Volleyball Earns AVCA Team Academic Award
Blue Devils honored for ninth straight year.
The Central Connecticut volleyball program earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the ninth straight year for its performance in the classroom during the 2014-15 academic year. 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.
Across all levels of the AVCA, a record-breaking 756 programs received the team academic award this year. At the Division I level 146 programs earned the honor. The number of overall and Division I recipients in 2014-15 are both records for the AVCA.
"A hearty congratulations to all the volleyball coaches whose teams won the AVCA Team Academic Award," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Teams do not succeed in the classroom by accident any more so than they do on the court. The same coach who taught them volleyball skills cared enough about their academic achievement to gather their grades, calculate their GPA, and submit a nomination on their behalf. In doing so, these coaches sent a clear message that classroom success is just as important as volleyball success. All involved should celebrate this award!"
The squad earned the Coca-Cola Award for Highest Team GPA at the CCSU Senior Athletic Awards and Academic Awards banquet in the Spring. Additionally, 11 members of the squad were honored on the Northeast Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll.
The Blue Devils finished the 2014 season by advancing to the semifinals of the Northeast Conference Tournament. CCSU fell to top-seeded and eventual league champion, LIU Brooklyn. The Blue Devils return three-time All-NEC performer Makenna Lommori and fellow seniors Ashley Lenington and Heather Trueman.
Central opens the 2015 season against Hartford on Aug. 28 in the CCSU Blue Devil Classic.