JONESBORO, Ark. (7/25/16) – The Arkansas State volleyball team was one of a record 762 teams to receive a Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association as announced Monday by the AVCA.

The Red Wolves were one of 131 Division I women's volleyball programs to be honored and one of four Sun Belt Conference schools to pick up the accolade. 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.

“It's always an honor to be recognized for academic achievement,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “People always focus so much on wins and losses in sports, but when you're dealing with student-athletes you have to remember the student aspect of it. It's a testament to how amazing this team was to see the success off the court match what they did on the court.”

Arkansas State earned the award from the AVCA for the second consecutive year as the Red Wolves posted a 3.56 GPA for the 2015-16 academic year. The team placed 15 student-athletes on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, while the conference recognized 12 players at last season's awards banquet for academic achievements.

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 have increased every single year but two, while amassing a 475 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 762.

The 2016 season gets underway for A-State Aug. 26 at the TCU Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas with a 3 p.m. match against Northwestern State. Fans can follow the team on Twitter (@stAteVolleyball) and Instagram (astatevolleyball) along with liking the Arkansas State University Volleyball page on Facebook for the latest news and updates regarding the team.