Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Earn AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award
August 02, 2002 | Volleyball
Aug. 2, 2002
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The American Volleyball Coaches Association and Molten U.S.A., Inc. has named the recipients of the 2001-02 AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award, and the Bowling Green State University squad is on the national list. BGSU is one of just 47 NCAA Division I schools to be honored, and the Falcons are one of three Mid-American Conference schools on the list.
With a team grade-point average of 3.47, BGSU was 12th among all NCAA Division I institutions, and the Falcons were the highest-ranking MAC school.
The AVCA and Molten U.S.A., Inc. has named a record-number 177 volleyball programs at all levels the recipients of the award. Molten, U.S.A. has sponsored the award for three years.
The previous best was 149 awards presented in 1998-99. The award honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Nominating coaches must be AVCA members.
Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls' and boys' teams. The college ranks produced 120 schools that met the requirements for the award. The breakdown of college representation includes 47 NCAA Division I schools, 20 NCAA Division II schools, 32 NCAA Division III schools, 12 NAIA schools and nine junior college/community colleges. A total of 57 high school programs earned the distinction.
"The AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award epitomizes the ideal of the student-athlete, and the AVCA is incredibly honored to recognize these schools for their excellence in the classroom," said Katherine McConnell, executive director of the AVCA. "We are especially pleased to bestow this prestigious award to a record number of teams this year. The discipline, teamwork and commitment embodied by both the AVCA coaches and the student-athletes are a shining example to us all."
"We are proud to be associated with this award that recognizes the importance that teamwork plays both on and off of the volleyball court," Craig Barker, Molten USA president, said.
All seven of BGSU's returnees for the 2002 season currently hold a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or greater, and five of those student-athletes have a GPA of 3.69 or higher. That list is headed by Laura Twyman's 3.96 GPA. Twyman is closely followed by Melissa Mohr (3.90) and Susie Norris (3.89).
Over the last six years, the Falcons of head coach Denise Van De Walle have graduated 20 players from the volleyball program. No fewer than 17 of those players (85%) had a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better.
On the court, the Falcons have won 21 matches in each of the last three seasons. BGSU won the MAC's East Division title in 2001 after tying for the divisional crown the previous year.
AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award winners
NCAA Division I
Belmont University Tenn. 3.69 Liberty University Va. 3.64 Kansas State University Kan. 3.59 The University of Alabama Ala. 3.58 Duquesne University Pa. 3.58 Eastern Washington Univ. Wash. 3.57 Western Kentucky Univ. Ky. 3.56 Stanford University Calif. 3.55 Montana State University Mont. 3.51 Univ. of Tennessee Martin Tenn. 3.51 Winthrop University S.C. 3.50 BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIV. Ohio 3.47 Stephen F. Austin St. Univ. Texas 3.47 Austin Peay State Univ. Tenn. 3.46 Univ. of Wis.-Green Bay Wis. 3.45 Louisiana State University La. 3.44 Western Carolina Univ. N.C. 3.44 Syracuse University N.Y. 3.43 American University D.C. 3.42 Indiana University Ind. 3.42 Loyola University Chicago Ill. 3.42 SE Missouri St. Univ. Mo. 3.42 Indiana State University Ind. 3.41 Birmingham-Southern Coll. Ala. 3.39 Long Island University N.Y. 3.39 Morehead State University Ky. 3.39 Saint Louis University Mo. 3.39 SMU Texas 3.39 University of Denver Colo. 3.38 Kent State University Ohio 3.38 Robert Morris University Pa. 3.38 University of Toledo Ohio 3.37 Towson University Md. 3.36 Mississippi State Univ. Miss. 3.35 University of Nebraska Neb. 3.35 Appalachian State Univ. N.C. 3.34 Tennessee Tech. Univ. Tenn. 3.34 Weber State University Utah 3.34 University of Notre Dame Ind. 3.33 Wright State University Ohio 3.33 Howard University D.C. 3.32 UMKC Mo. 3.32 College of Charleston S.C. 3.31 Hofstra University N.Y. 3.31 The University of Tulsa Okla. 3.31 Idaho State University Idaho 3.30 Michigan State University Mich. 3.30
