Tiger Volleyball Earns Seventh Team Academic Award

The Tigers' on-court motto has applied to their academic performance as well.

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University's volleyball team was one of 303 high school and college programs to earn the 2006-07 GamePlan/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, annually honors men's and women's college and high school teams that display excellence in the classroom 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 during the school year.

"I'm proud of the fact that the student-athletes in this program continue to excel both on and off the court," said Wittenberg Head Coach Paco Labrador, who enters his fifth year at the helm with a sparkling 132-23 overall record. "This demonstrates how dedicated our players are to being the best they can be as college student-athletes - both with their championship-level volleyball and their superb academic achievements."

Recipients of the award included 30 NCAA Division II programs, 53 NCAA Division III programs, 16 NAIA programs, 55 NCAA Division I women's programs, two NCAA Division I men's programs, seven women's programs at two-year colleges and 140 high school programs (both boys and girls). Wittenberg, one of just five NCAA Division III programs in Ohio to earn the award, has been recognized by the AVCA seven times.

The Tigers, the only member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) to make the list in 2006-07, were just as extraordinary on the court a year ago. While their nine-year run of NCAC Tournament titles came to an end, the Tigers made conference history with a perfect 16-0 record in the first-ever double round-robin schedule. It was the Tigers' ninth NCAC regular season title in the last 10 years.

Ranked in the top 15 all season, the Tigers earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament to make their 11th national appearance in the last 12 years. Wittenberg then blew through the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Tournament to advance to the national quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years.

For the second consecutive season, the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Juniata College, 3-0. Wittenberg finished 35-8 overall in 2006 to equal the school and NCAC record for wins in a season.

This year, the Tigers return all six starters plus libero, led by two-time honorable mention All-America outside hitter Emily Bell, class of 2008 from Fort Wayne, Ind., who has ranked among the team leaders in both kills and digs in each of her first three collegiate seasons. The 2007 season opens with the Wittenberg Invitational on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, in which the Tigers are scheduled to play Centre, Thomas More, Defiance and Eastern University.

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