July 27, 2010

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team became one of a record 450 schools to be honored for its academic excellence by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. 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.

 

Not only were the Bulls successful on the court in 2009-10, posting their first ever Mid-American Conference Tournament victory, but they were also successful in the classroom, finishing the year with a cumulative team GPA of 3.50. 11 players from last year's squad have GPAs over 3.00, while three members Kristin Bignell, Marisa Hornbaker  and Maria Mezzadri  all have cumulative grade point averages over 3.90.

 

The Team Academic Award has become one of the AVCA's fastest growing awards programs, seeing an impressive surge in teams honored over the past several years. The program has increased by over 300% in the last 10 years and by 79% in the past three years alone. Both NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II recorded their highest-ever total numbers of recipients, with the former honoring 94 programs and the latter honoring 55 programs. The high school division also set a new bar with its 179 honorees.