Russ Rose Then (1994): “We need Laura to step up offensively this year. She needs to get her health in order as she’ll be coming off her second knee surgery. I think her contributions this year will be directly correlated to how physical she can remain. If she can come back strong and physically able to carry us offensively, then I think we’ll have a really fine season. Laura’s played a major role in the program over the past three years and, hopefully, she’ll be able to do what she needs to do to help the team in 1994.”
1994 Season (Junior) Highlights and Awards: Asics Tiger/Volleyball Magazine All-American Team … First Team All-Big Ten … NCAA Region All-Tournament Team … Big Ten Player of the Week Oct. 17, 1994.
Season Recap: Played in all 35 matches and 115 of 117 sets … led the team with 467 kills (.285 hitting % — 6th in the Big Ten) for a 4.06 kills/set average (7th in the Big Ten) … tallied 437 digs (3.80 digs/set — 2nd in the Big Ten), 36 service aces and 41 total blocks.
NCAA Tournament: NCAA Region All-Tournament Team.
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.
