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Two college men’s volleyball teams have received a national recognition for their academic achievements.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced Wednesday that Harvard and Stanford both earned the organization’s annual Team Academic Award.
Teams eligible for this national award must have at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 grade point average on a 5.0 scale during the previous school year.
Stanford had a conference-best seven players in May earn MPSF All-Academic Team honors, including five players finishing with more than a 3.25 cumulative GPA. In addition, it is the sixth consecutive year that Stanford earned the AVCA Team Academic Award — the longest active streak for any NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team.
Harvard earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the second consecutive year. The Crimson have also won the award four of the last five years.
Both Harvard and Stanford were the only NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball teams to receive the Team Academic Award — a one-team decrease from last year. A record 622 teams raining from boys’ and girls’ high school volleyball to college men’s and women’s volleyball earned the AVCA award.
“Excellence doesn’t happen by accident, either on the court or in the classroom,” AVCA executive director Kathy DeBoer said in a statement released Wednesday. “It takes consistent preparation, relentless effort, and determined leadership. A full year of academic achievement, by an entire team of individual students, is a remarkable achievement. What better way to start a new season than with a celebration of an award so emblematic of all that is necessary for sustained success.”
Along with Harvard and Stanford, three NCAA Division III teams — Elmira College, Vassar College and MIT — received AVCA Team Academic Award accolades.