LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 24, 2017) -- The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team was one of 145 Division I institutions to be named a recipient of the 2016-17 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award on Monday morning. It marks the ninth-consecutive season that UW has received the honor. 

The Cowgirls had an overall grade-point average of 3.529 for the 2016-17 academic year. Wyoming also had ten members on this year's Mountain West All-Academic Team and eight MW Scholar-Athletes. The Brown and Gold finished the season with an 18-13 overall record and an 11-7 mark in conference play.

"I am really proud of the team for this accomplishment," Director of Academic Services Taylor Stuemky said. "This is the ninth year in a row they have been selected for this honor. I challenged the team this year to increase their overall GPA and become one of the GPA leaders in the athletics department. The women rose to the challenge; one third of the team earned a perfect 4.0 in the spring term. I'm incredibly impressed by their work ethic and determination." 

There were 822 teams that earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2016-2017 season. This number breaks the previous year's total of 764 to set an all-time high. Girls high school led the way with 277 recipients, an increase of 17 over last year. NCAA Division I honored 145 programs, while NCAA Division II notched 119 honorees. Once again, NCAA Division III had the second-most honorees this year with a total of 150 schools, a 10-school increase over last year's record number.

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.

The AVCA Team Academic Award, celebrating its 25th year, is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but two, while amassing a 532 team increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 822.

The Cowgirls return ten letterwinners from a year ago. UW is scheduled to travel to Greeley, Colo., for an exhibition match with Northern Colorado on Aug. 18, before the Brown and Gold Scrimmage on Aug. 19 in the UniWyo Sports Complex. Wyoming will host Abilene Christian, South Dakota and Portland for the Rumble in Rockies tournament Aug. 25-26.