Volleyball Earns Fifth-Straight AVCA Team Academic Award
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- The American Vollyeball Coaches Association (AVCA) has recognized the John Brown University volleyball program’s success in the classroom by honoring the Golden Eagles with a 2015-16 Team Academic Award, the organization announced on Monday (July 25).
The 2015-16 season honor marks JBU's fifth-consecutive year earning the prestigious award. As impressive, the Golden Eagles were the lone Sooner Athletic team to collect the accolades, with a team GPA of 3.43, the top grade-point average in the conference.
"This award is a tremendous honor for our student-athletes, our program and JBU," said head coach Ken Carver. "There are roughly 220 NAIA volleyball programs and only 54 teams, or just under 25%, earned this distinguished recognition.
"Earning this award once is hard enough, but having earned it for five 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 the highest GPA of any Golden Eagle team as well in 2015-16, with 11 players making the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
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.
"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," added Carver. "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 2016 season in Denver, Colo. where JBU will face Benedictine at Mesa (Ariz.) in the Johnson and Wales (Colo.) Invitational on Aug. 19.
