Lady Lopes Volleyball Honored for Academic Excellence
The Lamar Community College volleyball program recently earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2014-2015 season. This is the second time in program history that the team has received this award.
"I'm very proud of how all our athletes have performed in the classroom and hope to continue to achieve this same level of success," praised Head Coach Brandon Stephenson. "We even had two freshmen achieve 4.0 GPAs, which is pretty impressive since this is their first time not having mom and dad there to tell them to study and keep them on track. I'm proud of what they've been able to accomplish right off the bat."
The Lady Lopes are one of a record-breaking 754 teams nationwide and across all levels of collegiate and high school competition. This number sets a new all-time high for this award after last year's total of 676 teams. LCC Volleyball is also one of only 24 two-year colleges honored with this award and the only one in Colorado.
LCC volleyball worked hard in the classroom this past year, resulting in a 3.31 GPA for the team. This includes two perfect 4.0 GPAs from freshmen Carly Feuerstein and Tanya Campbell. The team's combined GPA was the highest amongst LCC teams this past year, followed closely by the Baseball team with a 3.20 GPA. They even ranked as the 41st highest GPA that was reported amongst Division 1 volleyball teams in the National Junior College Athletic Association.
In addition to this award, several individual players were honored for their academic success. Brenna Cash was selected as an Academic All-American. She was also selected to the Academic All-Region team along with Carly Feuerstein, Marie Mohler, and Jennifer Garcia. In addition, the team is well-represented in LCC's chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international scholastic honor society for two-year college students.
"A hearty congratulations to all the volleyball coaches whose teams won the AVCA Team Academic Award," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Teams do not succeed in the classroom by accident any more so than they do on the court. The same coach who taught them volleyball skills cared enough about their academic achievement to gather their grades, calculate their GPA, and submit a nomination on their behalf. In doing so, these coaches sent a clear message that classroom success is just as important as volleyball success. All involved should celebrate this award!"
The Team Academic Award, which was initiated in the 1992-1993 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. LCC has earned the award two times.