Sports News: Fall 2002

Monday, September 16, 2002

AVCA & MOLTEN U.S.A., INC. HONOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE --
MORAVIAN ONE OF 178 TEAMS TO WIN PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMIC AWARD FOR 2001-2002

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The American Volleyball Coaches Association and Molten U.S.A., Inc. has awarded a record-number 178 colleges, including Moravian College, and high school volleyball teams the 2001-2002 AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award, AVCA Executive Director Katherine McConnell announced.  Molten, U.S.A. has sponsored the award for the last three years.

The award honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average during the 2001-2002 school year.  Nominating coaches must be AVCA members.

Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls' and boys' teams.  The college ranks produced 121 schools that met the requirements for the award, while 57 high school programs earned the distinction. The breakdown of college representation includes 47 NCAA Division I schools, 21 NCAA Division II schools, 32 NCAA Division III schools, 12 NAIA schools and nine junior college/community colleges.

Moravian had a team GPA of 3.44 last year.  The only other school in the Middle Atlantic Corporation to be honored was the University of Scranton.  Some of the top volleyball programs in the country also succeeded in the classroom.  A total of 27 teams that earned the AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award also earned a berth in either the NCAA or NAIA post-season tournaments.

"The AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award epitomizes the ideal of the student-athlete, and the AVCA is incredibly honored to recognize these schools for their excellence in the classroom," McConnell said. "We are especially pleased to bestow this prestigious award to a record number of teams this year.  The discipline, teamwork and commitment embodied by both the AVCA coaches and the student-athletes are a shining example to all of us."

"We are proud to be associated with this award that recognizes the importance that teamwork plays both on and off of the volleyball court," Craig Barker, Molten USA vice president, said.

Part of the requirements to be considered for the AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award is submission of the head coach's academic philosophy.