For the fourth year running, the John Brown University volleyball program secured Team Academic honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), which was announced on July 29.
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.
John Brown was one of 752 collegiate and high school volleyball programs around the nation to capture the plaudit. This number once again breaks the previous year's total of 676 and sets a new all-time high for this award.
"I am extremely proud of our team's exemplary and consistent performance in the classroom," said head coach Ken Carver. "To earn this prestigious national academic award for four straight years speaks very highly of our players' focus and effort with regards to their academic pursuits.
"One of the things I feel that further speaks to the level of academic achievement of our players is the fact that our players are attaining such high marks while pursuing demanding degree programs such as engineering, nursing and business. Our players do a fantastic job of encouraging and helping hold each other accountable in the pursuit of excellence in the classroom, just as they do when they are on the court. This award marks the achievement of one of our team's main academic goals for the year. This team set the bar extremely high and have been honored multiple times this year for their performance in the classroom. All of the recognition that has come their way is richly deserved."
Besides earning the AVCA's Team Academic award, the volleyball program has also captured a share of the top GPA among Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball teams while also earning NAIA Scholar-Team status. Additionally, nine volleyball players earned places on the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll as seven of those student-athletes had high enough GPAs to be named Academic All-Conference. Lastly, recently graduated seniors Kendra Ammons, Vanessa Uhrhahn and Becca Young, along with junior Libby Blasingame, landed Daktronics/NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades.
Sports on 08/12/2015