Volleyball | 7/19/2025 12:03:00 PM

All-Time AVCA Academic Team Award Recipients

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 21, 2025) -- The Morgan State volleyball program was honored as a recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT for the 2024-25 season.
 
Monday's prestigious honor signifies the second consecutive year the team has received the accolade, underscoring their consistent performance and unwavering dedication. Even more impressively, it represents the fifth time in program history that the Bears have earned this distinction, building on previous successes in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024, culminating in this latest  recognition for 2025.

"I love that academic excellence is a pillar for our team. This is the second year in a row and fifth overall we attained this award since 2020," said Morgan State head coach Xiomara Ortiz. "This shows that we have had consistent growth on the academic priority and I feel that without driven athletes and the best academic team and support staff, we would not be able to have sustainable success in this area. I appreciate everyone who supports our athletes in their academic pursuits!"
  
The award honors teams who have matched their dedication to the sport of volleyball with excellence in the classroom.
 
Morgan State was announced as one of the record-setting 1,450 volleyball programs that earned the AVCA Team Academic Award.
 
"It is very exciting to see that he record-setting, on court successes during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom," says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. "The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes."
 
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or 4.1 on a 5.0 scale.

 
ABOUT INTENT
INTENT is a tech, information and internet company; purpose-driven to guide student-athletes and service members toward professional and personal success in LIFE AFTER SPORTS AND SERVICE.
 
ABOUT AVCA
The association's mission is to advance the sport of volleyball with AVCA coaches at the epicenter of leadership, advocacy, and professional development. The membership includes more than 10,000 collegiate, professional, high school, club, and youth volleyball coaches—primarily in the United States. The AVCA represents women's volleyball, men's volleyball, and beach volleyball coaches, and works to increase exposure and recognition for the sport of volleyball. 
 
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering more than 126 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.