LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the 13th consecutive year, Webster University has been recognized by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) with a USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2020-21 school year.
 
The Team Academic Award, initiated in 1992 by the AVCA, recognizes team who have their dedication to the sports of volleyball with excellence in the classroom. Teams must maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale for the school year or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
 
During the recently completed 2020-21 school year, Webster's volleyball team compiled a 3.67 team grade point average.
 
"I'm very proud of the tradition of Gorlok volleyball. This is the 13th consecutive time the team has earned the AVCA award," said Webster head volleyball coach and Assistant Athletic Director Merry Graf. "The players work hard on the court, in the classroom and continue to be active in our community. This is an outstanding group of young women and I feel fortunate to work with them."
 
Webster was one of four St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools to be recognized and one of a record 233 NCAA Division III women's teams to earn a USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award. In fact, the NCAA Division III women had the third highest number of schools honored as Girls High School led the way with a record 413 recipients, while NCAA Division I was next with a record 243 schools honored. The Gorloks had seven players earn SLIAC All-Academic Team honors for have cumulative GPA's over 3.50 and three Gorloks were CoSIDA Academic All-District IV honorees. The other SLIAC schools named USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award winners were Blackburn College, Eureka College and Greenville University.
 
Overall, the AVCA had a total of 1,275 collegiate and high school teams earn a Team Academic Award for the 2020-21 season.
 
Webster posted a 12-5 overall record and finished third in the SLIAC with a 10-3 conference mark and advanced to the SLIAC Tournament for the 17th consecutive season in 2020-21 and was ranked as high as No. 14 in the AVCA Division III Top 25 poll. The national ranking was the first-ever for the Gorloks in the program's history.