VB | Academic Accolades Continue To Roll In
8/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Saint Mary's volleyball team earned a little more recognition Wednesday for excellence in the classroom, receiving the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2012-13 season.
The award, which started in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that maintained at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average. 130 NCAA Division I teams earned the award for the last school year.
"We are always proud of our student-athletes' accomplishments on the court and in the classroom. I take particular pride in seeing them achieve at such a high level academically because it is something that they personally aspire to," Saint Mary's coach Rob Browning said. "Our team has a strong culture of academic excellence which creates strong peer pressure amongst themselves to study hard and learn a lot. We want to be a group of learners in volleyball and everything else, so we want this culture of learning to pervade every aspect of our volleyball family."
Earlier in the offseason, the Gaels earned recognition from the NCAA for high achievement in the recently released multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) awards. That award was based on academic excellence demonstrated between 2008 and 2012.
The Gaels won't start their work in the classroom until after Labor Day, but their work on the court begins this week when players officially report for the 2013 season on Friday. The season's first practices will take place Saturday.
And, when the team reports, the focus will be on preparing to continue an impressive run of success. Saint Mary's reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012, with a five-set win over San Diego State providing one of the season's biggest thrills. 2012 represented the third time in the past five seasons that the Gaels have participated in postseason play, and over the last four seasons, Saint Mary's owns a sterling 79-36 overall record.
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