocks (one solo), while Doonan posted her team-leading fourth double-double of the season with a career-high-tying 16 kills and 16 digs. Freshman setter Jordyn Nelson also notched her second double-double of the year with 27 assists and 13 digs, and junior libero Sid Brandon collected a game-high 28 digs. DSU finished with 63 kills and hit .238, while the Trailblazers held the Sharks to a .186 hitting percentage.
Dixie State closes its quick two-match trip to the Hawaiian Islands with a date at Chaminade on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT.
Steve Johnson is the Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations and Collegiate Licensing at Dixie State University. For more DSU Athletics news, please visit www.dixieathletics.com and follow Dixie State on Twitter at @DixieAthletics.