MSU VOLLEYBALL: Spartans earn Team Award for 2017-18

Michigan State was one of 163 Division I institutions honored today with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2017-18

Michigan State was one of 163 Division I institutions honored today with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 season.

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.

Michigan State had seven Academic All-Big Ten honorees (for which freshmen are not eligible) and boasted four Big Ten Distinguished Scholars in the 2017-18 school year, three of whom maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average (Rachel Minarick, Samantha McLean, and Lauren Swartz).

The team boasted a 3.42 GPA during the fall semester – the highest-ever fall semester GPA for the team – while making a run to the NCAA Elite Eight, the second-best team finish in program history. In addition to the three athletes with a 4.0 in the fall, 14 had semester GPA’s of 3.0 or better, with eight boasting a 3.5+.

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