LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Barry University's 2012 volleyball team earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award honors.
The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining 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.
The Buccaneers had a 3.47 GPA in 2012-13.
"Excellence doesn't happen by accident, either on the court or in the classroom," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "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."
The AVCA Team Academic Award has become one of the AVCA's fastest growing awards programs, seeing an impressive surge in teams honored over the past several years. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but one, while amassing an overall 300% increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 622.
NCAA Division I recorded their highest-ever total number of recipients, honoring 130 programs while Division II surpassed last year's record of 69 winners with 77 this year. Division III also set a new record with 93 winners and the high school division increased their all-time high of 220 recipients to 253. Finally, the NAIA set a new record with 46 winners garnering the award.
Prior to 2012-2013, only 16 teams had attained the pinnacle of volleyball success in both earning the AVCA Team Academic Award and winning their respective collegiate national championship in the same academic year. Concordia University-St. Paul (NCAA Division II) and Clearwater Christian College (NCCAA Division II) both accomplished the feat in 2012-13.
Over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program's 20-year history, with exactly 5,450 awards been given out in total.
BREAKDOWN BY CLASSIFICATION
Division Number of recipients Percent Breakdown*
NCAA Division I Women 130 20.90%
NCAA Division II Women 77 12.38%
NCAA Division III Women 93 14.95%
NAIA Women + Men 46 7.40%
Two-Year College 16 2.57%
Four-Year Independent 1 0.16%
NCCAA 1 0.16%
NCAA Collegiate Men 5 0.96%
High School (Girls and Boys) 253 40.05%
High School Girls 229
High School Boys 23
Co-Ed 1
* Percentage is based on each category's breakdown of the total 2012-2013 Team Academic recipients.