Maragda Santillana

Arkansas

Sep 12 (Fri)

6 PM

Position:
Outside Hitter
Height:
6-4
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Barcelona, Spain
High School:
Ses Joaquim Blume

As a Junior in 2004...

Maragda Santillana started the first 19 matches of the 2004 season for Colorado, but a shoulder injury sidelined her for the final nine matches. She ranked sixth in the Big 12 Conference in overall kills per game as a junior (4.17 kpg) and seventh in league-only matches (4.21 kpg). Santillana had a team season-high 27 kills against North Carolina on Sept. 11. She added 22 kills against Oklahoma marking her seventh 20-plus kill performance. Santillana ranks 20th on CU's all-time kills list with 786. She is also tied with Rachel Wacholder for 22nd on CU’s all-time blocks with 156. Santillana was named to the Colorado Invitational All-Tournament team.

As a Sophomore in 2003...

Perhaps no one player mirrored CU’s second-half surge last season more than Santillana. Over the final 14 matches of 2003, Santillana led the Buffs in kills nine times and recorded double digits in kills in 15 of her final 17 matches. She started 25 of 30 matches, missing only the Baylor contest (11/5) with an injury. She finished the season as CU’s leader in kills on a per game basis (3.41) and was fourth in attacks (778) and sixth in digs (1.74 dpg). Santillana ranked eighth in the Big 12 Conference in kills (3.72 kpg) and ninth in points (4.36) during league only matches. She had 53 total blocks as a sophomore including a team-high 24 solo blocks. At home against Kansaas (10/24), Santillana established career-highs with 24 kills, 62 attacks and 28.5 points. She had three of CU’s five 20-kill matches in 2003, all of which came during a three-week span in October-November.

As a Freshman in 2002...

Steady improvement throughout her first campaign saw Santillana go from competing for playing time to one of the go-to players by the end of the season. She played in 28 of the 30 matches, starting 14, and in 83 of the 111 games. Santillana recorded double-figures in kills seven times, and the Buffs were 6-1 in those matches. She was especially effective in the state of Texas. She recorded 18 kills in a four game win at Texas Tech (10/19) and her season high of 19 came as the Buffs defeated Texas in Austin (11/5). She led the Buffs in blocks three times and digs, service aces and attack percentage once. Her seven blocks in that same Texas Tech match marked her season high and she became just the 12th freshman in CU history to record that many. She had five or more blocks on three other occasions and also produced 10 or more points nine times and 20 or more twice.

High School...

Santillana attended Ses Joaquim Blume secondary school in Barcelona, Spain, from 1996-99 and played volleyball all four years under head coach Gerard Moras. J. Blume is considered a high performance center, and it’s a very selective boarding school that encourages the development of young athletes. J. Blume was first in their conference all four years Santillana was there and she was the volleyball team’s MVP her final three seasons. She was given the award for the best athlete in the entire school following the 1999 season. She has played on the International level with the Spanish Junior National team for several years, and that team won the European Championships in 1998. After her time at J. Blume, she played for Damesa, an amateur team in Burgos, Spain, in the Superliga female volleyball league. She started on the second team, but worked her way up quickly to the first team, playing with much older and more experienced players. That’s when she realized she didn’t want to miss out on her education, so she decided to start looking at schools in the United States. In her two years with Burgos, the team finished third in the Spanish first division in 2000 and 2001, they finished eighth in the club team’s European Championships. The best moment of her career was when she was given her first Spanish National Team jersey with her name on it and when the Spanish National Anthem was played in Croatia during the 1998 European Championships.

Personal...

Maragda Santillana Cros was born Oct. 4, 1981, in Sant Feliu de Guixlos, Girona, Spain. Her parents are Luis M. Santillana and Montse Cros. She has three older siblings, Genis, 28, Barbara, 26, and Davinia, 24, and one younger sister, Eva, 3. Her father was considered one of the best European basketball centers of all time and played in three Olympic Games and many World and European Championships. Her brother, Genis, who helped advise her in selecting a college, played basketball for Florida State and went on to play basketball at Cameron University where he received his MBA. He has signed to play professionally in Europe. She chose Colorado because “I really like Pi’i, the girls on the team, the people, the staff, the area, the school ... everything about CU.” She is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan and working very hard to become so in French and English.

Academics...

Santillana is enrolled in Colorado’s School of Business as a finance major. She deferred enrollment from 2001 until the Spring of 2002 and registered a perfect 4.0 GPA her first semester, becoming just the fifth Buff in CU history to record a 4.0 in a semester. That put her on the Dean’s list and she was also a member of the Big 12 Commissioners Honor Roll for that semester.

Overall	MP-S	GP	K	E	TA	Pct.	KPG	Asst.	APG
2002-Fr.	28-14	83	177	86	444	.205	2.13	19	0.23
2003-So.	30-25	95	324	167	778	.202	3.41	14	0.15
2004-Jr.	19-19	66	275	96	650	.275	4.17	17	0.26
Totals	77-58	244	786	349	1872	.233	3.22	50	0.20

Overall	SA	Dig	DPG	BS	BA	TB	BPG	Pts.
2002-Fr.	1	53	0.64	12	53	65	0.78	216.5
2003-So.	19	165	1.74	24	29	53	0.56	381.5
2004-Jr.	0	128	1.94	13	25	38	0.58	300.5
Totals	20	346	1.42	49	107	156	0.64	898.5