University of Minnesota Athletics
Dixon Selected to USA Volleyball A2 Program
3/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
March 22, 2012
University of Minnesota middle blocker Tori Dixon (Burnsville, Minn.) is one of 48 college volleyball players to be selected to participate in this summer's U.S. Women's National A2 Team Program, announced March 22, 2012 by USA Volleyball. Dixon is one of seven Big Ten Conference players selected after 207 tried out for the spot.
The 2012 U.S. Women's National A2 Team program was selected through the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts held Feb. 10-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. A record 207 athletes participated in the tryout, narrowing it down to the 47 selected.
Training begins June 26 at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, while the matches will be held June 30 to July 4 during the USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships (GJNC) at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. During the pre-tournament training session, the 48 athletes will be divided into four teams of 12 players that will play one match per day during the GJNC. All matches will be A2 competing against each other in a round-robin format followed by a semifinal and final round.
Dixon completed her sophomore season last year. A standout for the Gophers, Dixon received All-America honorable mention, All-Big Ten and All-Mideast honors this season. Dixon finished the season with 334 kills, a .342 hitting percentage and 426.5 points, which all ranked second on the team. In conference action alone, Dixon hit .333 ranking third overall. She led the team with 37 aces, which ranked sixth overall in the Big Ten. To open her sophomore season, Dixon hit .410 and had a career-high 22 kills against Southern Cal. In the Texas matches, Dixon had 21 kills and eight aces and hit over .444 in both matches, while posting a career-best .667 against Illinois (10/29) and Wisconsin (11/23). An all-tournament selection at Northern Iowa, she had seven blocks and nine kills. Dixon was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team after she received All-Big Ten honorable mention as a rookie.
