AVCA Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Haverford College volleyball team earned an American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2014-15 season. Michele Benoit's team was one of a record-breaking 752 teams to achieve the award.

Haverford was one of 140 Division III women's teams and one of nine Centennial Conference teams (Swarthmore, Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins, Gettysburg, Washington College, McDaniel, Dickinson, Bryn Mawr) to achieve the honor.

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 AVCA Team Academic Award has become one of the AVCA's fastest growing awards programs, seeing an impressive surge in teams honored over the past several years. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients have increased every single year but one, while amassing a 476 team increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 752.

The Fords reached the NCAA Regional Semifinals last season and scored their third straight 20-win season. Rising senior Meg O'Day was also selected to the AVCA All-American third team, Newport News Regional All-Tournament team and was the Centennial Conference Player of the Year. Haverford gets its 2015 season started at Cabrini on Sept. 1 before the Haverford/Swarthmore Tournament on Sept. 5-6.