East Michigan News

For the 21st consecutive year, Eastern Michigan University's volleyball team has been recognized with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. This announcement was made on Monday, July 21.

The team maintains a tradition of academic excellence with its streak being the third-longest in NCAA Division I. It is also one of three NCAA Division I programs to receive this award for at least 25 years, joining Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo.

Currently, Eastern's volleyball team holds a cumulative GPA of 3.673, marking the highest in program history. During the winter semester of 2025, they achieved a GPA of 3.715 with 20 players recording at least a 3.00 and four achieving a perfect score.

Several players received individual honors for their academic achievements. Hannah Blaney, Kendal Bonney from Pioneer, Ohio/North Central/Ashland, Abby Stanford from Zanesville, Ohio/Tri Valley/Ashland, and Maddie Stayerearned were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees on December 17. Additionally, Bonney, Stanford, and Surabhi Srinivasan from Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome were listed as Academic All-MAC recipients on December 30.

Nationally, a record-breaking number of teams—1,450 collegiate and high school volleyball teams—earned the AVCA Team Academic Award by maintaining an average GPA of at least 3.3 throughout the year.

"It is very exciting to see that the record-setting on-court successes during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom," says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. "The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes."

Teams honored for receiving this award for over 15 years demonstrate consistent dedication to academics. Two high school girls' teams have set an extraordinary record by receiving this award for 33 consecutive seasons: Jonesboro High School in Arkansas and Ross S. Sterling High School in Texas.

High School Boys' and Girls' divisions again broke records with total recipients reaching 66 and 527 participants respectively.

Several national champions were among those who received this year's award:

- Lynn University (NCAA Women's Division II)

- Juniata College (NCAA Women's Division III)

- Florida Southwestern State College (NJCAA Women's Division I)

- Cowley College (NJCAA Women's Division II)

- Feather River College (3C2A Women)

- Texas Christian University (NCAA Women's Beach)

- University of Mary Hardin Baylor (AVCA Small College Beach Women's Division III)

- Stevenson University (AVCA Fall Beach – Men's National Champions)

Stanford University along with Barry University and Emmanuel [Ga.] University celebrated their women's, men's, and beach teams all being honored simultaneously.

Programs achieving long-standing streaks include:

DI Women: Indiana State – 27 years

DII Women: Wayne State (Neb.) College – 23 years

DIII Women: Central (Iowa) College – 25 years

NAIA Women: Concordia (Neb.) University – 27 years

TYC Women: Central (Neb.) Community College –15 years

Men: Harvard University –14 years

Girls HS: Jonesboro High School in Arkansas and Ross S. Sterling High School in Texas -33 years each

Boys HS: Cathedral High School in Indiana -20 years

College Beach Teams including Georgia State -12 Years

This year introduced additional recognition called 'Team Academic Honor Roll', highlighting top performers within each division based on GPAs.

Newly introduced is naming 'Team Academic Champion' across collegiate divisions recognizing programs achieving highest GPAs within respective divisions:

-NCAA Women's Division I - St John's University

-NCAA Women's Division II - Concordia Univ.-St Paul

-NCAA Women's Divison III - Albion college

etc...

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