Lexington, Ky. - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that a record 973 schools have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 season. Last year's mark of 835 teams was the previous record. To earn the distinction, a program must maintain a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale for the entire year. Fordham was one of 164 Division I institutions to earn the award and did so with a 3.32 team-wide mark.
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. The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players, and coaches honored. Since the 2000-01 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but two, while amassing a 619-team increase over the span of the last decade. The number of schools to earn the award in its inaugural year was 62.
The honor is the program's first since the 2013-14 campaign and is its fourth in the past nine years.
The 2018-19 campaign kicks off in just over a month with the Jack Kaiser Classic, hosted by St. John's, where the Rams will play the Red Storm plus Eastern Michigan and Central Connecticut State over two days. Fordham's season will begin against Eastern Michigan on Friday, August 24, at 11 a.m.
