LEXINGTON, Va. - Six teams from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award honors for their performance in the classroom during the 2011-12 academic year.
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.
"Many coaches tell us they take more pride in and hear more positive feedback about winning the AVCA Team Academic Award than anything else they do all year," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "While it is undeniable that the sport we coach is zero-sum on the scoreboard, it is a tool for empowerment on other fronts. The 533 coaches whose teams won this academic award understand the value of both playing to win and winning through play. A well-deserved congratulations to each team and coach!"
Austin College, Colorado College and Southwestern University were three of the 535 schools from across the country (both women & men) that earned the prestigious distinction. Of the 262 women's teams that were honored from all three of the NCAA's divisions, just over 34 percent (90 total teams) came from the Division III ranks.
Former SCAC members Centre College, Hendrix College and Rhodes College rounded out the league's selections to the AVCA Team Academic Award list.
For the complete list of 2011-12
AVCA Team Academic Award honorees, click here.
