LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2020 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team has received the United State Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2020-21 season.

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.

It’s the 14th consecutive season SMSU has earned the award. The Mustangs had seven student-athletes earn Academic All-NSIC honors in 2020, with senior Angela Young recently earning CoSIDA first team Academic All-District for the second straight year.

“Even though teams might not have played during their usual season or may not have competed at all during the past year, coaches still found ways to lead their players to academic excellence.” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. “This is a testament to the important role volleyball coaches play in their players success both on and off the court.”

Girls’ high school again has the most winners by category, with 413 teams receiving honors. Women’s collegiate teams were well represented; over 50% of the membership in all three NCAA divisions won the award, including a new record of 243 DI programs.

Girl’s high school also led the way in teams earning the award for the first time in 2021, with 65 new programs celebrating their academic achievements. Mirroring the rapid growth in the division, Beach had the most-new collegiate programs participating with 12 teams earning their first Team Academic award this season.

Southwest Minnesota State had its 2020 season canceled due to COVID-19. The 2021 season will get underway with practice in mid-August and the season opener set for Sept. 3.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications