Skyhawks recognized for academic excellence in 2017-18
This is the second-straight year that volleyball has been awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award. |
AVCA Announces Team Academic Awards for 2017-18
EASTON, Mass. (August 2, 2018) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced that a record 976 teams have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 season including Stonehill College's women's volleyball team. This year's AVCA number once again breaks the previous years' total of 835 and sets a new all-time high for this award.
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 (GPA) on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
"I am extremely proud of my team's accomplishment," stated head coach Kathleen Colpoys. "I am especially prud that we were able to receive this award in consecutive years. My team is constantly setting goals to push themselves on and off the court. This award represents their hard work and dedication in the classroom throughout the entire year."
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 2000-01 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.
Over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program's 25-year history, with 8,463 awards given out total.
The Skyhawks join Adelphi University, Bentley University, University of New Haven, Pace University, Southern Connecticut State University, and Southern New Hampshire University as the Northeast-10 Conference teams to make the list. Adelphi leads the NE10 teams with 10 honors, while Stonehill has collected three awards. Among all 263 NCAA Division II institutions that sponsor women's volleyball, 129 programs were honored for academic excellence across the country for the 2017-18 academic calendar.
Stonehill women's volleyball team had 10 players boast a GPA between 3.00-to-4.00 in the latest Northeast-10 Spring 2018 Commissioner's Honor Roll, including sophomore Rachel Dunlavy (Brighton, Michigan/Father Gabriel Richard) who has posted a 4.00 GPA in three of the last four semesters.
Stonehill wrapped up its 2017 season with a 12-15 overall mark and an 8-6 NE10 record. The Skyhawks finished the regular season as the fifth seed and made it to the NE10 Tournament Semifinals for the ninth time in program history. The Skyhawks will open up its 2018 season with two matches in Manchester, New Hampshire versus Saint Anselm College and Shepherd University on Saturday, August 25, followed by a single battle against Southern New Hampshire University. Stonehill hosts Felician College, Georgian Court, and Merrimack College from September 1-2 for the Skyhawk Invitational at Merkert Gymnasium.
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