July 29, 2008
(release courtesy of American Volleyball Coaches Association)

LEXINGTON, Ky. . . The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that three Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) schools are part of a record 353 teams to receive the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2007-2008 season. The number smashes the previous high mark of 308 schools set a year ago.

Central College, Cornell College, and Wartburg College were each honored with the award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year and honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

"This result is just phenomenal!" said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Look at this in context: We have coaches representing about 3,000 different academic institutions. Of that total, 353, or nearly 12%, coach teams with a grade point average of 3.3 or better! How can you not be proud of that?"

NCAA Division I broke its own record for number of collegiate schools at any division receiving the award, as 70 of those institutions were honored this year, surpassing the mark of 56 set a year ago. NCAA Division III also surpassed the previous collegiate record, as well as its own division-high, as 62 of those schools attained the mark.

Of note, Central and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse earned their eighth consecutive AVCA Team Academic Award, the longest active streak in NCAA Division III, tying that division’s highest mark set by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1995-96 to 2002-03.

Coaches nominating teams had to be AVCA members. To commemorate the designation of AVCA Team Academic award winner, each school will receive a plaque and each player a certificate.

About AVCA
The AVCA, with its headquarters in Lexington, Ky., is managed by IMG Associations. The mission of the AVCA is to develop and grow the sport of volleyball; with a membership of over 4,500 and counting, the AVCA provides a professional network for those individuals and companies dedicated to enhancing and developing the sport. Members are comprised of national and international coaches, collegiate, high school, club, youth and Olympic coaches, as well as club directors. Other members include former players, officials, media members and other friends of volleyball. As a group, the AVCA is committed to the development, growth, advancement and publicity of volleyball throughout the world. Further information is available at www.avca.org.

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