STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford was one of six beach volleyball teams recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association today as a recipient of the AVCA Team Academic Award.
This is the second consecutive season Stanford has earned the recognition. In May, all four of Stanford's eligible student-athletes received AVCA all-academic recognition. Karina Robinson earned second-team honors, while Merete Lutz, Catherine Raquel and Ivana Vanjak received honorable mentions.
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that display 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 is the largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients have increased every single year but two, while amassing a 477 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 764.
The Cardinal was one of two Pac-12 beach programs to earn the recognition along with Arizona.