Volleyball receives USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award for 2019-20 season
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern volleyball team received the U.S. Marine Corps Academic Team Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the 2019-20 season.
A total of 1,313 teams received the award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, which honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale or 4.10 on a 5.0 scale.
Ohio Northern has now won the award 12 consecutive years and 18 years overall.
In terms of USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award winners by subgroup, girls high school led the way with 461 recipients. In all three NCAA Women's Divisions, over 50% of the membership won the award, led by 68% in DI, 57% in DII and 53% in DIII.
In the emerging sport of beach volleyball, 49% of teams won the award and in the fastest growing sector of Collegiate Men, 38 schools were honored, doubling the number from the previous year.
The Polar Bears finished the 2019 season with a 27-6 record, won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament.