AVCA RELEASE | 2017-18 AVCA ACDAEMIC AWARD RECIPIENTS

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the first time in Suffolk volleyball history the team was acknowledged for its success inside the classroom by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) with the Rams earning AVCA Team Academic Award status for the 2017-18 season, the organization announced Monday afternoon. 

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. 

Suffolk is one of 973 programs honored with the recognition with the NCAA Division III 173 honorees landing second total after the Girls High School division took first with 358 recipients. The Rams are one of four GNAC programs to take home the distinction. GNAC counterparts joining Suffolk are on the list was Johnson & Wales, Simmons and Saint Joseph's (Maine). 

In the program's 25-year history, over 1,000 different schools have earned the award with 8,461 awards handed out total. 

The Rams took home the feat for the first time after combining for a 3.44 GPA for the 2017-18 academic year with all, but two student-athletes on the 16-player roster achieving over a 3.00 GPA.