ATLANTA, Ga. - A total of 10 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Beach Volleyball teams were honored last week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as Team Academic Award recipients for the 2018-19 academic year. In all, 41 beach volleyball programs were recognized.
The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate 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.
Georgia State and South Carolina are two-of-three teams to have been recognized for five consecutive years, earning the AVCA Team Academic Award. The Panthers have earned the award for six-straight years while posting a GPA of 3.70 or higher for back-to-back years. The Gamecocks finished the 2018-19 academic year with a 3.64 GPA, earning the programs fifth consecutive AVAC Team Academic Award. They were joined by College of Charleston, FAU, FIU, Florida State, LSU, Southern Miss, UAB and UNCW.
Florida State earned its first recognition by the AVCA after claiming its fourth consecutive CCSA Championship. The Seminoles had 19 student-athletes named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll, led by three-time CCSA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Macy Jerger.
LSU finished the 2018-19 season as the No. 3 team in the nation on the court and maintained a 3.57 GPA, earning its fourth consecutive AVCA team recognition. The Tigers had nine girls that earned a 4.00 GPA in either the fall, spring or both semesters.
This year's recognition marked the third consecutive honor for FIU and UNCW, while UAB was honored for the second-straight season. College of Charleston, FAU and Southern Miss are first time recipients.
In total, the AVCA honored a record 1,130 teams among all collegiate and high school levels. That breaks the all-time record set last season at 977. For a full list of this year's recipients click here.