University of Minnesota Athletics
Hermanas Por Siempre
9/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
To view the full feature of Santana and Rosado,
check out the recent edition of Ski-U-Mah Magazine
By Mark Remme
Daly Santana scrolls through her smartphone, burrowing through her photos looking for just the right image to share.
The album isn't what you'd expect from a 20-year-old college student - photo after photo showcases delicious-looking platters of entrees she's prepared. Puerto Rican dishes, double-decker chicken sandwiches, fettuccine casserole. Photos that would make Emeril Lagasse jealous.
She has them for a reason. Back in her native Puerto Rico, Santana admits she didn't cook at home. The photos are evidence sent to her mom showing that she does, in fact, prepare meals while at college here in Minnesota. Typically not just for herself, either. Neighbors and friends - particularly her roommate, Dalianliz Rosado - are part of the dinner planning. Come meal time, the two have a pretty regular routine.
"I dirty the dishes, and [Rosado] cleans them," Santana said, smiling.
"When she cooks, I only have to clean the kitchen," Rosado smiled back.
A perfect match.
And that's just the beginning.
Rosado and Santana have known each other for years going all the way back to their elementary school days in Puerto Rico. They grew up 11 miles away from one another - Rosado in Morovis, Santana in Corozal - playing against each other in club and high school volleyball before becoming teammates on Puerto Rican National Teams. Both were recruited by the Gophers and both chose Minnesota without knowing the other was being recruited.
Now here, more than 2,400 miles from home, they are sharing a two-bedroom, one-bathroom unit at Roy Wilkins Hall and growing closer than they've ever been. There's a bond developing that neither can truly explain. As Santana enters her senior year as a Gophers' outside hitter, she and Rosado - a sophomore libero - are determined to work together and help Minnesota rebound from a disappointing 2014 with a memorable tournament run this fall.
Both will be significant contributors on this Gopher team. Santana was a 2014 AVCA All-America honorable mention and an All-Big Ten honorable mention. Rosado led the team with 296 digs last year as a freshman. Statistically, they're important pieces in the Gophers' potential success. As individual competitors, their roles fuel them to help the team succeed.
The fact that they're doing it together makes their situation, their upcoming season, even more special.
"We are not just friends. We're more like family," Rosado said. "I love her as my older sister. She's here, she's my older sister. So I trust her as my sister - probably something I couldn't do with others."
The Early Years
It wasn't always that way.
Neither Rosado nor Santana can recall the very first time they played one another in Puerto Rico. Santana, nine months Rosado's senior, was about nine years old when they first squared off. She recalls Rosado's dad being an intense coach on the sidelines and Rosado being a do everything player for her team.
What they both remember is how competitive the other was on the court and how neither liked losing when they squared off.
"I'd say this is the closest we've ever been," Santana said. "Because we knew each other, we hated each other when we played each other."
Today, those wins and losses don't matter as much to the duo. They can't recall who holds a better head-to-head record - both decided Rosado's club team likely held the edge while Santana won more games in high school.
What does matter is the friendship and respect that developed. During elementary school, they were merely standout players whose teams faced one another due to geographic proximity. Then they began spending time together at weekend-long tournaments. Soon their moms were hanging out, watching games together on the bleachers. Santana and Rosado began riding to tournaments together, having sleepovers and making plans outside the gym.
In 2011, they were teammates on the Puerto Rican Youth National Team that competed in the Peru International Cup. In 2012, they were teammates at the Pan American Games.
"We got closer in high school," Santana said. "We were playing against each other, and on the National Team we were playing together. We went to Mexico together, Peru, Guatemala. We've been to a thousand places."
What the two didn't realize was they were about to develop a bond neither saw coming - one that began in their home country but was nurtured thousands of miles away.
Choosing the Gophers
Minnesota recognized their talents and was interested in having them join its roster in the Big Ten. Former Gophers assistant coach Laura Bush, who frequently recruited in Puerto Rico, played a big role in both players choosing Minnesota. She began watching Santana at tournaments, talking to her about career goals and Santana's interest in Minnesota, and those conversations led to a recruiting visit to Minneapolis.
Rosado had already considered Minnesota after attending a volleyball summer camp here in 2010. She liked the experience and was immediately interested to potentially playing for the school in the future.
"After I was done with camp, they told me to keep learning English because at the time I didn't know any English," Rosado said. "So I kept learning until I committed. That was pretty much it. I came on two official visits here."
It only took Santana one visit to realize Minnesota was the right place for her to go to school. She liked the culture and the people that she met on campus. It was an inviting feeling, one that a high school student so far from home could appreciate. Making the move to the United States was one thing, but moving to Minneapolis was quite different. This was not a puddle jump to Florida. This was the Midwest, so the comfort level in the volleyball program and on campus had to be there.
It was.
"I really liked how people treated each other, honestly," Santana said. "It was all about, 'Here is who we are as a team, as a program, and this is what we have to offer.' A take it or leave it kind of thing."
It was around the time that Santana committed to Minnesota in 2012 and prepared to make the move for her freshman season that the two made the connection. Rosado would not join the Gophers for two seasons, but at that point the two realized they would likely, once again, be teammates.
Together they'd experience getting an education, playing competitively in the United States and growing an inseparable friendship.
"We probably didn't make it happen, it just happened," Santana said. "You can't just make a friendship like this happen. And it feels great."
Growing Up - And Together - On Campus
Santana was already an established, key player for the Gophers by the time Rosado arrived in 2014. She had two seasons under her belt, including a unanimous selection to the 2012 Big Ten All-Freshman team and a spot on the 2012 NCAA All-Tournament team. As a sophomore, she led the team in aces and was top-five on the Gophers in attempts, kills and kills per set.
"She's always had a wonderful passion for the sport, and I think she now has a greater understanding of the nuances of it," said Gopher head coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose first year at Minnesota was Santana's freshman season. "She could always hit it hard, no question. But she's really developed control under hand, she can pass really well and she has a great serving attack with great range. I think she's more well-rounded and she has worked well at being good at different aspects of the game."
This four-year journey has taught Santana a lot, admittedly, both on and off the court. She's learned to be independent-to be strong and responsible while being so far away from home. She knows her last season is coming up. While it's bittersweet, she has gained perspective and excitement for what lies ahead.
Santana said she notices how she's developed into a smarter player. She understands those nuances McCutcheon mentioned and she sees the importance of reading the game rather than simply reacting. She's developed a comfort level in taking on more leadership and responsibilities to help push the team to success.
"I just think being more comfortable with myself and trusting myself," Santana said. "The decisions I made on and off the court, it's helped me in life and with my leadership outside of volleyball."
Leading the team in digs as a freshman, Rosado came in with the ability to make an impact. Now, she's working hard to translate her growing level of comfort level in her new home into even more success in 2015. And she's working on the little things that will help take her to that next level.
"Mechanically she's cleaned up a lot," McCutcheon said. "She's very, very talented and has a great feel for the ball. She's done some things that changed the way she goes about executing the fundamentals that are much more consistent in terms of ability and getting to the next level."
Rosado said she feels that confidence boost already as a sophomore. Away from volleyball, she's feeling much more comfortable as well. Adjusting to taking classes took time, particularly since English is her second language. Homework took a bit longer than it might as a native speaker.
And being away from her parents was an adjustment as well.
"I used to do everything with my family," she said. "But I don't have them here. So I have to do things by myself, which helped me grow as a person."
What both also came to realize very quickly is the bond they share because of their long history playing together and the friendship that continued to grow.
When Rosado arrived on campus, the two began spending more time together. That led to the decision to become roommates in this final season together on the team.
The one thing that formed this bond more than anything was the fact that they'd taken similar paths to get here. It's something unique to them that no one else - regardless how close - can fully appreciate.
"We have friends, we have teammates, we have coaches - but it's not the same," Santana said. "It's not the same as family. So in those moments, we look for each other. Just to help each other not feel like there is something missing. We fill that spot for each other."
"I feel the same way," Rosado said.
Taking the Gophers to the Next Level
The Gophers finished the 2014 season with a 19-12 record, including a 9-11 conference mark, and missed the NCAA tournament. It was an admittedly frustrating result, but one that perhaps provided the team a new understanding of what needs to transpire to compete among the nation's elite.
So the 2015 season essentially started the day after the 2014 season ended. There was a reflection period, one that yielded new goals, understanding of needed individual growth and an overall refreshed focus. Each day, the team agreed, it would get one percent better.
"We know what needs to be done," Santana said.
"These are the steps. These are the things we need to follow. We're not moving on until we fix that or improve that."
It has been a spring and summer filled with trying to go one extra step in order to improve by that one percent. It has been early morning runs, extra film sessions, attention to detail and focusing on one thing at a time. Santana and Rosado have used this time to help keep one another focused and accountable at every workout. As teammates, roommates and close friends, they watch out for what each other is doing and make sure each day's workout and practice yields the necessary results.
McCutcheon has watched his team's focus throughout the spring and said these incremental improvements are certainly noticeable.
"Our athletes have developed a capacity for hard work, and I think before they understood the words but didn't understand the actions that would commiserate with championship behaviors," McCutcheon said. "Being in the toughest league in the country, you have to bring it every night. They made the decision on who they were going to be and the commitment they were going to have toward improvement."
That drive for success in their final season together is one more special bond that Santana and Rosado share in their friendship. Being able to take the Gophers back to the NCAA tournament is a goal both feel great responsibility to help bring to fruition. They'll do it one step at a time, getting better one percent each day. They'll do it through long practices and cooking sessions and time away from the court.
They'll do it together as friends - really, as family.
"It's not only knowing we're close - that's not enough," Santana said. "It's not just that we're teammates or we're from Puerto Rico - that's not enough. Just being aware of our connection, if that makes sense. I don't know how to explain it. Just being aware of what we have makes us really close."
Sometimes, being unable to explain a connection is enough.
"We don't have to show anyone," Rosado said. "We know."
