AVCA Academic Team Award Recipients

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Missouri State volleyball was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Monday (July 24) for its academic achievement, earning the AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll designation for having one of the top 25 team cumulative grade point averages for the 2016-17 academic year. The award also puts the Bears on the AVCA Team Academic Award list for the fifth consecutive season.

The Bears earned a 3.63 cumulative grade point average for the year, easily surpassing the 3.30 GPA barrier needed to qualify, notching a 3.52 GPA during the fall semester and exceeding that with a 3.74 GPA in the spring. The Bears are one of 145 out of 334 Division I women's programs to earn the distinction.

This year's award continues a stretch of academic success the Bears have enjoyed under Melissa Stokes, who enters her 22nd season as head coach at MSU this fall. Missouri State volleyball has a cumulative GPA above 3.20 since Stokes took over in 1996 and has earned the AVCA Team Academic Award following 11 of the last 15 academic years.