AVCA Recognizes 353 Teams for Academic Excellence

MMA One of Only 62 Division III Teams Recognized

Total smashes the previous record of 308 schools set in 2006-07.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (7/29/08) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that a record 353 teams earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2007-2008 season. The number smashes the previous high mark of 308 schools set a year ago.

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.

"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.

In total, 212 collegiate programs met the requirements for the award in 2007-08. In addition to the NCAA Division I & Division III recipients, a total of 39 NCAA Division II schools bested its previous high mark of 31.

The NAIA had 22 of its member schools achieve the honor this year, its third-highest total in the award’s history. Fifteen (15) schools in the two-year college category attained the mark, the highest ever in that division, while the NCCAA produced two recipients.

The NCAA men’s programs produced multiple recipients of the award for only the second time, as three institutions earned the award for the second consecutive year. A total of 141 high school boys’ and girls’ programs – 13 boys’ teams and 128 girls’ teams – earned the award in 2007-08.

Over 900 different schools have earned the award in the program’s 16-year history, and over 2,800 awards have been given out. Only two institutions, both high schools, have earned the distinction all 16 years: Jonesboro High School (Jonesboro, Arkansas) and Ross S. Sterling High School (Baytown, Texas).

BREAKDOWN BY CLASSIFICATION
Division Number of recipients
NCAA Division I Women 70
NCAA Division II Women 39
NCAA Division III Women 62
NCAA Men 3
NAIA Women 21
NCCAA Women 2
Two-Year College Women 15
High School Girls 128
High School Boys 13

AVCA TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD NOTES

STREAKING TEAMS
• Indiana State University earned the honor for the tenth consecutive year, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I, and the longest streak in that division since the inception of the award.
• Drury University earned the award for the twelfth consecutive season, the longest active streak in NCAA Division II, and now the longest in that division since the inception of the award. Augustana College (S.D.), earned the award 11 consecutive times from 1992-93 to 2002-03.
• Central College (Iowa) 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.
• College of St. Mary (Neb.) holds the longest overall NAIA streak, now at 14.
• The longest Two-Year College streak still belongs to Phoenix College, with six consecutive from 1999-2000 through 2004-05.

OVERALL HONORS
• University of Nebraska earned its thirteenth overall AVCA Team Academic Award in 2007-08, the most ever in NCAA Division I.
• Drury’s and Augustana’s twelve overall honors are tied for the highest NCAA Division II total awards mark.
• In NCAA Division III, Kalamazoo College earned its eleventh overall Team Academic Award in 2007-08, giving them the most in that division.
• St. Mary’s streak of 14 straight is not only the longest number earned consecutive by an NAIA institution, but also the most earned overall.
• Phoenix College and Southwest Community College in Iowa hold the most AVCA Team
Academic Awards earned by two-year institutions with eight.
• Vassar College’s men’s program earned the award for the third time, the most overall for a collegiate men’s program.
• Jonesboro High School and Ross S. Sterling High School’s girls’ teams have earned the award all 16 years of the program’s existence, the longest for any high school programs.

FIRST-TIMERS
There were 82 first-time recipients of the AVCA Team Academic Award in 2007-08. NCAA Division I had 15 and NCAA Division II saw 13 new teams achieve the honor, while NCAA Division III welcomed eight newcomers. Three NAIA teams and eight Two-Year colleges received the distinction for the first time, while 35 high school teams (30 girls’ teams and five boys’ teams) received their first AVCA Team Academic Award.

TOTAL RECIPIENT HISTORY
2007-08: 353
2006-07: 308
2005-06: 287
2004-05: 276
2003-04: 305
2002-03: 205
2001-02: 178
2000-01: 130
1999-2000: 140
1998-99: 149
1997-98: 132
1996-97: 134
1995-96: 116
1994-95: 83
1993-94: 98
1992-93: 62

MISCELLANEOUS
• In its 16-year history, the AVCA Team Academic Award has been earned by: 157 NCAA Division I programs (men and women); 97 NCAA Division II schools; 147 NCAA Division III schools (men and women); 78 NAIA schools; 2 NCCAA schools; 33 Two-Year Colleges; and over 500 high school girls’ and boys’ teams.

• Historically, nine teams have 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.

Those teams are:
o Two-year Colleges – Iowa Western Community College (NJCAA Div. I) in 2006-07.
o NAIA – Dickinson State University (N.D.) in 2000-01 and then-NAIA University of Puget
Sound (Wash.) in 1993-94.
o NCAA Division III – Central College (Iowa) in 2000-01 and Washington University in St.
Louis in 2007-08
o NCAA Division II – Barry University in 1995-96 and Concordia University-St. Paul in
2007-08.
o NCAA Division I - Stanford University in 2001-02 and University of Nebraska in 2006-07.

• 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.

NCAA Division III Women (62 teams)

Adrian College
Albion College
Allegheny College
Alma College
Bethel University
Bluffton University
Bowdoin College
Bryn Mawr College
Carleton College
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Central College
Chapman University
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
College of St. Catherine
Colorado College
Concordia University Wisconsin
Cornell College
Eastern University
Edgewood College
Elizabethtown College
Elmhurst College
Gallaudet University
Gustavus Adolphus College
Heidelberg College
Huntingdon College
Kalamazoo College
Lakeland College
Lincoln Christian College
Macalester College
Maine Maritime Academy
Marietta College
Messiah College
Middlebury College
MIT
Mount Holyoke College
Muhlenberg College
Nebraska Wesleyan University
New York University
Piedmont College
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges

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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