Tori Dixon, Mitch Leidner honored with Big Ten awards

Weekly Big Ten awards are becoming the norm for Minnesota volleyball’s Tori Dixon. For a redshirt freshman quarterback making his first career start, Mitch Leidner is new to the accolades. Both student athletes received weekly awards from the conference on Monday.

Dixon, a senior middle blocker for the Golden Gophers volleyball club, was named the Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Minnesota closed out the past weekend with a four match sweep of the Dartmouth Duels in Hanover, N.H. Dixon was a standout on the court throughout the weekend and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team after playing in three of four matches.

On the football gridiron, Leidner claimed the first Big Ten weekly award of his career, following a 151 yard, four touchdown performance  in Minnesota’s win over San Jose State on Saturday. The Freshmen of the Week winner tied the Minnesota football record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single game.

Outside of the conference, Leidner received another weekly award, this time from CBS Sports. The national recognition for his performance against the Spartans garnered him Rookie of the Week honors to add to his newly constructed trophy case.

The combination of the seasoned Dixon and the green Leidner has Minnesota athletics primed for national exposure in Dinkytown. Both athletes and their respective teams open conference play this week. The volleyball team hosts Indiana on Wednesday at the Sports Pavilion at 6:30 p.m. The football program will take on rival Iowa at TCF Bank Stadium at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in front of a sellout Homecoming crowd.

In Other News…

• The University of Minnesota men’s hockey team was ranked No. 5 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason college hockey poll. The Gophers are the second highest ranked Big Ten team behind No. 3 Wisconsin. Michigan was the only other conference opponent to crack the Top 15, coming in at No. 10.

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