HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team has earned the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2018-19 academic year. The Fords were one of a record-breaking 1,125 squads to garner the award. That total includes the three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, USCAA, two-year colleges, and high schools. Haverford was one of 175 women's squads honored from NCAA Division III.
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. The Centennial Conference continued to stand out as one of the top academic conferences in the country as Haverford was one of nine Centennial Conference institutions to be recognized with this academic award.
The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-01 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but two, while amassing a 619-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 973. Haverford has been recognized with this honor every year since the 2012-13 academic year.
With a young team in 2018, the Fords won four of their final six matches to close the season on a high note. Just one senior graduated from last year's team and Haverford will look for that momentum and experience to pay large dividends this fall. The 2019 season gets underway on Saturday, August 31 at the annual Haverford Invitational which begins with matches against Wells and Vassar.