SVM SportShorts for Wednesday, Jan. 10: Oregon softball’s Dannhorn to compete at “The Cup” in the Netherlands

Oregon softball player to compete overseas

Oregon High School junior Ella Dannhorn has been selected to play in “The Cup,” an international indoor fast pitch softball tournament in the Netherlands from January 10 to 17, according to a news release Tuesday from the Oregon Community Unit School District.

Dannhorn will represent the United States overseas, competing against top high school athletes from around the world.

“The Cup,” which has a 25-year history in the Netherlands, will feature teams from several countries, including the Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Lexi Rodriguez named academic All-American

Sterling native and Nebraska junior libero Lexi Rodriguez has been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team.

Rodriguez, who carries a 3.65 GPA and is majoring in advertising and public relations, was one of seven student-athletes chosen for the first team. She was a third-team selection last year.

Rodriguez is the first Nebraska volleyball player to earn multiple Academic All-America honors since Kori Cooper in 2008-09 and the first Cornhusker to earn first-team honors since Kadie Rolfzen in 2016.

On the volleyball court, Rodriguez earned a first-team AVCA All-American selection playing for the 2023 NCAA Division I second-place Cornhuskers. This year marked her third in a row as an All-American honoree.

Rodriguez also was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second time, joining elite company as only the fifth player in the conference’s history to achieve that feat twice in a career.

Overall, Nebraska claimed 41 Academic All-American awards this year, the most of any volleyball program in NCAA history.