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Elmira College Women's Volleyball Earns AVCA Team Academic Award

Elmira, NY (07/31/2018) — Once again, the Elmira College women's volleyball team has been recognized for its outstanding efforts in the classroom, as the Soaring Eagles earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. Elmira was one of the record-setting 973 teams from across all divisions of collegiate and high school volleyball to earn the national award.

The AVCA has seen its Team Academic Award program grow year-after-year with a consistent increase in recipients since 2004-05. The 973 teams are 138 higher than last year's total and a whopping 211 better than in 2015-16. A total of 173 Division III women's volleyball programs received the academic award, while Elmira proudly stands as one of five Empire 8 Conference affiliates to earn the accolade. Joining EC from the Empire 8 are Alfred, Houghton, St. John Fisher and Stevens.

The AVCA Team Academic 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 success in the classroom is nothing new to the Elmira women, who have received the AVCA Team Academic Award 13 consecutive times dating back to the 2003-04 season.

Elmira undoubtedly earned its spot among the 973 award recipients, as the Purple and Gold boasted a cumulative grade-point average of 3.52, which resulted in EC earning a spot of the Empire 8 All-Academic Team this past June. Additionally, seven student-athletes from the women's volleyball team, Kasey Campbell '19, Sabrina Didas '20, Karina Hastings '19, Kassi Hastings '21, Rachel Katzenberger'19, Natalie Schieder '19 and Courtney VanBuren '18, were named to the Empire 8 Conference President's List for maintaining a grade-point average of 3.75 or better.

About AVCA

The AVCA, with its headquarters in Lexington, Ky., is managed by Associations International. The mission of the AVCA is to advance the sport of volleyball with AVCA coaches at the epicenter of leadership, advocacy and professional development. With a membership of over 7,000 and counting, the AVCA provides a professional network for those individuals and companies dedicated to enhancing and promoting the sport. Members include collegiate, high school, club, youth and Olympic coaches, as well as volleyball club directors. The AVCA provides education to volleyball coaches, recognition of elite players and coaches, promotion of volleyball competitions throughout the world, and networking opportunities for volleyball products and services providers. Further information is available at www.avca.org.