Grand Rapids Reporter

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University volleyball program not only achieved success on the court during the 2023 championship season but was also highly successful in the classroom as the Bulldogs recently received American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award honors for the 2023-24 academic year.

The award, sponsored by INTENT and 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.

This year marks the tenth consecutive year in which the Bulldogs have achieved AVCA Team Academic Award recognition.

The AVCA Team Academic Award is noted as being one of the largest awards offered by quantity of schools, players, and coaches honored. Since its inception in 1993, when there were just 62 award winners, it has grown to include more than 1,400 collegiate and high school programs this year.

INTENT is sponsoring this prestigious award for its first year. The digital platform connects student-athletes and military special ops veterans to a network of candidate-seeking employers, guiding them toward professional and personal success after sports and service.

The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen last fall for the third consecutive season. Ferris State also claimed the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship along with making their twelfth consecutive and twenty-seventh all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. FSU closed with a 27-8 overall record this past season.

The Bulldogs will return nearly every member of last season's championship team this fall and will open their 2024 season at the West Texas A&M University Invitational on Sept. 5-7 in Canyon, Texas.