LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the 10th consecutive year and 16th time in the program's history, McKendree University has been recognized by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) with a USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2021-22 school year.
 
Along with earning a Team Academic Team honor, McKendree was also one of 29 NCAA Division II schools to be selected to the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award Honor Roll, which goes to schools that have the top 20 percent of team GPAs in each division. The Bearcats, who were one of four schools from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) named to the Team Academic Honor Roll, finished the 2021-22 school year with a 3.64 GPA. The other league schools honored were Illinois-Springfield, Rockhurst and William Jewell. It marked just the second time in program history that McKendree has earned Honor Roll recognition as they also received the honor in 2017.
 
The Team Academic Award, initiated in 1992 by the AVCA, recognizes team who have their dedication to the sports of volleyball with excellence in the classroom. Teams must maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale for the school year or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
 
McKendree was one of 11 GLVC schools to be recognized and one 148 NCAA Division II women's teams to earn a USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award. During the 2021-22 school year, the Bearcats had 13 student-athletes earn GLVC Academic All-Conference honors and the volleyball team earned a 2021-22 Team Academic All-GLVC accolade.
 
The other GLVC women's volleyball teams that earned USMC/AVCA Team Academic Awards were Lewis University, Lindenwood University, Missouri S&T, Quincy University, Rockhurst University, Truman State University, University of Illinois at Springfield, University of Indianapolis, University of Missouri-St. Louis and William Jewell College.
 
Overall, the AVCA had a total of 1,204 collegiate and high school teams earn a Team Academic Award for the 2021-22 academic year.
 
The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-01 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but four, while more than doubling the total over eight of the last nine academic years. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to over 1,200 this year. In all, a total of 13,104 awards across all divisions have been earned over the following 29 years.
 
McKendree closed out the 2021-22 season with an 8-20 overall record and a 4-13 mark in the GLVC. Over the past five seasons, the Bearcats have posted a 67-69 overall record and a 43-41 mark in GLVC play.
 
Here are the years that McKendree has earned the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award.
 
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18 (AVCA Team Honor Roll)
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22 (AVCA Team Honor Roll)