LEXINGTON, Ky.- Even though the South Dakota School of Mines women's volleyball team is a couple weeks away from starting the 2010 season, the Lady Hardrockers are still getting recognition from last season's success --- this time earning the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2009-10 school year.
"It's a great honor to receive this award, especially as a whole team," said Lady Hardrocker head volleyball coach Tiffany McCampbell. "It really speaks to the type of student-athletes we have at South Dakota Mines --- and for this to be a team award makes it that much more special."
Along with SD Mines, 449 other teams, from the NCAA Div. I to two-year community colleges have earned the award for the 2009-2010 season. This number once again smashes the previous years' total of 409 and sets a new all-time high for this award.
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.
"There is no better way to gauge the success of a sport than to track the accomplishments of the people who participate," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Each of these 450 teams represents 12-15 really smart kids. What a great day for the sport of volleyball."
It is the second year in a row that SD School of Mines has won the award and the Lady Hardrockers are the only Dakota Athletic Conference program represented on this year's list.
The Lady Hardrockers begin fall camp Aug. 14 and will see their first competition Aug. 27 at the Montana Tech volleyball tournament in Butte, Mont.
