Volleyball earns USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. - For the seventh time in school history, the Bellevue University volleyball team has earned the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2019-20 season, the USMC/AVCA announced on Monday. A record 1,313 teams earned the academic award, topping last year's record by almost 200 teams. A total of 232 programs received Team Academic honors for the first time in 2019-20.

The Bruins combined for a 3.638 team GPA for the 2019-20 academic year. Five Bruins earned a perfect 4.0 GPA while nine obtained a 3.75 GPA or above. 

The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that maintain 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. 

In terms of USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award winners by subgroup, girls high school led the way with 461 recipients. In all three NCAA Women's Divisions, over 50% of the membership won the award, led by 68% in DI, 57% in DII, and 53% in DIII. In the emerging sport of beach volleyball, 49% of teams won the award and in the fastest growing sector of Collegiate Men, 38 schools were honored, doubling the number from the previous year.

With no seniors and only one junior on the 2019 roster, Bellevue ended last season with a 28-10 overall record and a 10-4 NSAA mark, finishing second in the NSAA regular season while advancing to the NAIA National Tournament for the 12th time in school history. The Bruins ended the season with a No. 19 final national ranking.