Crystal Lake Central Graduate Cori Cooper Named Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week

LAKE FOREST, IL (11/02/2011)(readMedia)-- Crystal Lake native and Lake Forest College volleyball player Cori Cooper (Crystal Lake Central) earned her second consecutive Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week on Tuesday after helping the Foresters win two of four matches and clinch a spot in next weekend's MWC Tournament.

Cooper, a junior outside hitter, began the week by pounding out a match-high 20 kills and adding 13 digs and a pair of aces in a four-set loss at Carroll University Wednesday night.

Lake Forest fell in five sets against conference champion St. Norbert College Friday night and Cooper finished the match with 19 kills, 13 digs, an ace and four blocks.

The Foresters defeated visiting Lawrence University in three sets on Saturday to secure a spot in the four-team conference tournament. Cooper led all players in the contest with 18 digs and added 11 digs.

Finally, in a four-set win over Alverno College later Saturday afternoon, Cooper recorded five first-set kills to reach 1,000 for her career. She became the seventh player in team history to achieve the milestone and the third to accomplish the feat as a junior.

Cooper leads the conference with 372 kills on the season. She also has 224 digs, leaving her less than 100 away from surpassing 1,000 in that career category as well. In addition, she has ranks second on the team with 29 aces and tied-for-fourth with 25 blocks.

Midwest Conference Performers of the Week are selected by the league's sports information director. In addition to earning the award last week, she also received it once each of the last two seasons.