Aug. 7, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2012-13 season, the AVCA announced Wednesday.
The Gamecocks receive the honor for the second consecutive year after posting a cumulative team GPA of 3.68. A record 622 teams from the high school and collegiate ranks earned the award, and South Carolina was one of 130 Division I programs to make the list. Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee were the other SEC programs to earn the award.
“We are so proud of our Volleyball student-athletes for what they accomplished in the classroom this year,” South Carolina head coach Scott Swanson said. “I was told by our academic advisor that our semester 3.7 semester GPA is the highest on record here at South Carolina which is quite an honor given how many other great student-athletes we have here on all our other teams. A lot of the credit goes to Maria Hickman who is the director of the Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center along with Steve Bondurant who is our volleyball academic advisor. Our athletes get some of the best academic support in the country, and there is a reason why our University of South Carolina athletes have led the SEC Academic Honor Roll for six years in a row.”
The award 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.
“Excellence doesn’t happen by accident, either on the court or in the classroom,” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. “It takes consistent preparation, relentless effort, and determined leadership. A full year of academic achievement, by an entire team of individual students, is a remarkable achievement. What better way to start a new season than with a celebration of an award so emblematic of all that is necessary for sustained success.”
South Carolina opens its 2013 campaign with the Gamecock Invitational, which will be held Aug. 30-31 at the Volleyball Competition Facility. Fans will have their first opportunity to see the Gamecocks in action on Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Garnet & Black match. The event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the VCF with a strategy session for all middle and high school coaches in attendance.
Season tickets for South Carolina’s home dates are now on sale. Adult season tickets are $25, while youth 17 and under can get their tickets for $10. For more information, contact the South Carolina Ticket Office at 800-4SC-FANS or visit the ticket office homepage here.
