University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Volleyball Team Awarded for Academic Excellence
8/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 2, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball program was awarded its second straight team award for excellence in the classroom for being one of 94 NCAA Division I women's programs earning the 2009-10 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award.
First instituted in 1992, the award is bestowed upon collegiate and high school volleyball programs that maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.30 for the academic year. East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, Tulane and UCF were the other C-USA's award recipients.
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.
