Women’s Volleyball Receives USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award

LEXINGTON, Ky.- For the fourth time in the past five years, the Eastern Nazarene College women's volleyball team received the United States Marine Corps (USMC)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2021-2022 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 or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

The Lions posted a combined team grade-point average of 3.39 at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year. Seven student-athletes were tabbed to the New England Collegiate Conference Fall All-Academic List: Eliana Baran (Beaumont, Calif.), Piper Bolner (Lagrangeville, N.Y.), Anna Burbach (Milford, N.H.), Jessica Caldwell (Quincy, Mass.), Allison Deaton (Riverview, Fla.), Avery Heizer (Merrimack, N.H.), and Halle Julian (Whitman, Mass.).

"I am super proud of our student-athletes as this is the fourth time in the last five years that they have earned this recognition," commented head coach Derek Schmitt. "Our student-athletes show they are committed to both words in "student-athlete". They excel in the classroom as evidenced by this award and a team GPA of 3.39. A 54-25 overall record, 17-2 conference record, and two conference tournament championships over the past three full seasons of competition demonstrates that they also excel on the volleyball court."