The University of Kentucky volleyball team has been honored with the Team Academic Award by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The AVCA honored 274 schools overall, including 148 college programs and 45 Division I institutions. The Kentucky team posted a combined 3.353 grade point average on a 4.0 scale for the 2004-05 academic year.
The squad was one of only two Southeastern Conference teams to earn the honor. Auburn joined UK on the list this year.
The 274 schools receiving the honor is the second most in the program’s history only to the 2003-2004 academic year when 305 schools achieved the award. All but one division category in the program either produced the most or second most schools receiving the honor in the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award history.
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Nominating head coaches must be AVCA members.
“The Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award embodies the true meaning of the student-athlete concept, and the AVCA is honored to recognize these schools for excellence in the classroom,” Katherine McConnell, AVCA executive director said. “We congratulate the student-athletes, as well as the coaches and school administrations, for maintaining balance between academics and athletics.”
A total of 801 different schools have won the award in the program’s 13-year history. Two institutions have earned it every year in Jonesboro High School (Jonesboro, Ark.) and Ross S. Sterling High School (Baytown, Texas).
Each school will receive a plaque, and each player a certificate commemorating the designation.
