NEW YORK – For the third year in a row the BIG EAST Conference had six of its 10 volleyball teams earn American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award honors. Creighton, DePaul, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova represent the conference as six of the 145 Division I teams on the 2016-17 honoree list.
All six were also honored in 2015-16, and four (DePaul, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova) earned the distinction in 2014-15.
A total of 822 teams earned the award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year and honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.