LEXINGTON, Ky. - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that 450 teams have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2009-2010 season. This number once again smashes the previous years' total of 409 and sets a new all-time high for this award. For the first time in program history the Ottawa University volleyball team has earned the award. OU is one of three three KCAC schools to earn the award.
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.
"There is no better way to gauge the success of a sport than to track the accomplishments of the people who participate," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Each of these 450 teams represents 12-15 really smart kids. What a great day for the sport of volleyball!"
The Team Academic Award has become one of the AVCA's fastest growing awards programs, seeing an impressive surge in teams honored over the past several years. The program has increased by over 300% in the last 10 years and by 79% in the past three years alone. Both NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II recorded their highest-ever total numbers of recipients, with the former honoring 94 programs and the latter honoring 55 programs. The high school division also set a new bar with its 179 honorees.
Prior to 2009-10, only nine teams had attained the pinnacle of volleyball success in both earning the AVCA Team Academic Award and winning their respective collegiate national championship in the same academic year. This year, the AVCA is proud to recognize four programs -- Concordia University-St. Paul (NCAA Division II), Washington University in St. Louis (NCAA Division III), Clearwater Christian College (NCCAA Division II) and Stanford University (NCAA Division I-II men) - all of whom excelled both in the classroom and on the court. Concordia-St. Paul and Washington-St. Louis had both accomplished this feat once before, ironically both in the same academic year (2007-08).
There were 119 first-time recipients of the AVCA Team Academic Award in 2009-10. NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II each saw 15 new teams achieve the honor, while NCAA Division III welcomed 17 newcomers. Thirteen NAIA teams, two NCCAA teams and two Two-Year Colleges garnered recognition for the first time, while 55 high school teams (51 girls' teams and four boys' teams) received their first AVCA Team Academic nod.
NAIA (34)
Ashford University (Clinton, IA)
Bellevue University (Bellevue, NE)
Bethany College (Lindsborg, KS)
Biola University (La Mirada, CA)
Briar Cliff University (Sioux City, IA)
Bryan College (Dayton, TN)
California Baptist University (Riverside, CA)
Carroll College (Helena, MT)
Cedarville University (Cedarville, OH)
Clarke College (Dubuque, IA)
Concordia University (Seward, NE)
Culver-Stockton College (Canton, MO)
Doane College (Crete, NE)
Eastern Oregon University (La Grande, OR)
University of Great Falls (Great Falls, MT)
Hastings College (Hastings, NE)
Indiana Institute of Technology (Fort Wayne, IN)
Indiana Wesleyan University (Marion, IN)
Kansas Wesleyan University (Salina, KS)
Lee University (Cleveland, TN)
Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston, ID)
Lubbock Christian University (Lubbock, TX)
McKendree University (Lebanon, IL)
Mount Marty College (Yankton, SD)
University of Northwestern Ohio (Lima, OH)
Ohio Dominican College (Columbus, OH)
Olivet Nazarene University (Bourbonnais, ILL
Ottawa University (Ottawa, KS)
Rocky Mountain College (Billings, MT)
University of Sioux Falls (Sioux Falls, SD)
South Dakota School of Mines (Rapid City, SD)
University of St. Francis (Joliet, IL)
Taylor University (Upland, IN)
Valley City State University (Valley City, ND)
About AVCA
The AVCA, with its headquarters in Lexington, Ky., is managed by IMG Associations, a division of IMG, the world's premier and most diversified sports, entertainment and media company. The mission of the AVCA is to develop and grow the sport of volleyball; with a membership of over 5,000 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.