BATON ROUGE — Safety Craig Steltz and libero Elena Martinez were named the LSU Male and Female Athletes of the Week on Wednesday following a vote by a local media panel.
Steltz recorded five tackles and two interceptions in the Tigers’ 41-24 win over Ole Miss Saturday. His first interception ended an Ole Miss drive in the end zone just before the first half expired. The second, which was returned 42 yards to the Ole Miss 35-yard line, halted another Ole Miss drive in LSU territory and set up the score that would put the game out of reach for the Rebels.
Steltz now leads the team in interceptions (6) and tackles (73) this season. His six picks also top the conference standings this year.
Martinez, a libero from New Orleans, guided the Tigers to a pair of wins over Georgia and Auburn last week as LSU clinched the outright SEC Western Division championship with the victories.
Individually, Martinez broke a 21-year old SEC record for digs in a season, accumulating 44 on the weekend to improve to 680 for the year. She now needs just 34 more digs to move into the NCAA’s all-time top 20 in the category.
In addition, Martinez led the LSU to its second-best hitting percentage of the season with a .343 mark versus Auburn. She also recorded an impressive .963 receiving percentage, recording just two reception errors in 54 attempts.