Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Back against the wall against a rival that's had your number of late, and playing in front of their crowd on their court — no problem!

The Northwest Nazarene volleyball team rallied from a two-set-to-one deficit to beat recent NCAA West Region rival Dixie State, capping a very successful season-opening day of play at the Dixie State Tournament on Friday.

"That was a huge team win. Everyone made plays when they were called upon," NNU head coach Doug English said of the Crusaders second win of the day. NNU opened play by sweeping Cal State Monterey Bay, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20.

"Most importantly, our team showed some grit after a tough set-three loss and played so well in sets four and five," English said of the win over the host Trailblazers, who had beaten the Crusaders in the teams' last two meetings, including a Dixie State win in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Division II National Tournament.

"This is huge win for us as Dixie State is a very good volleyball team," NNU's coach added.

No stats or other information was available from the match against Dixie State.

In the opener against the Otters, Mari Thomas and Kendra Bodine led the way at the net for a potent Crusader attack with 15 and 14 kills, respectively.

"Mari played great and took some huge out-of-system swings for us," English said.

Meanwhile, libero Shayli Siegfreid proved to be just as prolific in the back row for NNU, making a match-high 24 digs for the Crusaders, who had 49 digs in the three-set win.

"We also played great defense," English said, "it was a fun match and a great way to start the year."

Hailey Cook added 32 assists in the opening victory for the Crusaders, who wrap up play in the tournament against Black Hills State at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.