University of Minnesota Athletics
Three with Gopher Ties Set for Competition
1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Team USA Announcement
Team Puerto Rico Article (In Spanish)
Watch The Matches
The University of Minnesota volleyball team will be well represented at the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament, held Jan. 7-9 in Lincoln. Neb. Tori Dixon will play and represent the United States, while Daly Santana and Dalianliz Rosado will represent Puerto Rico. It will be Santana and Rosado's first time playing with the senior national team.
The four-team tournament will feature host USA, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Canada, who will compete for a berth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The competition winners will qualify for next year's Summer Games. The second placed team at the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament will get another chance to win a berth at the Rio 2016 Olympics at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament which will take place in Japan between the periods of May 14 to June 5, 2016.
Daly Santana finished her Golden Gopher career as a First Team All-American by both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine. The Big Ten Player of the Year was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection as a senior. In her final year with the Gophers, Santana held a Big Ten best 4.53 kills per set when she hit.254. Seeing action in all 129 sets for Minnesota, Santana had a team-best 584 kills, 39 aces, and ranked second on the team with 375 digs. She finished her career with 1,644 kills, 1,280 digs and 182 aces, which ranks seventh, ninth and eighth in school history.
Rosado completed her sophomore year with Minnesota in 2015. The Gophers' starting libero in all 35 matches this season, Rosado led the team in digs (539) and second in aces (21). In her sophomore campaign, Rosado was named to the Diet Coke All-Tournament Team and was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week once this past year. Holding a career-high 27 digs against Nebraska (10/23/15) had 10-plus digs in 27 matches this year and eight with 20 or more digs.
Dixon has been on the international scene since she graduated from the Gopher program in 2013 and is currently playing for the Toray Arrows in Japan. As a Golden Gopher, Dixon earned back-to-back AVCA All-America honors, including First Team All-America accolades her senior year. During her Gopher tenure, Dixon was named a three-time All-Big Ten selection, twice as a unanimous pick, while she was also named to the All-Freshman team in 2010.
NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament
Jan. 7-9, 2016 * Lincoln, Neb. (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
USA, Canada, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
Jan. 7
Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico, 5 p.m. CT | Live streamed on usavolleyball.org
USA vs. Canada, 7 p.m. CT | Live streamed on usavolleyball.org
Jan. 8
Canada vs. Dominican Republic, 5 p.m. CT | Live streamed on usavolleyball.org
USA vs. Puerto Rico, 7 p.m. CT | Live streamed on usavolleyball.org
Jan. 9
Canada vs. Puerto Rico, 5 p.m. CT | Live streamed on usavolleyball.org
USA vs. Dominican Republic, 8 p.m. CT | Live on NBC Sports
