Sept. 6, 2005

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Freshman setter Laura Côté was tabbed the Conference USA Setter of the Week, as announced by the league office this afternoon. Côté, a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, showcased solid all-around ability on the court and led Memphis to a 4-0 mark and the 2005 O'Charley's Tiger Invitational championship over the weekend. Côté, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, is also the first freshman to capture weekly honors from the conference since Liz Mullen earned C-USA Player of the Week honors in 1995.

A member of the Canadian Junior National team, Côté assumed the starting setter role prior to the O'Charley's Tiger Invitational. She responded by serving up a Memphis record-tying nine aces in the Tigers' 3-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday afternoon. With those nine aces, she added 35 assists and five kills on nine attempts to finish with a .556 attack percentage.

She then hit .400 and .500 in consecutive matches against Alabama A&M and UT-Martin, respectively, to lead Memphis to a title match with Arkansas-Little Rock. It was the title match where Côté excelled, as she recorded her first career double-double (39 assists, 10 digs) and hit .455 with five kills, no errors and a pair of service aces in the U of M's 3-0 win.

For the weekend, the freshman set 151 assists (12.58/g), logged 23 digs and 17 kills and hit .485. In addition, she added 13 service aces and 4.0 total blocks.