The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Volleyball Receives AVCA Team Academic Award
7/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB volleyball team performed well in the classroom during the 2014-15 season to earn the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, the organization announced on Wednesday.
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.
UAB was one of 146 teams in Division I and seven from Conference USA to receive the award, joining Charlotte, Marshall, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss and WKU.
The AVCA announced that 752 teams have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2014-2015 season. This number once again breaks the previous year's total of 676 and sets a new all-time high for this award.
The Blazers placed 12 on the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Gabby Deshotel, Leslie Ekpe, Kiriana Hirini, Haley Jared, Gabbi Moreno, Collin Nichols, Zahria Richard, Sara Rishell, Lindsay Simmons, Ashlyn Sunseri, Bethanie Thomas and Baley West each were placed on the honor roll for the 2014-15 season.
Jared, Nichols and Thomas also received the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal for posting GPAs of 3.75 or better, while Thomas was recognized for her accomplishments with a spot on the C-USA All-Academic Team.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
