Ball State University Athletics
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Volleyball Programs Earn AVCA Team Academic Award
July 25, 2017 | Men's Volleyball, Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's and women's volleyball programs were part of a record 822 teams to earn the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2016-2017 season. The previous record was 764 set last year.
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The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams which display 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.
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On the women's side, the Cardinals finished the academic year with a 3.48 GPA led by perfect 4.0 marks from freshman defensive specialist Kate Avila and redshirt junior outside attacker Sabrina Mangapora.
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"I am very proud of my team for earning the AVCA Team Academic Award," Ball State women's volleyball head coach Kelli Miller said. "I know student-athletes have a lot of responsibilities, so we talk a lot about making sure academic success is at the top of their priority list. The team really took that to heart and did a great job in the classroom this past year. I am proud of their hard work and they definitely deserve this recognition."
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On the men's side, the Cardinals finished the academic year with a 3.34 GPA led by a 3.900 mark from junior outside attacker Mitch Weiler which included a 4.0 average during the 2017 spring semester.
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"We are proud of our team's academic accomplishments," Ball State men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton said. "Maintaining a cumulative team GPA over 3.3 shows our players' commitment to being both excellent students and athletes. This year, only nine NCAA men's Division I programs and 19 total men's collegiate volleyball teams reached this plateau. Earning this award for the second straight year is also noteworthy. My assistant coach Jim Palilonis and our academic support staff including Zach Barge and Megan Walters deserve additional mention for the work they do monitoring and providing guidance which assists our team in reaching its academic goals."
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For the most up-to-date news on Ball State volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @BallStateMVB on Twitter.
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- BallStateSports.com -
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The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams which display 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.
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On the women's side, the Cardinals finished the academic year with a 3.48 GPA led by perfect 4.0 marks from freshman defensive specialist Kate Avila and redshirt junior outside attacker Sabrina Mangapora.
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"I am very proud of my team for earning the AVCA Team Academic Award," Ball State women's volleyball head coach Kelli Miller said. "I know student-athletes have a lot of responsibilities, so we talk a lot about making sure academic success is at the top of their priority list. The team really took that to heart and did a great job in the classroom this past year. I am proud of their hard work and they definitely deserve this recognition."
Â
On the men's side, the Cardinals finished the academic year with a 3.34 GPA led by a 3.900 mark from junior outside attacker Mitch Weiler which included a 4.0 average during the 2017 spring semester.
Â
"We are proud of our team's academic accomplishments," Ball State men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton said. "Maintaining a cumulative team GPA over 3.3 shows our players' commitment to being both excellent students and athletes. This year, only nine NCAA men's Division I programs and 19 total men's collegiate volleyball teams reached this plateau. Earning this award for the second straight year is also noteworthy. My assistant coach Jim Palilonis and our academic support staff including Zach Barge and Megan Walters deserve additional mention for the work they do monitoring and providing guidance which assists our team in reaching its academic goals."
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For the most up-to-date news on Ball State volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @BallStateMVB on Twitter.
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- BallStateSports.com -
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Players Mentioned
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