NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—For the second year in a row and the fourth time in program history the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Volleyball team has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT.

In all, 10 MCLA Volleyball players earned a spot on the Dean's List this past Spring with three earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Earlier this year, twelve players were named to the Fall/Winter MASCAC All-Academic Team. As a team, the Trailblazers finished with an impressive 3.495 Fall grade point average and 3.376 Spring grade point average and along with Men's Ice Hockey, were recognized at the 2024 MCLA Athletics Banquet this past May as the having the top team GPA's in the athletic department.   

The MCLA Voleyball team previously received the AVCA Team Academic Award in 2023, 2021 and 2019.

A record number of volleyball programs have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, and more than 1,400 collegiate and high school volleyball programs maintained a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (or 4.1 on a 5.0 scale), to earn the award for their classroom excellence during the recently completed academic year.

"We are pleased that the record-setting success of the 2023-24 season on the court has extended to the classroom, too, as evidenced by more programs earning the Team Academic Award than ever before," says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. "This is a great example of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their full potential as both students and athletes."

INTENT, which is in its first year of sponsoring the prestigious award, is a game-changing, digital platform links student-athletes (along with military special ops veterans) to a powerful network of candidate-seeking employers. The tech, information and internet company guide student-athletes and service members toward professional and personal success in life after sports and service.

Release courtesy of MCLA Sports Information