CLARION – The Clarion University women’s volleyball team was recently honored as an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award winner for the 2007-2008 school year
The Golden Eagles, whose team grade point average was just over a 3.6, were one of 39 NCAA Division II schools to earn the award, one of just three PSAC schools and one of 171 NCAA Division I, II & III women’s teams.
“This is a great honor,” Clarion’s second-year head coach Jennifer Harrison said. “Having athletes who are not just great players but also great students is what we are striving to do at Clarion. I’m really proud of the team for this accomplishment.”
To earn the award, which honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year, a team had to maintain a 3.3 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative GPA on a 5.0 scale.
The Golden Eagles were successful not only in the classroom but also on the court in 2007.
They went 28-6 overall and 7-3 in the PSAC-West and finished second at the PSAC Championships, their best finish since 1989. The Golden Eagles then qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the second straight year and for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Clarion won its first-ever NCAA playoff game with a victory over Lees-McRae in the first round.
In the classroom, Clarion had 14 Clarion & PSAC “Scholar-Athletes” led by senior Kristi Fiorillo, who was a PSAC Winter Top Ten Award winner and a Third Team ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-America.
NOTES – Clarion opens the 2008 season Aug. 29-30 when it hosts the Clarion Invitational.