Tori Dixon earns second straight Big Ten volleyball award

Already two weeks into the Big Ten volleyball season, it’s become apparent that Tori Dixon will need a bigger trophy case by the end of the year. Dixon, a senior middle blocker for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team, earned her second straight weekly conference award on Monday.

Dixon was named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week after her performance in the Diet Coke Classic over the weekend. The No. 4 ranked Gophers swept the three matches they played at the Sports Pavillion. The Burnsville, Minn. native helped lead her team to straight set victories in all three contests.

The 6-foot-3 superstar posted a .574 hitting percentage with 44 kills, 15 blocks, nine digs, and four aces on her way to tournament MVP honors. She accounted for 56.0 total points in the matches against Ball State, Duke, and Western Illinois — which was good for 25 percent of Minnesota’s total scoring.

Dixon was named Big Ten Player of the Week after a 4-0 start to the season and an unblemished set record in the UAB/Samford Tournament a week ago. This was the fourth Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Award in her career for the Maroon and Gold.

She will help lead the team on the road this weekend in Lexington, Ky. to play in the Bluegrass Battle against Louisville on Friday and No. 19 Kentucky on Saturday.

In Other News…

• Former members of last season’s Gophers men’s hockey team made it onto some top prospect lists. Nick Bjugstad came in at No. 43 on Corey Pronman’s list of the Top 100 NHL Prospects for 2013-14 via ESPN Insider. In addition, the MVP of last season’s squad, Nate Schmidt, came in at No. 6 overall on the 2013 Top 10 Prospects list for the Washington Capitals.
• On the other side of the spectrum, former Gophers defenseman Mark Alt suffered a concussion Monday in a rookie game between Schmidt’s Capitals and Alt’s Philadelphia Flyers.  The St. Paul native was hit in the back of his head on the boards while playing the puck. He did not return to the game and will hopefully not have any long-term setbacks from the injury.

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