July 29, 2008

www.siusalukis.com

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Southern Illinois volleyball team was awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2007-08 school year.

This is the third-straight season the Salukis garnered the award. The 13-member SIU team carried a 3.48 team grade point average, up from 3.41 a year ago.

The Salukis were one of four Missouri Valley Conference schools and one of 70 Division I women's programs to receive the honor.

According to the AVCA website, the award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Nominating head coaches must be AVCA members. Each school will receive a plaque, and each player a certificate commemorating the designation.

Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls' and boys' teams. The college ranks produced 212 programs that met the requirements for the award in 2006-07.

Click here for the AVCA release.