AVCA Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Lady Bison Volleyball team was included among the squads that received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2015-16 academic year.
"Congratulations to the coaches and institutions that won the 2016 AVCA Team Academic Award," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "It is no accident that a volleyball coaches association recognizes academic excellence as a team, rather than an individual, achievement. Players influence each other, both in execution on the court and discipline in the classroom."
The AVCA Team Academic Award is given to those teams that achieve a 3.30 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. For the 2015-16 academic year, 762 total teams were honored, including 119 teams from Division II. It is the second consecutive year that OBU has received the academic honor.
"This award not only signifies the excellence we've had on the court, but also our team's achievement in the classroom," said OBU Volleyball head coach
Anna Howle. "The team has worked tirelessly to meet the academic standards we've put in place. This award speaks volumes about their hard work."
Also included in the release was the list of teams that achieved their "Dig Pink" fundraising goals. The purpose of Dig Pink is to partner volleyball teams throughout the country with The Side-Out Foundation in order to raise both funds and awareness for breast cancer awareness throughout the month of October. Oklahoma Baptist was one of just 19 programs that garnered the Team Academic Award and met their fundraising goals. It is the second straight season where the Lady Bison achieved both distinctions.
The Lady Bison are just a few short weeks out from reporting for preseason practice. They will open up the 2016 season in St. Petersbug, Florida, where they will compete in a four-match tournament hosted by Eckerd College on September 2nd and 3rd. The home opener is slated for Tuesday, September 13th when they welcome Northwestern Oklahoma State University to the Noble Complex for the Great American Conference opener.
