LEXINGTON, Ky. — The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced Wednesday that Utah Valley University volleyball was one of 622 teams that earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2012-13 season.
"Being a student-athlete is very challenging especially during the season. I am proud of our team for their commitment to academic excellence," head coach Sam Atoa said. "Our goal is to continue to excel in the classroom as well as on the court."
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 Wolverines made the cut by posting a 3.32 team GPA for the 2012-13 academic year. UVU was one of three teams in the state of Utah to be honored for its academic success as Southern Utah and Utah were also on the list.
This year marked the fifth time in program history that UVU has earned AVCA recognition. Utah Valley previously won the award in 2000-01, 2001-02, 2008-09 and 2011-12.
"Excellence doesn't happen by accident, either on the court or in the classroom," AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said. "It takes consistent preparation, relentless effort and determined leadership. A full year of academic achievement, by an entire team of individual students, is a remarkable achievement. What better way to start a new season than with a celebration of an award so emblematic of all that is necessary for sustained success."
The Wolverines were one of 130 NCAA Division I women's programs to be honored by the AVCA.
The total of 622 institutions to be recognized by the AVCA this year once again set a new record, as it bested the previous high of 536 that was set a year ago.
The AVCA 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. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but one, while amassing an overall 300 percent 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 622.
In all, over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program's 20-year history, with exactly 5,450 awards been given out in total.
James Warnick is an assistant sports information director at Utah Valley University. For more information about Wolverine athletics, visit www.WolverineGreen.com.