University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Beach Volleyball Earns 2021-22 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award
7/18/2022 12:00:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
Lexington, Ky. – The United States Marine Corps (USMC) and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today the recipients of the 2021-22 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Awards. Southern Miss is one of 36 Division I beach programs to receive the honor. Since the 1992-93 season, the award has recognized volleyball teams at all levels that maintain a year-long grade point average of 3.3 or higher.
"One of the things we've continued to stress as we build this program is that we are going ot compete at the highest level without sacrificing character and academic success in the classroom," said Southern Miss head coach Shawn Taylor. "Beach volleyball will be a big part of who you are at Southern Miss, but not the only part. I think the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award exemplifies that and reflects true teamwork.
From Kylie Amato and the academic staff that help our team, to the incredible resources available in the Bower Academic Center, this team that has stepped up and in to help when their peers were struggling academically and the coaching staff has helped prioritize learning to make sure we have been excelling on the court and in the classroom.
The 2021-22 award is the second time the Southern Miss beach volleyball program received the honor, last coming in 2019.
Taylor's program notched a 3.63 team cumulative GPA since August 2021 with six athletes holding perfect GPAs in that span: Kellie Garraway, Olivia Hepworth, Wiio Meinheit, Hallie Phelan, Dylan Russel and Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou.
The USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award is another in a long line of academic achievement by the 2021-22 squad. Earlier this semester, all 17 athletes were named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor roll with 11 of those earning C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medals.
"One of the things we've continued to stress as we build this program is that we are going ot compete at the highest level without sacrificing character and academic success in the classroom," said Southern Miss head coach Shawn Taylor. "Beach volleyball will be a big part of who you are at Southern Miss, but not the only part. I think the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award exemplifies that and reflects true teamwork.
From Kylie Amato and the academic staff that help our team, to the incredible resources available in the Bower Academic Center, this team that has stepped up and in to help when their peers were struggling academically and the coaching staff has helped prioritize learning to make sure we have been excelling on the court and in the classroom.
The 2021-22 award is the second time the Southern Miss beach volleyball program received the honor, last coming in 2019.
Taylor's program notched a 3.63 team cumulative GPA since August 2021 with six athletes holding perfect GPAs in that span: Kellie Garraway, Olivia Hepworth, Wiio Meinheit, Hallie Phelan, Dylan Russel and Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou.
The USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award is another in a long line of academic achievement by the 2021-22 squad. Earlier this semester, all 17 athletes were named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor roll with 11 of those earning C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medals.
Players Mentioned
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