The University of Evansville volleyball team was one of a record-breaking 94 NCAA Division I teams across the country to be honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for their work in the classroom, as head coach Mike Swan’s Purple Aces earned the AVCA’s Team Academic Award on Thursday.  It marks the sixth time in the last seven years in which the Purple Aces have received the award.

The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors both 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 4.00 scale.  Evansville recorded a 3.332 team grade point average during the 2009-10 academic school year to earn the honor.  In all, a total of 450 college and high school teams earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2009-10 school year, smashing the previous high mark of 409 schools set last season.

Evansville will return eight letter-winners, including five starts and a libero, from last year’s 14-16 squad this fall.  The Purple Aces will open the 2010 season on August 27-28 at the Michigan State Showcase in East Lansing, Michigan.