Storm earn 12th straight USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- For the 12th year in a row and 14th overall, the Simpson volleyball team tallied the United State Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, the organization announced on Monday.

2019-20 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award Recipients

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 GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

The Storm finished 2019-20 with a team grade-point average of 3.49, led by six student-athletes with a 3.80 GPA or higher. Simpson also reached its Dig Pink fundraising goal to become one of 19 schools in NCAA Division III to do so.

In total, 1,313 teams received the honor, nearly 200 more programs than last season's total. Simpson was one of 231 teams from NCAA Division III to earn the distinction, which is a new record.

The Storm and first-year head coach Kekailoa Palea are set to begin the 2020 season at the North Central Invitational on Friday, Sept. 4 in Naperville, Illinois.