University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball standout Liz Cook, junior, education, would like to clear up some things about why a certain reporter keeps calling her “superstar” when he refers to her in his stories.
Cook wants you to know that she did not invent that nickname, and she never asked that witty, charming and extremely good-looking reporter to start calling her that.
What actually happened is that reporter happened to be an avid fan and follower of Missouri state high school volleyball. He knew that Cook was considered one of the Kansas City area’s top players when she was in high school, and he liked reminding her of her “superstar” past, especially when she started winning player-of-the-week awards as an outside hitter for the Tritons.
Cook said she finds the nickname amusing, but also said she has received more than a little bit of ribbing from her teammates.
“Yeah, they tease me about it a lot,” Cook said. “But I’m cool with it. We all tease each other about stuff all the time, especially if I play bad. Then, they’re like ‘What?! She’s a superstar?!’”
Cook might get the last laugh though, should she make the GLVC all-conference team again this year.
Last year, she was named to the all-GLVC team after leading UM-St. Louis to its first GLVC West Division title, while also leading the team in almost every hitting category, including kills, kill attempts and hit percentage.
“I was really excited when I heard that,” Cook said. “I felt like it was an honor.”
This season, Cook seems like a shoo-in to make the all-conference team again. Heading into the final week of the regular season, she once again leads UM-St. Louis in hitting with 310 kills and a 2.8 kills per set average.
Both those numbers rank among the very best in the GLVC, and should be more than enough to earn Cook a spot on the all-conference team. But Cook is worthy of all-league recognition for other reasons as well.
She very rarely leaves the court, is the only Triton player that is not part of some type of regular rotation in and out of the lineup, and also happens to be one of the team’s best defensive players, ranking second on the team in digs (250) and fourth in total blocks and solo blocks.
“Liz is just a really consistent, all-conference type player for us,” UM-St. Louis volleyball coach Trent Jones said. “She tries hard every day and gives us a good effort whenever we have a match.”
Jones might be the foremost expert on Liz Cook the player. The two have known each other for a very long time.
Cook played on the same high school team as Jones’s younger sister, and Jones, who is also from the Kansas City area, tried to recruit Cook when he was an assistant coach at Washburn University in nearby Topeka, Kan.
“I knew that as soon as I got here, I could pencil Liz in as a starter and feel comfortable with that,” Jones said. “It was nice having one less thing to worry about, knowing we had a player like Liz on our team.”
For all the “superstar” talk, Cook is actually very critical of her own play this year, and said she probably played better last year.
“I don’t think I’ve played as well as I did last year,” she said. “I don’t really know what to chalk that up to. We’re trying to figure it out. But I have a feeling [the whole team] is going to start playing really good.”
The entire Triton team will need to start playing their “superstar” best real soon, with two difficult opponents, Bellarmine and Northern Kentucky, coming to visit the Mark Twain Building this weekend.
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