LEXINGTON, Ky. – Gallaudet University's women's volleyball program earned a 18th American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award as announced by the coaches association. GU is one of 233 NCAA Division III women's team recipients for the 2025-26 season.
Gallaudet earns its eighth straight AVCA Team Academic Award as the Bison posted a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.42 during the 2025-26 school year. GU coach Lynn Ray Boren has been apart of all 18 AVCA Team Academic Awards during his tenure.
GU is one of two United East Conference programs to earn this AVCA honor for the 2025-26 season as the Bison are joined by St. Mary's College of Maryland. The Bison are one of 26 Division III programs to earn AVCA Team Academic Awards in both men's and women's volleyball for 2025-26.
The AVCA Team Academic 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 GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale. The head coach must be an AVCA member at the time of nomination.
The AVCA honored 1,432 collegiate and high schools teams in 2025-26. The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored.
Over 2,000 different schools have earned the award in the program's 34-year history, with over 19,000 awards given out in total. Only two institutions, both high schools, have earned the distinction all 34 years: Ross S. Sterling High School (Baytown, Texas) and Jonesboro High School (Jonesboro, Ark.).
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About AVCA
The AVCA, an educationally based nonprofit headquartered in Lexington, Ky., is the largest and most diverse volleyball coaches' association in the world. With a broad mandate to develop the sport, the AVCA provides leadership, recognition, advocacy, and professional development opportunities to over 8,200 volleyball coaches. Members include college, high school, club, and youth coaches, and well as a wide variety of product and service providers. Further information is available at avca.org.
