AVCA names Tech volleyball, beach volleyball squads Team Academic Award winners for 2024
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball and beach volleyball programs were honored as recipients of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award as announced by the organization Wednesday afternoon.
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball and beach volleyball programs were honored as recipients of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award as announced by the organization Wednesday afternoon.
It marked the sixth consecutive year the Golden Eagle volleyball team earned the honor, having accomplished the feat, in each of head coach Jeannette Phillips' six seasons at the helm of the program. The Tech beach volleyball squad, fresh off its second year as a program, took home the honor for the second time in as many seasons under the direction of head coach Zach Weinberg.
"Jeannette and I are incredibly proud of the work our student-athletes continue to accomplish in the classroom, especially given that they are in season year-round," Weinberge expressed. "We preach in the recruiting process that we are student-athletes, in that order, so being a high achiever in the classroom is part of the fabric of what it means to be a Golden Eagle volleyball player. Receiving this honor from the AVCA is confirmation our student-athletes are upholding their end of the deal."
The purple and gold squads compiled an impressive 3.60 GPA collectively over both semesters of the 2023-24 academic year. In addition to the sixth consecutive season winning the award, the Tech volleyball team has now received recognition from the AVCA for its academic excellence 11 times since 1997.
The volleyball team's 3.64 GPA in the spring represented the program's 48th-straight semester exceeding a 3.0 cumulative GPA, a streak dating back to the fall of 2000. The streak marks the longest of any Tech athletic team.
The AVCA Team Academic Award was initiated in the 1992-1993 academic year and honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that display excellence in the classroom by maintaining a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative GPA on a 5.0 scale.
Tech was one of 230 Division I teams that earned the academic honor for women's volleyball and one of just 47 to collect the achievement in beach volleyball. More than 1,400 teams were recognized at all levels of the sport. The Golden Eagles also marked one of five Ohio Valley Conference volleyball programs and one of five OVC beach volleyball teams on the list.
Photo by Emily Armstrong
