COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the second straight week, senior libero Courtney Smith has been awarded for her defensive effort as she earned the adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday.

This is the first time since 1998 that the same Tennessee Tech player has earned back-to-back defensive player of the week awards.

Smith, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, tallied double-digit digs in all three of the Golden Eagles matches this week. In a midweek match with non-conference foe Western Kentucky, Smith corralled a match-high 14 digs. In a 3-1 win over Eastern Illinois, Smith again marked a match-high as she scooped up 32 digs. Against SIU Edwardsville, Smith did it again, accumulating a match-high 29 digs as the Golden Eagle opened up OVC play 2-0 for the first time since 1999.

Smith currently leads the OVC in digs per set on the season at 4.95, while also leading in OVC matches only with 6.78 digs per set.

The adidas® 2014 OVC Players of the Week joining Smith this week outside hitter Jada Stotts from Austin Peay, who earned Offensive Player of the Week, while junior Sam Bedard from Murray State earned Setter of the Week.

The Golden Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Jacksonville State for a 7 p.m. CT mid-week match-up.