BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — LSU middle blocker Brittnee Cooper picked up SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors Monday as announced by the league office. It’s the second career weekly award for Cooper, who earned SEC Player of the Week accolades during the 2007 season.
“Brittnee had an excellent all-around tournament last weekend,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Her blocking stats were outstanding, and she made a significant impact on both sides of the net. This is certainly a nice honor for her to start the season.”
Cooper, a Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament Team selection, headlined LSU’s block party as the Tigers posted 14.17 blocks per match. She notched 1.54 blocks per set, a 0.34 per set improvement after leading the SEC in that category in 2008.
Cooper provided seven blocks against 2008 National Runner-Up and No. 5 Stanford before falling one shy of career-high registering 12 blocks against Denver.
LSU also tripled its vote total in the recent AVCA Top 25 poll released Monday. The Tigers are up to 62 votes and fourth among teams receiving votes.
LSU opens the home portion of its schedule this weekend welcoming No. 6 Nebraska, Louisiana-Lafayette and Tulane to the Maravich Center for the Tiger Classic. The Tigers square off against the Huskers Friday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
AVCA Top 25 ? Week 1 (August 31)
Rank, School (First-Place Votes), Total Points, 2009
Record, Last Week
1. Penn State (53), 1492, 3-0, 1
2. Texas (5), 1429, 2-0, 2
3. Washington (2), 1388, 3-0, 4
4. Hawai’i, 1299, 4-0, 7
5. Florida, 1212, 2-0, 8
6. Nebraska, 1142, 1-1, 3
7. Michigan, 1056, 2-0, 16
8. Illinois, 1036, 2-0, 10
9. UCLA, 993, 2-2, 9
10. California, 921, 2-1, 6
11. Stanford, 904, 2-1, 5
12. Iowa State, 854, 2-0, 13
13. Minnesota, 842, 1-1, 11
14. Oregon, 767, 3-0, 14
15. San Diego, 612, 1-1, 15
16. Southern California, 570, 2-1, 12
17. Utah, 545, 3-0, 17
18. Kentucky, 406, 3-0, 21
19. Saint Louis, 375, 2-1, 20
20. Michigan State, 275, 3-0, NR
21. Pepperdine, 237, 3-0, NR
22. UC Irvine, 204, 3-0, NR
23. Kansas State, 144, 0-2, 22
24. Purdue, 120, 2-1, 19
25. Wichita State, 109, 2-1, 18
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Long Beach State 76; Notre Dame 67; Texas A&M 65; LSU 62; Ohio 58; Arizona 45; Santa Clara 31; Dayton 29; Oklahoma 19; Duke 17; Middle Tennessee 14; Oregon State 12; Tulane 11; Tennessee 10; New Mexico State 7; Baylor 6; Pittsburgh 6; Colorado State 4; Five schools were listed on only one ballot for a total of 15 points.
Dropped Out: Long Beach State (23); Colorado State (24); Santa Clara (25)