Volleyball Earns Third-Straight USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award

Lexington, Ky. — The United States Marine Corps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today that 1,332 collegiate and high school volleyball teams have earned the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award this season. This marks an all-time record number of programs honored for their academic achievements. The award, initiated in the 1992–93 academic year, honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or 4.1 on a 5.0 scale.

“The commitment our coaches make to help their student-athletes pursue the best versions of themselves is evident in the academic accomplishments highlighted today.” said AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. “Achievement on the court has always been closely tied to success in the classroom which is reflected by the number of championship programs honored.”

Columbia College was one of 65 teams from the NAIA division that received the 2022-2023 USMC/AVCA Academic Team Award. The Cougars earned this award for the third year in-a-row.

14 different Cougars earned Academic All-AMC honors: Abby Massengill, Beyza Bektasoglu, Danielle Prior, Ellie Crede, Ellie Rockers, Janae Johnson, Kate Pani, Camila Espejo, Magdalena Bostal, Mikala Scott, Olivia Skipworth, Raven Buckley, Sude Gundogan, and Sydney Nieweg. Further, Danielle Prior and Ellie Rockers earned Academic All-America team honors.