Sports News: Fall 2001

Tuesday, September 18, 2001

AVCA and Molten U.S.A., Inc. Honor Academic Excellence
Moravian is one of 130 Teams Earn Prestigious Team Academic Award for 2000-2001

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The American Volleyball Coaches Association and Molten U.S.A., Inc. has awarded 130 colleges, including Moravian College, and high school volleyball teams the 2000-2001 AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award, AVCA Executive Director Lindy Binns announced. Molten, U.S.A. has sponsored the award for the last two 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 2000-2001 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 85 schools that met the requirements for the award, while 47 high school programs earned the distinction. The breakdown of college representation includes 25 NCAA Division I schools, 16 NCAA Division II schools, 24 NCAA Division III schools, 14 NAIA schools and four junior college/community colleges. 

Moravian had a team GPA of 3.41 last year.  The only other school in the Middle Atlantic Conference to be honored was the University of Scranton.  The other schools from the state of Pennsylvania included NCAA Division I Duquesne University and Villanova University, NCAA Division III Carnegie Mellon University and Grove City College, NAIA Carlow College and five high schools, Central Dauphin, Garden Spot, Carnet Valley, Manheim Central and Red Land.

Some of the top volleyball programs in the country also succeeded in the classroom.  A total of 18 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 represents the essence of a student-athlete," Binns said. "Not only are the student-athletes gifted athletes working as a team, but they perform well as a team in the classroom to maintain high standards.  This honor continues to be one of the most sought after awards among the AVCA programs. Our member coaches are able to build good grades into the framework of team goals in an effort to earn the honor on an annual basis."

"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.