LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 21, 2025) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released their recipient list for the Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT on Monday, as North Alabama Volleyball was honored for the third-straight year.

Initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, the AVCA Team Academic Award honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or 4.1 on a 5.0 scale. The award marks the fourth overall in program history with previous awards in 2020, 2023 and 2024.

"I am extremely proud of our student athletes for achieving this award for the third year in a row," said UNA Volleyball Head Coach Tristan Johnson. "Academic excellence is a core value of our program and that is shown by the continued performance of our players. I also would like to congratulate and thank our Academic Support staff for their hard work and dedication to not only our program but the entire athletic department. This truly is a team award, and I couldn't be more pleased!"

The Lions were among a record-breaking 1,450 collegiate and high school volleyball programs that qualified for the distinction, including North Alabama's beach volleyball team. This marks the second-straight year that the AVCA had a record number of recipients.

Eleven volleyball programs from the Atlantic Sun Conference were represented on the list, including Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, EKU, FGCU, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, North Florida, Queens, Stetson and West Georgia.

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