Box Score

SAINT GEORGE, Utah – Dixie State spoiled the Crusaders season opener Friday night as visiting Northwest Nazarene couldn't finish sets early and fell to the host Red Storm, 31-29, 25-23, 22-25, 25-17, in a nonconference volleyball match.

"We didn't pass as well as we needed to to win and maybe we didn't pursue balls as well as we should have," said first-year NNU coach Doug English, whose team plays at Dixie State again at noon Saturday. "Then we didn't get kills when we had the chance to sideout."

It all added up to small breaks for Dixie State (1-0 overall), which won a nip-and-tuck opener despite a set point for the Crusaders (0-1), who led 29-28 following an Elayna Rice kill.

Two kills and an ace by the Red Storm put NNU into an early 1-0 hole, and Dixie State used that momentum to build an 11-5 edge in the second set before the Crusaders rallied.

Back-to-back-to-back kills by Taylor VanValey, Kaitlyn Tuholski and Andrea Terpstra for the Crusaders evened the score, 14-14, but the Crusaders couldn't sustain the charge as Dixie State forged a 24-20 edge late and held on for the second-set win.

NNU took the third set with a late surge, charging to the win with an 8-2 run after falling behind 20-17. Andrea Terpstra had three kills and teamed with VanValey for a block and Rice for another in the closing push.

Andrea Terpstra enjoyed a huge match in her Crusader debut, pounding down 19 kills and adding nine blocks, both match highs.

It wasn't enough, though, as Dixie State finished off the win as four straight hitting errors by NNU broke a 13-all tie in the fourth set, and the Red Storm never let the advantage slip away.

Despite being a bit out of synch defensively, and offensively at times, English still praised the efforts of setter Michelle Terpstra who finished with 42 assists and 15 digs for NNU.

"She set really well despite the fact we weren't passing well," he said. "She put our hitters in a good position, but again, we couldn't put balls away."

Rice added nine kills and 22 digs for the Crusaders, who also got 20 digs from Taylor Roberts and eight kills and 12 digs from Tuholski.

Shannon Young led a balanced attack for the Red Storm with 15 kills and 16 digs while Hannah Harrah added 12 kills and 11 digs, Nicole Koehler had 11 kills and Kendahl Weiland had 10 kills and 11 digs. Alex Anderson added 28 digs for Dixie State and Shelby Sorenson dished out 55 assists in the win.