July
23, 2009
(release courtesy of the American Volleyball Coaches Association)
LEXINGTON,
KY. .
. . The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
announced today that 410 teams, including squads from four Iowa
Conference institutions, have earned the AVCA Team Academic
Award for the 2008-2009 season. This number once again eclipses
the previous years' total of 354 and sets a new all-time high
for this award.
Central
College was honored for the a record ninth straight
year and a tenth time overall. Central and Wis.-La Crosse share
the longest active streak in the NCAA Division III, breaking
the all-time mark of eight straight years set by Wis.-Eau Claire
(1995-2002).
Cornell
College has earned the honor for the sixth consecutive
season. Wartburg College is a recipient for
the third consecutive season and Simpson College
returns to the honors list for the first time since 2005-06.
The
award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, 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.
Kalamzoo
(Mich.) is the all-time selection leader, earning the team academic
award 11 times.
"Each
year I'm impressed all over again by the academic prowess of
volleyball players," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy
DeBoer. "Total AVCA Team Academic Award winners
increased this year by another 55 schools (15%) over last year's
record, and, even more impressive,
22% of our four-year college teams had grade point averages
of 3.2 or better."
NCAA
Division I once again had 71 schools receiving the award for
academic achievements. NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III
surpassed their marks from last year with 46 and 77 schools,
respectively.
The
NCAA men's programs produced multiple recipients of the award
this year, with two Division I schools and another two Division
III schools earning the award. A total of 165 high school boys'
and girls' programs - 17 boys' teams and 148 girls' teams -
earned the award in 2008-09.
Over
900 different schools have earned the award in the program's
17-year history, and over 2,800 awards have been given out.
Only two institutions, both high schools, have earned the distinction
all 17 years: Jonesboro High School (Jonesboro, Arkansas) and
Ross S. Sterling High School (Baytown, Texas).
2008-2009
AVCA Team Academic Award Release
List
of 2008-2009 AVCA Team Academic Award Recipients
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