Beach and Indoor Volleyball Recognized for Academic Achievements

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The United State Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its annual Team Academic Award recipients Monday afternoon. South Carolina was one of only 38 Division I beach programs to be recognized and the indoor program ran its streak to 13 years in a row on the list.

This is the second season in a row where both programs were ranked nationally by the AVCA during the season while also collecting academic honors in the postseason.

Beach volleyball stands as one of only three programs in the country to own a streak of eight seasons in a row making the list. The Gamecocks are also one of just nine Division I beach programs to earn the Academic Honor Roll award, given to teams with the top 20 percent GPA in each division. On the sand, South Carolina finished the spring with another 20-win campaign and was ranked in the AVCA coaches top-20 poll wire-to-wire.

The indoor volleyball program improved its streak to 13 seasons in a row earning the team academic award. The Gamecocks made their third trip to the NCAA tournament in four years under head coach Tom Mendoza, despite facing one of the nation’s toughest schedules that featured a program-record 10 matches against nationally ranked opponents. Individually, three Gamecocks made the SEC’s postseason all-conference teams.

The AVCA’s academic award recognizes college and high school volleyball teams that maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. For the 2021-22 academic year, the AVCA recognized 1,213 teams.