Education

Shelter Island girls volleyball team still winning

COURTESY PHOTO The Shelter Island High School girls’ volleyball team, recipients of the AVCA Team Academic Award, celebrating its County Championship in November 2014.
COURTESY PHOTO
The Shelter Island High School girls’ volleyball team, recipients of the AVCA Team Academic Award, celebrating its County Championship in November 2014.

The Autumn 2014 Shelter Island girls’ varsity volleyball team has been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Team Academic Award.

The award, 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 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

“A hearty congratulations to all the volleyball coaches whose teams won the AVCA Team Academic Award,” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. “Teams do not succeed in the classroom by accident any more so than they do on the court. The same coach who taught them volleyball skills cared enough about their academic achievement to gather their grades, calculate their GPA, and submit a nomination on their behalf. In doing so, these coaches sent a clear message that classroom success is just as important as volleyball success. All involved should celebrate this award!”

Shelter Island, one of 237 girls’ high school teams across the U.S. honored with the award, was also highlighted as a team which met its “Dig Pink” fundraising goal. Dig Pink is an annual fundraiser for breast cancer research, which the team has held since 2008. A full list can be found at avca.org/awards/team-academic-award/14-15-recipients/.

The 2015 edition of the championship squad is looking forward to hitting the court for pre-season practice at the end of August.