LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the 14th consecutive season the Bethel University volleyball team has earned AVCA Team Academic Honors as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Monday afternoon.

The Royals are one of 175 NCAA Division III teams to earn the accolade this season. BU has been awarded the academic honor 16 times in program history which is tied for the 10th most among Division III institutions and second most in the MIAC.

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.

The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but two, while more than doubling the total over the last eight academic years. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 1,125.

Bethel begins the 2019 campaign with preseason camp prior to its opening matches on Friday August 30 at the Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational hosted by the University of Northwestern.

2018-19 BREAKDOWN BY CLASSIFICATION
NCAA Division I Women: 189 
NCAA Division II Women: 141
NCAA Division III Women: 175 
NAIA Women: 51 
Two-Year College: 21 
NCCAA: 1
Collegiate Men: 19 
High School Girls: 444 (5 sand) 
High School Boys: 43 
Collegiate Beach: 41

You can find 2018-19's list of recipients by clicking here.