Oilers Earn AVCA Academic Team Award

The University of Findlay women's volleyball team earned the American Volleyball Coaches' Association's Team Academic Award for the eighth straight year.

The team studied hard for a cumulative 3.58 GPA for the 2011-2012 school year.  "Our players and staff place a high value on being the embodiment of student-athletes," head coach Wick Colchagoff said. "I am very proud of the girls and their commitment to academics."

The AVCA 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.

"Many coaches tell us they take more pride in and hear more positive feedback about winning the AVCA Team Academic Award than anything else they do all year," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "While it is undeniable that the sport we coach is zero-sum on the scoreboard, it is a tool for empowerment on other fronts.  The 533 coaches whose teams won this academic award understand the value of both playing to win and winning through play. A well-deserved congratulations to each team and coach!"  

Continuing this type of academic achievement is a goal that the Oilers will diligently work towards as all 13 returners were named Academic All-GLIAC honorees for the 2011-2012 academic school year.