SIUE Volleyball Recognized By American Volleyball Coaches Association With Academic Team Award

EDWARDSVILLE – SIUE volleyball has been recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

The Cougars were recognized with the USMC/AVCA Academic Team Award. SIUE is one of 227 Division I women's programs honored by the AVCA. The Cougars finished the 2019-20 academic year with a 3.506 combined grade point average.

"We are so proud of our team for earning the 2019-20 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award," SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus said. "They are dedicated to their education and are always students first. Our team sets very high standards for themselves so it's always special to have them recognized for that. It's not easy. SIUE offers a high-level, quality education. Moving to online for the last half of the semester provided new challenges, but our student-athletes know firsthand that the faculty's expectations and the quality of their coursework remained unchanged."

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The team also was recognized for meeting its Dig Pink fundraising goal. The Dig Pink program raises funds to help with research and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. SIUE surpassed its goal of raising $525.

"Dig Pink is a very special event for our program," Paulus added. "To know that our fundraising efforts go towards research and supporting current breast cancer patients is really meaningful to us. Not only are we fundraising for a great cause, we are also raising awareness and doing it for our loved ones. It's a time for our team to remember and honor special people in our lives who have both won and lost battles with breast cancer. It's really a magical time where we come together and play for something bigger."

The Cougars finished with a 9-7 Ohio Valley Conference record in 2019, winning three of their last four matches. SIUE will play an abbreviated, OVC-only schedule in 2020, set to begin in mid September.

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