Volleyball receives AVCA Team Academic Award
8/3/2016 4:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTSVILLE – For the fifth consecutive year, the Sam Houston State volleyball program was bestowed the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award, recognizing the programs hard work in the classroom for the 2015-16 year.
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.
“That's expected of us,” head coach Brenda Gray said. “When we meet that goal of a 3.30, we want to exceed it because our goal is a 3.5 or higher. We are here to get an education and win championships.”
The Bearkats were one of just three Southland Conference programs to receive the accolade, joining Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Abilene Christian. As a team, Sam Houston compiled a 3.50 GPA during the 2015-16 academic year with 15 student-athletes being named to the Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll.
“If I can't trust them to go to class and get that job done, why should I trust them on the court,” Gray said. “It's an honor to play here. It's higher education and education is important. Being able to play a sport is icing on the cake. If we're looking at someone, I want to go after the one with the better grades.”
Sam Houston reports to fall camp on Tuesday, returning all six starters along with five other players from the 2015 squad that reached the league's tournament semifinals. The Kats open play on Sept. 20 against A&M-Corpus Christi and play a total of eight home matches.
“My volleyball teams have always been very close knit. Most of them are good friends on top of teammates,” Gray said. “We're going to face some different obstacles. At the same time, we're all excited. Nobody loves preseason two-a-days but there's a lot of players who can't wait to get back on the court.”
For tickets, call the Sam Houston ticket office at (936) 294-1729 or visit GoBearkats.com. Season seats are available for just $30 while single-match tickets are $5 each for general admission seating. A special group ticket discount is available for fans of 10 or more.
