Russ Rose Then (1993): “This will be an important year for Laura. She played exceptionally well for us last year. Her strong performance was the direct result of her commitment and dedication. Her selection to the U.S. Olympic Festival capped off a very exciting year. Now, she needs to become a much bigger part of the offense and take on more responsibility as it relates to the team’s performance. I look for her to be one of our go-to players.”
1993 Season (RS Junor) Highlights and Awards: Academic All-Big Ten for the 3rd time in her career … All-Big Ten team for the 2nd time in her career … Hawaii Classic All-Tournament team … ranked 3rd in the Big Ten in digs/conference set (3.65).
Season Recap: Played in all 36 matches and 120 of 122 sets … totaled 349 kills (3rd on the team) on a team-high 1,023 attacks (.196 hitting %) … second on the team in digs (395) … hit double-figures in kills 16 times and digs 20 times … broke the Penn State record for most digs in a 4-set match by logging 28 against Minnesota (9/24) … had a career-high 27 kills against UCLA (9/9), one shy of Ellen Crandall’s Penn State record for total kills in a 4-set match … totaled 5 blocks vs. West Virginia (9/4).
Before Penn State: Cook lettered in 4 sports at Chesapeake HS and earned 1st-team all-county honors in volleyball and basketball…a setter/hitter, she was selected to compete in an All-Star match in 1989 … was a softball 2nd-team All County pick at shortstop … placed 5th in the state in the shot put her senior year … won the region title in the discus and finished 2nd in the shot… also was a member of the 4x 100-meter relay team … served as captain in volleyball, basketball and softball.
