Volleyball Earns Third Straight AVCA Team Academic Award

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Earn AVCA Team Academic Award For Third Straight Season
SMU begins season Aug. 29; First home matches Sept. 5

Aug. 4, 2014

LEXINGTON, Ky. (SMU) - The Mustangs are one of a record-setting 134 NCAA Division I volleyball programs to honored with the AVCA Team Academic Award, earning the accolade for the third straight season. In all, 676 men's and women's high school and college programs achieved at least a 3.3 GPA, the minimum for the award.

"As a program, we strive for excellence both on the court and in the classroom. SMU is an elite educational institution, and to earn an honor like this says a lot about the quality student-athletes we have in our program," head coach Lisa Seifert said. "Dr. Sue Bierman and her academic staff do a great job working with our kids and offering support."

SMU finished with a 3.4 team GPA, led by setter Avery Acker, who scored a 3.9 during her sophomore year in accounting. 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.

"Too often athletic participation is associated with academic underachievement and this stereotype is simply false when it comes to volleyball," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Couple the smarts represented by these teams with the competitive experience and team-focused training gained on the court and we have a potent formula for future leadership! What a significant contribution that is by their coaches and schools."

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 have increased every single year but one, while amassing an overall 500% 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 676.

The Mustangs start the season in San Francisco Aug. 29 and 30 at the San Francisco Invite. SMU will play its first matches in newly-renovated Moody Coliseum during the first of two home tournaments on Sept. 5 and 6. Fans can get their first live look at the 2014 SMU volleyball team during the Red-Blue scrimmage Aug. 20 at 5 p.m.

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Way to go, volleyball!