Former Burnsville Standout Tori Dixon Leads Golden Gopher Volleyball Team

Tori Dixon, a 6-foot-3 sophomore middle blocker from Burnsville, has helped the Minnesota volleyball team get off to a fast start this season. The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 9 in the country, heading into Big Ten play this weekend.

Dixon has helped lead the Gophers to a 7-2 mark, going into this weekend when they will face No. 3 and undefeated Illinois on Friday and Northwestern on Sunday at home.

Dixon and her teammates have had to adjust to a change in the coaching staff this season. Long-time head coach Mike Hebert retired after leading the Gophers to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and interim head coach Laura Bush is coaching the team this season. Hugh McCutheon, the U.S. Olympic Women’s Volley Coach, will take over for the 2012 season after the London Olympics.

Dixon was an immediate starter for the Gophers and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. She was a top recruit coming out of Burnsville, where she led the Blaze to a 21-9 overall record and a No. 2 seed in the Class AAA State Tournament, where it finished in third place. Dixon was named to Class AAA All-Tournament team and to the Star Tribune All-Metro team. Dixon was ranked No. 13 on prepvolleyball.com's top seniors in the nation.

Patch.com recently caught up his Dixon to learn more about her expectations for this season and memories of her high school career.

You are off to a great start. You have to be pretty pleased with how well you are playing?

“Yes. It has been a real good team effort out there. Everyone did their job and it has really come together out there. What we have been practicing, obviously works. We just have to keep it up.”

You played a very tough schedule against nationally ranked teams like Texas, USC and Oregon. Do you like playing those tougher teams right away to get you battle-tested for conference play and the NCAA Tournament?

“Definitely. I really enjoy playing top teams right away because it gives you an idea of where we are and where we need to go and things we need to work on, because bigger and better teams expose more things than smaller teams do. It is really good to line up and see where you are right away off the bat.”

You had a great first season at Minnesota and were named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, but you are playing even better this year. What are the main things that are different from your freshman season?

“I feel that a change in the coaching staff also has helped in the gym. We emphasize on getting better every single day even if that means a half a percent, one percent better, it is still getting better. We are improving every day on our skills and I think that we have done that since day one, so we just continue to build.”

Is it a point of pride that most of the players on this team are Minnesotans and are representing the state. Is that something you talk about?  

“Kind of. We are really into the team, so it is not that big of a thing, but it is cool to know that our team is from Minnesota and we are representing Minnesota. All the other “foreign” (laughing) players; the people from different states that all come in and they love Minnesota, so it is a really good team feeling going on. I think that it definitely does help that a lot of our girls grown up knowing each other and playing against each other, because it made the transition into college that much easier because you already knew how everyone played and how they acted.”

When you look back at your days at Burnsville, what stands out as some of the top highlights for you?

“It was probably my senior year when our team went to state for the first time in 10-15 years (actually 11). It was definitely big for me. The team really came together back then, just how our team is right now. It was a really big team effort and it was probably the highlight of my senior year in general.”

I know that your schedule is tough, but do you get a chance to go back and watch Burnsville much?

“I haven’t yet, but I plan too. Last year, I made it to one. Hopefully, I’ll make it more than that, but I am definitely trying to get back there.”

You come from a sports-minded family with your dad (David) playing for the Minnesota Vikings. Is that where you picked up your love of sports?

“Kind of. I really like competing. I like winning, a lot. I was really into a lot of different sports (softball and basketball) in high school, competing against anybody. I don’t know if that comes with the genes or something like that.”

How is the non-sports life at the “U’ going?

“It has been really good. It has been really interesting. It is definitely a learning experience academically going from high school to volleyball and the social life is good. It is a really fun campus, so there is always something going on. I have really enjoyed my time here.”

Dixon is hoping to add to that enjoyment with that another deep run in the NCAA Tournament this fall.