Dani Mendez

Position:
F/M
Height:
5-9
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Reisterstown, Md.
High School:
Garrison Forest
Prev School:
Virginia

2025 / SENIOR
• Started all 23 games for the Tar Heels.
• Scored 15 goals and provided 16 assists, one of only two players in the ACC to record double digits in both categories alongside teammate Ryleigh Heck.
• Named to the NFHCA All-America second team.
• Earned first team All-South Region honors for the third time in her career.
• Named the ACC Tournament MVP thanks to four goals and an assist on the week, including the game winner in the final against Virginia. Also on the All-ACC Tournament team.
• Selected for the All-ACC second team.
• Wasted no time making her impact in Carolina blue, scoring a point in each of her first seven games.
• Won both the ACC and NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week award for an impressive weekend against Penn (9/05) and No. 10 Princeton (9/07) that saw her score and provide two assists in road wins for the Tar Heels.
• Recorded multi-goal games on four occasions.
• Helped the team to the ACC’s top and the nation’s third best scoring average (3.74 goals per game).

AT VIRGINIA (2022-24)
• Played 57 games for the Cavaliers, earning 47 starts.
• Scored 66 points on 25 goals and 16 assists.
• Named an NFHCA Third-Team All-American in 2022, the sixth UVA freshman to earn the distinction.
• Two-time All-ACC selection, named first team in 2022 and second team in 2023.
• Two-time NFHCA All-Region first team honoree.
• Claimed a pair of ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors, once in 2022 and another in 2024.
• Led the team in goals (9) and points (27) in 2023.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
• Won gold with the US U21 Junior National Team at the 2023 Junior Pan American Championship, helping the team qualify for the Junior World Championships (4/18).
• Took silver at the 2024 Junior Pan American Championship in British Columbia, helping the US U21 team qualify for the 2025 Junior World Cup (7/13/24)
• Member of the US U21 Team competing at the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile (12/11/23).

HIGH SCHOOL
• 2021 NFHCA First Team High School All-American.
• 2021 MAX Field Hockey First Team High School All-American.
• 2021 All-Metropolitan Player of the Year.
• Two-time Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland All-conference “A”, All-Metropolitan, and All-Region.
• Former member of the USA U-16 Junior National Team.

PERSONAL
• Daughter of Aileen Mendez and Pedro Mendez-Tellez.
• Has one older brother, Antonio.
• Mother played field hockey at Iowa, winning a national title in 1986.