The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) has recognized the John Brown University volleyball program's success in the classroom by honoring the Golden Eagles with the 2016-17 Team Academic Award, the organization announced on Monday, July 24.
The 2016-17 season honor marks JBU's sixth-consecutive year earning the prestigious award. As impressive, the Golden Eagles were one of only two Sooner Athletic teams to collect the accolades, with a team GPA of 3.48, the second-best grade-point average in the conference.
"This award is a tremendous honor for our student-athletes, our program and JBU," said head volleyball coach Ken Carver. "There are roughly 220 NAIA volleyball programs and only 51 teams, or just under 25 percent, earned this distinguished recognition.
"Earning this award once is hard enough, but having earned it for six straight years illustrates the consistency and pride our student-athletes take in focusing on their performance in the classroom and seeking to be leaders in their respective fields of study. A tremendous amount of credit goes to our upperclassmen who set the example and purposefully reached out to help and encourage the large number of freshmen student-athletes we had on this past year's team."
The volleyball program finished with eight selections to the annual Academic All-Conference team, a minimum of a 3.25 GPA, while all 14 players earned a slot on the annual Commissioner's Honor Roll, a minimum of a 3.00 GPA.
The AVCA Team Academic Award, celebrating its 25th year, is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients have increased every single year but two, while amassing a 532 team 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 822.
"I also wanted to take the time to thank our tremendous faculty who challenge our students to excel and then provide a great deal of encouragement, support and accountability," Carver said. "I'm extremely proud of our players for being honored for all of their hard work in the classroom this past year."
The Golden Eagles open the 2017 season Aug. 25 in Bartlesville, Okla., where JBU will face Lyon (Ark.) in the Oklahoma Wesleyan Tournament.
Sports on 07/30/2017