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HIghland Volleyball Team Honored by AVCA

published August 11, 2014

Highland Volleyball Team Honored by AVCA

The 2013 volleyball team at Highland Community College was recently honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association Academic Award.  This award is given to teams that have a cumulative gpa of 3.3 or higher.  Volleyball team members Kaylie Berkley (Dexter), McKayla Brezina (Seneca), Ashley Dishon (Horton), Megan Lockwood (Silver Lake), Rachel Schmanke (Oskaloosa), and Allie Simonin (Wathena) all attained a 4.0 grade point average this past year.  The teams overall gpa was a 3.46.  Highland Community College was one of 22 two-year colleges honored with this award.

The AVCA writes, “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.

"Too often, athletic participation is associated with academic underachievement, and this stereotype is simply false when it comes to volleyball," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Couple the smarts represented by these teams with the competitive experience and team-focused training gained on the court, and we have a potent formula for future leadership! What a significant contribution that is by their coaches and schools."

The AVCA Team Academic Award has become one of the AVCA's fastest growing award programs, seeing an impressive surge in teams honored over the past several years. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients have increased every single year but one, while amassing an overall 500% 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 676.

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