Complete AVCA Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A total of four Great Midwest Athletic Conference institutions were recipients of the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Team Academic Award for the 2016-17 school year.
 
Cedarville, Findlay, Ohio Dominican Ohio Valley and Ursuline, all earned the prestigious honor for their student-athletes’ combined work in the classroom.
 
The four Great Midwest schools were part of record-breaking AVCA Team Academic Award numbers across all NCAA Divisions with 822 teams garnering recognition. Last year’s previous total was 764.

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, celebrating its 25th year, is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients have increased every single year but two, while amassing a 532 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 822.

Girls high school led the way with 277 recipients, an increase of 17 over last year. NCAA Division I honored 145 programs, while NCAA Division II notched 119 honorees. Once again, NCAA Division III had the second-most honorees this year with a total of 150 schools, a 10-school increase over last year’s record number.
 
With 2016-2017 marking the 25th anniversary of the award, the AVCA is introducing additional honors to schools that have a minimum Team Academic Award streak of 15 years, and also for schools that scored the highest GPAs in their respective divisions. In order for a school to be awarded as an honor roll recipient, their division had to reach a minimum number of nominations. For NCAA Division I, II, III, and girls high school, their nomination number allows for a top-25 honor roll. For NAIA women, a top-10, with two-year college, collegiate men, collegiate beach, and high school boys garnering a top-5.
 
Over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program's 25-year history, with exactly 8,461 awards been given out in total.