This number breaks the previous year's total of 835 to set an all-time high.
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.
Members of the Northeast volleyball team included, Gabriela Barbosa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Delaney Belt, Shelby; Samantha Brester, Howells; Tayler Klassen, Hampton; Taylor Lammers, Hartington; Savannah Nelson, Wakefield; Shelby Paprocki, Clarkson; Peyton Roach, Wayne; Monique Schafer, Stuart, Elizabeth Selting, Elgin; and Macy Stewart, Shelby. Amanda Schultze is head coach while Sarah Oligmueller served as assistant.
The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 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.
Additionally, schools that reached their Dig Pink® fundraising goals through the Side-Out Foundation will continue to be honored. Dig Pink is a nationwide movement to provide meaningful and impactful experiences for athletes while inspiring and empowering them to come together in support of the stage IV breast cancer community. Each year, hundreds of teams across the country (and some overseas) participate in the Dig Pink Rally.
Northeast participated in the Dig Pink program.
Over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program's 25-year history, with exactly 8,461 awards presented.
Meanwhile, all eleven members of the Northeast volleyball team earned all-regional academic honors last fall through the Iowa Community College Athletic Association (ICCAC). Barbosa, Belt, Brester, Klassen, Lammers, Nelson, Roach, and Stewart were named to the ICCAC First Team, while Paprocki, Schafer and Selting were named to the ICCAC Second Team.
To be named to the ICCAC All-Region Academic First Team, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.5 and above grade point average (GPA). To be named to the ICCAC All-Region Academic Second Team, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.0-3.49 GPA.
The Northeast volleyball team also performed well on the court. For the second consecutive year, the Hawks qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament in Charleston, WV. Northeast made it through to the second round; ending the season with a 19-16 record.
Kurt Kohler, dean of student life and athletics, said the AVCA recognition is a good example of student success at Northeast.
“We are extremely proud of the performances of all of our student-athletes on and off the court and field at Northeast. It can be a struggle sometimes for any of them to weigh the demands of athletics with the rigor of the classroom. This specific recognition is a testament to Coach Schultze and her team’s determination to commit to that balance.”
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