LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that 973 teams have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2017-2018 season. This number breaks the previous year's total of 835 to set an all-time high. The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) landed six of the 128 NCAA Division II programs on the recognition list.
The six (6) GLIAC programs to earn AVCA Team Academic Award are: Ashland University, Davenport University, Ferris State University, Michigan Tech University, Northern Michigan University and Wayne State University. Additionally, both Ashland & Wayne State achieved Top 25 GPA status.
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.
The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but two, while amassing a 619-team increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 973.
