Lexi Rodriguez
{{Short description|American volleyball player (born 2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox volleyball biography
| name = Lexi Rodriguez
| image =
| caption =
| full_name =
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2003|03|11}}
| birth_place =
| hometown = Sterling, Illinois, U.S.
| height = 5 ft 5 in
| spike =
| block =
| college = Nebraska Cornhuskers (2021–2024)
| position = Libero
| currentclub = LOVB Omaha
| years1 = 2025–
| team1 = LOVB Omaha
| updated =
| nationalyears1 = 2019–
| nationalteam1 = {{USA}}
| medaltemplates-title = Medal record
| medaltemplates-expand = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Sport|Women's volleyball}}
{{Medal|Country|{{USA}}}}
{{Medal|Competition|FIVB Girls' U19 World Championship}}
{{Medal|Gold|2019 Egypt|Team}}
}}
Lexi Rodriguez (born March 11, 2003) is an American professional volleyball libero for LOVB Omaha of LOVB Pro. She played college volleyball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, where she holds the program record for career digs. She was named AVCA All-American four times and Big Ten Defensive Player or Libero of the Year three times.
Early life
Rodriguez was raised in Sterling, Illinois, the younger of two daughters born to Chris and Crystal Rodriguez. Her sister, Kaylee Martin, played college volleyball at Illinois State and Clemson. She attended Sterling High School, where she led the volleyball team to two Illinois state titles and set the school record for career digs. She was named the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year in her junior season. She played club volleyball for Sports Performance Volleyball and Club Fusion Volleyball, winning three national titles. She was ranked by PrepVolleyball.com as the tenth-best recruit and top libero of the 2021 class.{{cite web|url=https://huskers.com/sports/volleyball/roster/player/lexi-rodriguez|title=Lexi Rodriguez|publisher=Nebraska Cornhuskers|access-date=2024-12-21}}
College career
Rodriguez made a career-high 4.33 digs per set as a freshman with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. She helped Nebraska go 26–8 as they made the 2021 national championship game, where they lost 3–2 to Wisconsin. Rodriguez became the first libero to be named AVCA National Freshman of the Year.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/nebraska-volleyball-s-journey-to-a-2021-runner-up-finish/article_4798d4d4-61e5-11ec-8e1c-0797fd7f76e4.html|title=Nebraska volleyball's journey to a 2021 runner-up finish|date=2021-12-21|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|last=Codo|first=Thomas|access-date=2024-12-21}} In her sophomore season, made 4.26 digs per set and helped Nebraska keep opponents to a nation-low 0.128 hitting percentage. Nebraska went 26–6 in the 2022 season, reaching the NCAA tournament regional semifinals.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/husker-volleyball-s-season-comes-to-an-end-in-the-regional-semifinal/article_db95a6e8-7739-11ed-b881-77d386f2568f.html|title=Husker volleyball's season comes to an end in the Regional semifinal|last=Person|first=Sarah|date=2022-12-08|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|access-date=2024-12-21}} Rodriguez made 3.60 digs and a career-high 1.24 assists per set in her junior season. She led Nebraska to go 33–2, secure their first Big Ten title in six years, and make the 2023 national title game, where they lost 3–0 to defending champions Texas.{{cite news|url=https://www.klkntv.com/texas-takes-down-no-1-nebraska-in-ncaa-volleyball-championship-game/|title=Texas takes down No. 1 Nebraska in NCAA volleyball championship game|last=McCarty|first=Joseph|date=2023-12-17|publisher=KLKN|access-date=2024-12-21}} She made 3.88 digs per set in her senior season as Nebraska went 33–3. In her final game, she passed Justine Wong-Orantes's program career digs record (finishing with 1,897) as Nebraska was reverse swept by Penn State in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/three-takeaways-and-a-question-from-nebraska-volleyball-s-crushing-loss-to-penn-state/article_f947c27c-be9d-11ef-9c01-5b723ee22237.html|title=Three takeaways and a question from Nebraska volleyball’s crushing loss to Penn State|last=King|first=Cameron|date=2024-12-20|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|access-date=2024-12-21}} Highly decorated throughout her college career, Rodriguez was named three-time first-team All-American (and once second-team All-American), four-time first-team All-Big Ten, two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and one-time Big Ten Libero of the Year.{{cite web|url=https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/lexi-rodriguez-is-an-all-american-for-the-fourth-time-in-her-career/|title=Lexi Rodriguez is an All-American for the fourth time in her career|last=Bonderson|first=Aaron|date=2024-12-18|publisher=Nebraska Public Media|access-date=2024-12-19}}{{cite web|url=https://bigten.org/wvb/article/bltc1e7bc961f4e09eb/|title=Big Ten Announces 2024 Volleyball Postseason Honors|date=2024-12-04|publisher=Big Ten Conference|access-date=2024-12-19}}
Professional career
Two days after her last game for Nebraska, Rodriguez signed with LOVB Omaha ahead of LOVB Pro's inaugural 2025 season.{{cite news|url=https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/volleyball/nebraska-volleyball-libero-lexi-rodriguez-signs-with-lovbs-omaha-team/article_ccadfe7b-54d9-5469-9f6a-df885847d10b.html|title=Nebraska volleyball libero Lexi Rodriguez signs with LOVB's Omaha team|last=Patterson|first=Mike|date=2024-12-21|newspaper=Omaha World-Herald|access-date=2024-12-21}}
International career
Rodriguez played for the United States youth national team since the under-18 level. She helped win the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship and placed fifth at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship.
Awards
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://huskers.com/sports/volleyball/roster/player/lexi-rodriguez Lexi Rodriguez] at Nebraska Cornhuskers
- [https://www.lovb.com/teams/lovb-omaha-volleyball/athletes/lexi-rodriguez Lexi Rodriguez] at League One Volleyball
- {{Instagram}}
{{Sullivan Award winners}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Lexi}}
Category:American women's volleyball players
Category:Sportspeople from Lake Worth Beach, Florida
Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball players